3 day deep freeze, how to protect the pool

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JJ_Tex said:
That is why you should have a contingency plan to drain the water from your pipes if you need. Since you said your equipment is in a shed, you will have a lot more wiggle room in terms of the rest of us.

I still argue you should not be running your heater, but if you do, just make sure it is on and stays on. If it cycles on and off is where you can have problems with the acidic condensation.
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Is there a way to easily drain the water from the pipes above ground? I noticed when I open the lid on my pump to access the filter, all the water drains out of the pump... is it draining out of the pipes as well? I guess this would be different for each pool and if the pump is at the same level as the water
 
ejs873 said:
Is there a way to easily drain the water from the pipes above ground? I noticed when I open the lid on my pump to access the filter, all the water drains out of the pump... is it draining out of the pipes as well? I guess this would be different for each pool and if the pump is at the same level as the water
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I'm not sure I would call it easy, but my pump, heater, and filter all have drain plugs on them. I would open those up to let the water drain out. Before you do that, make sure you flip the breaker so the pump will not try to come back on if the electricity is out.

Once those plugs are out, that should drain out most of the water from the areas above ground and at the highest risk of freezing. It also will make room in the pipes for expansion in case anything does freeze.

After that, I would put a tarp over the equipment, take a very hot shower and either grab a beer or crawl back in bed depending on the time of day.
 
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JohnT said:
One important weakness in running the pump to prevent freezing is that if your power fails, you are going to be in panic mode. Your first and biggest risk for freeze damage is going to be above the waterline. Pump, filter, chlorinator, heater, water features etc. what’s underground and underwater has some protection from immediate freezing. It would be very useful to know how to drain/blow-out your equipment and unprotected plumbing and having a plan for that. Doing that may give you time for power to be restored or to figure out an alternative strategy
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""It would be very useful to know how to drain/blow-out your equipment and unprotected plumbing and having a plan for that""
I f there is a power outage there's no power to blow out pipes unless the OP has back up power for that. If it were me I'd just drain or blow out all equipment now and then no need to worry what if.
 
I turned off the water fountain pump, flipped the breaker off and drained the pump. Added a heat coil to most of the rest of the plumbing the main pump drives, put fiberglass insulation tape over that, and then tarped the whole equipment pad leaving a small section open assuming the pump needs air circulation. The main pump I have running 24/7. I just ordered a heat lamp with a clamp someone posted in another thread and I'll add that when it arrives. We have a heat pump that obviously is off, but our plumbing is set up that all runs all the water through the heat pump anyway...there's no bypass. Hopefully that'll be enough. Now they're say 8-10 inches of snow, so we'll be trying to keep that off as well.
 
I am not thrilled with this polar vortex AT ALL. We are on day 3 of below freezing weather and looks like it will be this way for the next 9-10 days. Adding insult to injury...10-15 inches of snow is forecasted for the weekend. We have not winterized our pool, but have taken precautions. Obviously, the pump is running 24/7. The pool equipment pad is covered and I have two heat lamp bulbs as well as a chicken coop warmer that is keeping it in the mid 30s right now (ambient temp has been 22 or below for the last 48 hours). The water temp is hanging around 37-38 degrees (for the time being) and hopefully the ground will keep it from getting down to 32 or lower.

We do have the means to use a generator to run the pump if we lose power, but ready for "immediate emergency action" if need be. That would be draining pump, heater, and filter and hoping the empty bottle trick in the skimmer would keep it from being damaged. Also have given thought to running the heater for a bit to warm the water, but not an ideal choice.

I am thinking that we should have drained the pad, winterized the house and taken a 2 week vacation to Miami. ;) WX.jpg
 
HeyEng said:
I am not thrilled with this polar vortex AT ALL. We are on day 3 of below freezing weather and looks like it will be this way for the next 9-10 days. Adding insult to injury...10-15 inches of snow is forecasted for the weekend. We have not winterized our pool, but have taken precautions. Obviously, the pump is running 24/7. The pool equipment pad is covered and I have two heat lamp bulbs as well as a chicken coop warmer that is keeping it in the mid 30s right now (ambient temp has been 22 or below for the last 48 hours). The water temp is hanging around 37-38 degrees (for the time being) and hopefully the ground will keep it from getting down to 32 or lower.

We do have the means to use a generator to run the pump if we lose power, but ready for "immediate emergency action" if need be. That would be draining pump, heater, and filter and hoping the empty bottle trick in the skimmer would keep it from being damaged. Also have given thought to running the heater for a bit to warm the water, but not an ideal choice.

