How late do you close in New England?

[Rich D]

Was just wondering how late others close in the New England area. This is only my second closing with the new pool. At some point I might take over the closing myself, However where the pool is only 1 year old and has a In floor cleaning system I am having the PB do the closings for now. We want to keep it open as late as possible and open as soon as possible so we can enjoy the view and the waterfall. Last year we closed first week of November without any freezing issues so I scheduled the same for this year.

Not sure how risky this is if we get a early cold snap. If I leave the waterfall valve 1/4 open this will ensure all the plumbing will have a steady flow so I can just leave it running as long as Temps are below freezing. We are getting a whole house generator but it probably will not be running for a few weeks.

The motor/ control Does have freeze protection but I am not %100 sure how it works. In the settings I can set the rpm's and a run time. I can not set the temp limits. It seems to come on at 38 deg but I have no idea what temp it shuts off at. So for now I have the run time set to 8 hrs at 2000 rpm.

Just looking for some info how others handle late closings and what precautions they take for freeze protections

Thanks, Rich..

 

[Catanzaro]

You are fine with closing the pool the first week of November. It takes quite a long time for water to freeze underground to cause any type of damage. I have friends in the business who close pools all the way until the end of November. Last year, we closed my friends pool at the end of November due to a liner change (no problems with freezing).

In floor cleaning system I am having the PB do the closings

If this is a Paramount System, make sure the PB uses the proprietary plugs to close the module. This area has to be worked on separately.



Credit for this lovely picture is given to Ray (PoolguyCT).

https://www.poolzoom.com/winter-plug-6-pack.html?keword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9ZDeBRD9ARIsAMbAmoZ7sElCPB4BqePTyNEJYeh2GNDjEb3rYWOsFocnazDoDsB42apxm1oaAlkUEALw_wcB

Paramount Complete 6-Port 2 Water Valve (Black)

 

[Catanzaro]

Look at Post # 17 as well.

Safety cover and water levels

 

[Deb04]

Our pool is being closed on Wednesday. The water temp is 50. I would have preferred two weeks ago to avoid the elecric cost of running it and the pain of fishing out all the leaves, but I was late calling for an appt.

 

[Rich D]

Look at Post # 17 as well.

Safety cover and water levels

Yes, it is a paramount. Thanks for the info and the link. Reading through that post would certainly make me think twice about trying to close the pool myself.

 

[Rich D]

Our pool is being closed on Wednesday. The water temp is 50. I would have preferred two weeks ago to avoid the elecric cost of running it and the pain of fishing out all the leaves, but I was late calling for an appt.

50... Brrrr I think I am still around 65. Fortunately for us when I cleared the lot I "CLEARED THE LOT" so far I have seen about 10 leaves in pool and one very windy day I had a skimmer bottom full of pine needles. Of course this could change as the wife's plantings around the pool mature ..

 

[Catanzaro]

Our pool is being closed on Wednesday. The water temp is 50. I would have preferred two weeks ago to avoid the elecric cost of running it and the pain of fishing out all the leaves, but I was late calling for an appt.

About a week ago, after vacuuming the pool of leaves from a major storm in NJ, I placed my solid tarp on the pool (ready for closing). The pump has been running for 3 hours for the last month, down from 6 hours. You do not need to run the pump that long. This morning, I added the algaecide and it will mix properly for at least 12 hours before Saturday's closing. I will peel the cover back just enough to expose the back skimmer, clear the lines, etc., place the cover back on. This time, the process is about 30 minutes as I have someone assisting me.

This is what makes the beauty of a regular tarp so convenient to take off and place back on. You may want to invest in a tarp (for situations like this). Assume you have a safety cover.