Florida AGP people, what is your winter/closing routine?

[MeSue]

I know it is early to be asking this question but I want to research and get opinions now so I will be ready come fall. I grew up in the Tampa Bay area and no one I knew closed their pools, although most were screened in. Now we live farther north in FL and it's an AGP, not screened.

We have a lot of pine and oak trees that drop stuff in the pool so we have always done a modified closing. Now that we have a reliable SWG, I was thinking about not closing this winter, and I think I about have hubby willing to consider it. Another reason I am considering this is that our new Matrix pool has a lot of warnings about using a winter cover with it. I'm interested in hearing what other folks do and what are the pros and cons of not closing.

Our past modified closing routine has always been:

• Wait until water temp is below 70.[/*:m:2dabz43k]
• Clean, brush, remove ladder, etc.[/*:m:2dabz43k]
• Top off chlorine to shock level and dump in some Poly-60 algaecide.[/*:m:2dabz43k]
• Put on winter cover and leaf net.[/*:m:2dabz43k]
• Stop running pump/filter except on nights when freezing temps are forecast. We would not put it back on timer again until we removed the winter cover in spring.[/*:m:2dabz43k]

So with the SWG, I am thinking would could keep it open, run the pump ~2 hours a night, and maybe just use the leaf net and not the winter cover. Once the majority of leaves are off the oaks, we could probably get by with just the PoolSkim.

Thoughts? Am I just bedazzled by the idea of an easy spring opening? Wrestling that winter cover in the spring was always a nightmare.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Well I'm not in Florida but I'm pretty close.

I've done it both ways and I choose to close the couple of months it's not swim season here. Wait till the water gets to 60ºF and winterize everything. I use bleach jugs hung on the winter cover instead of the cable and wench. The leaves here never stop falling so that's a constant headache and I use a leaf blower to blow them off the winter cover.

However, having not closed it, I can say it's not hard to keep it up. If your trees are one time shedders then it would be easier for you as you'll only have to deal with them a finite amount of time.

 

[Michelle W]

I am in north Florida and choose not to close mine. It is just as easy to add extra chlorine, keep it clean, clear and ready to go. On really cold nights I will run the pump all night otherwise, just vac it a couple of times, still run filter. Pretty easy to keep clean, if leaves are a problem cover with shade cloth