I am thinking that we should have drained the pad, winterized the house and taken a 2 week vacation to Miami. ;) View attachment 175390
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For the rest of us southerners who don't normally deal with this...what's the empty bottle in the skimmer trick?
 
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We're getting 3 deep freeze days starting tomorrow night. I lost a heat exchanger on the last one, though that heater was on its last days. I just drained my heater, pump & filter. Also put a milk jug in the skimmer. This is SUPER important, when the water freezes, the jug takes the expansion heave, not your skimmer assembly.

Not worried at all :)
 
I'm in OKC as well. I'll have to hit up Tractor Supply in the morning and see about a chicken coop warmer. In a pinch a halogen work light works pretty well too but you have to be careful to keep any tarps away from the surface.
 
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Poolmama! said:
For the rest of us southerners who don't normally deal with this...what's the empty bottle in the skimmer trick?
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Basically you put an empty bottle (but weighed down w/ rocks or something similar) in the skimmer. The idea is that if/when the water freezes, the expansion with crush the bottle and not the skimmer.
 
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JSlabotsky said:
I'm in OKC as well. I'll have to hit up Tractor Supply in the morning and see about a chicken coop warmer. In a pinch a halogen work light works pretty well too but you have to be careful to keep any tarps away from the surface.
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I bought one on AMZN and it's been running 24/7 for the last 3 (or 4...I am losing track) days and so far the pad is staying around 33-36 degrees. I also have two 100w light bulbs in there and I have insulated the area as best as I can. I do have a couple of 250w heat lamp bulbs coming in today, so that will help supplement the heating, since it's only going to get colder. I am hoping the snow will insulate the equipment area a little (it has a roof) for when it gets REALLY cold Sunday night.
 
wireform said:
""It would be very useful to know how to drain/blow-out your equipment and unprotected plumbing and having a plan for that""
I f there is a power outage there's no power to blow out pipes unless the OP has back up power for that. If it were me I'd just drain or blow out all equipment now and then no need to worry what if.
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Gas leaf blower! Desperate times call for desperate measures :LOL:
 
Well, it is hanging around 15 degrees (and has for the last couple of days) and the coldest air is yet to get here, but the pool water temp is now at 34 degrees. Seeing how as we are going to have at LEAST 3 days of single digit/below zero temps, I am pretty sure the water temp in the pool will get below 32. :(

I think I don't have any choice at this point but to go with my "immediate emergency actions" and drain the equipment pad. This kind of bums me out since the pool pad and equipment has been staying well above freezing. Oh well, thus is life with a pool in the winter!
 
HeyEng said:
Well, it is hanging around 15 degrees (and has for the last couple of days) and the coldest air is yet to get here, but the pool water temp is now at 34 degrees. Seeing how as we are going to have at LEAST 3 days of single digit/below zero temps, I am pretty sure the water temp in the pool will get below 32. :(

I think I don't have any choice at this point but to go with my "immediate emergency actions" and drain the equipment pad. This kind of bums me out since the pool pad and equipment has been staying well above freezing. Oh well, thus is life with a pool in the winter!
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Even below freezing the water in the pipes won’t freeze if it is moving. No harm if the water in the pool freezes as long as plumbing all has flowing water.
 
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JohnT said:
Even below freezing the water in the pipes won’t freeze if it is moving. No harm if the water in the pool freezes as long as plumbing all has flowing water.
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Yep, I have shifted my strategy to just keep the pump running. The odds of power loss is fairly remote and if we do lose power, we have a whole house generator that *can* run the pump. I also have a spare pump if it were to fail. I have been reading quite a few scientific studies about flowing water and the thermodynamics for freezing said water and I think as long as it keeps flowing, it should be all good...in spite of these ridiculous temperatures!!! Come on pool season!!! ;)
 
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HeyEng said:
Yep, I have shifted my strategy to just keep the pump running. The odds of power loss is fairly remote and if we do lose power, we have a whole house generator that *can* run the pump. I also have a spare pump if it were to fail. I have been reading quite a few scientific studies about flowing water and the thermodynamics for freezing said water and I think as long as it keeps flowing, it should be all good...in spite of these ridiculous temperatures!!! Come on pool season!!! ;)
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The key is having a plan. It would be truly panic inducing if you'd never even thought about freezing until the power was off and it was cold!
 
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