Is it because your water freezes solid during the winter? Sorry about the ignorance but I dont know anyone that does that here in the Southern U.S.
Why do you "close" a pool?
- Thread starter TheOne
- Start date
Yes, when water freezes it gets larger which tends to break the plumbing. To avoid that you "close" the pool, which means taking the water out of all of the pipes that might freeze. If you live in a climate where it never freezes, or only slightly freezes, then there is no need.
Riles_J
0
I live in one those areas that some people close, some people don't. I am in Nashville, TN and we get freezing temps, but they don't usually last long. I am new to pools, but I think I am going to try keeping it open year round. The "down" side is the extra electricity to run the pump and maybe the increased risk of breaking some pipes if you are not dillegent about running the pump during freezing periods. The "up" side is you don't have to spend the time draining, shocking, algecide, covering, draining the cover, removing the cover, cleaning the cover, filling, reconnecting, etc. For me I think leaving it open will be much easier in the long run. Plus I get to look a nice blue water all winter instead of a swampy covered pool.
I left it open this past winter and it worked great.
my $.02
Riles
I left it open this past winter and it worked great.
my $.02
Riles
Riles_J said:
Thats what I would have thought. The extra cost and hassle of closing and opening wasnt adding up to me. Plus the benefit of using water features, etc year round.
I had mine open all winter even thru a week of subfreezing weather. Was a little nervous but all came out well. I do have a timer with a freeze sensor that I set at 36F and it would kick the pump on anytime the air temp dropped below that plus the timer kept up with my normal run cycles. I could not imagine staring at a cover all winter when the pool was so beautiful. I know some don't have that option.
Donnie
Donnie
She speaks truth.TexasGirl said:"Why do you "close" a pool?"
Because, you built it too far north.
I close by lowering the water level a few inches below the tiles. Add polyquat, blow out the lines, plug the skimmers and returns. Drain the filter and remove the pump and filter plugs and put the cover on. Always open around mothers day here in PA. Never open to a green pool, just a little dust that gets in under the cover edges over the winter.
MarkC said:
Where at in PA Mark?
I'm in Central PA nice to see that Mbar & me aren't the only ones BBBing
I'm planning to close the pool so I don't have to run the pump and play with chemicals all winter. I am concerned that it will take longer to open the pool if it gets algea (likely given I'm still trying to clear out algea bloom from last week).
Another option is buy a pool dome, but I have to wait at least until I build a deck around our AG pool.
Another option is buy a pool dome, but I have to wait at least until I build a deck around our AG pool.
- Apr 8, 2007
- 1,616
- Pool Size
- 17450
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
We HAVE to close - it can get to 35 below zero, 65 below windchill with 4' of snow at one time - One year we had 145" of snow. I hate winter, but alas, the DH and boys love snow and cold, I'm stuck.
LOL..where I am, our pool is turned into a skating rink for 8 weeks in the winter, yep, it freezes at least with 3 feet of ice. Thank the lord my pb used pool flex instead of solid pipe, I cant imagine water pooling up at the bottom of one of those pipes and not breaking.
TheOne said:
Maybe last year WE should have said "sorry about the ignorance about our closing, 'cause we are total newbies and do not know!!" But now we know...........we do not actually "close"!
What the hey? There are many degrees of closing. Good luck! Joyce
well, after talking to people TPF people included, i think that the only closing i will do is just NOT SWIM.
Raleigh NC
Same here.. first year with an inground pool in Raleigh NC - just going to run the pump half time and monitor over the winter..
I've read some mixed ideas on what to do with the chlorine generator level.. currently set to 50% w pump running 12 hours a day.
Should I go to say 8 hours a day and 75% ?
Same here.. first year with an inground pool in Raleigh NC - just going to run the pump half time and monitor over the winter..
I've read some mixed ideas on what to do with the chlorine generator level.. currently set to 50% w pump running 12 hours a day.
Should I go to say 8 hours a day and 75% ?
The amount of chlorine you need goes way down as the water gets colder. Also, SWGs don't work so well when the water gets colder. Many of them turn off completely around 50 or 55 degrees. So you may need to switch to bleach if the water gets cold enough.
Hey Donnie
I have a question for you, where did you get a timer with a freeze sensor on it? And, if you don't mind my asking, what was the price range on that? Every year we balance our pool, drop the water level below the skimmer basket and return, cover it and disassemble the pump, filter, etc. and put those in storage so they do not freeze and every year when we put it back together in the summer, something leaks. I figured if we left it running, but still covered, we would probably be better off in the leakage department. We have to cover the pool because of the location of the pool. We live in Georgia and have a lot of pine trees. Needless to say, in Spring, the cover is usually about 2" thick in yellow pollen from the trees. We don't like for all of that to get in the pool, not to mention the pine needles and the leaves. I am not a cold weather person, so the idea of being out there in the cold trying to retrieve pine needles from the bottom of my pool does not appeal to me. Do you, or anyone have any suggestions, comments, criticisims about leaving a pool running and covered, or is it better to drain, disassemble and cover? I have a 21' AG pool with a vinyl liner and sand filter.
I have been told that not draining the water and using plugs in the skimmer basket and then disassembling was the way to go, but my concern with that is that the water in the skimmer basked would freeze and the skimmer basket would crack, thus leading to yet another leak that had to be fixed? Any thoughts?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Pam
I have a question for you, where did you get a timer with a freeze sensor on it? And, if you don't mind my asking, what was the price range on that? Every year we balance our pool, drop the water level below the skimmer basket and return, cover it and disassemble the pump, filter, etc. and put those in storage so they do not freeze and every year when we put it back together in the summer, something leaks. I figured if we left it running, but still covered, we would probably be better off in the leakage department. We have to cover the pool because of the location of the pool. We live in Georgia and have a lot of pine trees. Needless to say, in Spring, the cover is usually about 2" thick in yellow pollen from the trees. We don't like for all of that to get in the pool, not to mention the pine needles and the leaves. I am not a cold weather person, so the idea of being out there in the cold trying to retrieve pine needles from the bottom of my pool does not appeal to me. Do you, or anyone have any suggestions, comments, criticisims about leaving a pool running and covered, or is it better to drain, disassemble and cover? I have a 21' AG pool with a vinyl liner and sand filter.
I have been told that not draining the water and using plugs in the skimmer basket and then disassembling was the way to go, but my concern with that is that the water in the skimmer basked would freeze and the skimmer basket would crack, thus leading to yet another leak that had to be fixed? Any thoughts?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Pam
Intermatic makes several models of timers with freeze protection, for example the PF1102T and PF1103T. Prices are around $150 to $200. They also make freeze protection circuits for use with an exiting timer.
Pam: I live in north Florida and we also are surrounded by trees. We have always covered our pool with a winter cover but we do not drain the pool or disassemble anything.
The only thing I do is set the pump to run when freezing temperatures are expected. If there is going to be a long stretch of freezing temps at night, I will use the regular timer so it just runs at night. Because we usually have to do other preparations around the house when there are freezing temps, we don't have a hard time remembering to turn the pool pump on... if we did I suppose we would go with a freeze sensor.
The only thing I do is set the pump to run when freezing temperatures are expected. If there is going to be a long stretch of freezing temps at night, I will use the regular timer so it just runs at night. Because we usually have to do other preparations around the house when there are freezing temps, we don't have a hard time remembering to turn the pool pump on... if we did I suppose we would go with a freeze sensor.
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