Any risk in running pump in 10 degree weather without a heater?

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The thing I'm just a little antsy about is the 4 day period we are supposed to remain below freezing, with most of our time in the teens. That is pretty unheard of here.
Usually our worst winter days are when it dips down into the mid 20's at night, but gets above freezing during the day.

Regardless, everything should be fine with freeze protection and I have my contingency plan if I lose power or have some sort of equipment failure during that 4 day stretch. Until we get through that, I get to be a grumpy old man cursing the weather and the stupid groundhog that saw its shadow.
 
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When I first posted this question/thread, I didn't even think about being out of town this weekend when temps are supposed to be the lowest. I am just going to take out the plugs and let the water down into the pipes so all water is underground. My original question is now answered: no risk if no water in the pumps/filter.
 
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JJ_Tex said:
The thing I'm just a little antsy about is the 4 day period we are supposed to remain below freezing, with most of our time in the teens. That is pretty unheard of here.
Usually our worst winter days are when it dips down into the mid 20's at night, but gets above freezing during the day.
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What's the current water temp?
 
Currently the water is 49 degrees and the coldest weather starts in a few days (Friday - Tues) are supposed to stay below freezing.
 
JJ_Tex said:
The thing I'm just a little antsy about is the 4 day period we are supposed to remain below freezing, with most of our time in the teens. That is pretty unheard of here.
Usually our worst winter days are when it dips down into the mid 20's at night, but gets above freezing during the day.

Regardless, everything should be fine with freeze protection and I have my contingency plan if I lose power or have some sort of equipment failure during that 4 day stretch. Until we get through that, I get to be a grumpy old man cursing the weather and the stupid groundhog that saw its shadow.
Click to expand...
You could throw something like an electric blanket under the other blanket or my favorite cheap utility heater.. a real incandescent 40W (or less) lightbulb in a socket screwed to the lid of a brand new, unused gallon paint can, and a $1.25 extension cord... It's about a $10 total cheap heater even if you can't find anything else. Then I wouldn't worry at all about it...
 
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JJ_Tex said:
Currently the water is 49 degrees and the coldest weather starts in a few days (Friday - Tues) are supposed to stay below freezing.
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t stress it. Don’t forget, the ground stays at a steady temp regardless how cold it is out. That’ll help fend off some of the cold.
 
One thing to think about with the "incandescent light under the tarp" idea is about the risk of shorting out and tripping a circuit since it's outside exposed to weather / moisture. Then you're worse off than before because your pump may not have power and at least in my case, there's no alert or notification when this happens. The reason I think about this now is because my wife ran a string of cheap Christmas lights and plugged it into the same outlet our pool pump draws from. At some point water got in and shorted it from either the string of lights or extension cord. Regardless I didn't notice for three days the breaker had been tripped :oops: Unplugged the light strand, reset the breaker, and haven't had a problem since.
 
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That is why I told you to put it inside of a NEW paint can. it won't short out. You mount the socket to the lid, but the line cord through a hole in the lid, with RTV or a grommet. Put the can upside down underneath (or in) whatever. It's what I used in the winter in Iowa to keep my beer fridge from freezing with the proper controller in the garage. It works...
 
Well, I gotta tell you....the Canadians can KEEP THIS Arctic BS to themselves!! So far, our pad is staying at about 38 degrees even though we have been no warmer than 20 degrees for about 24 hours and it looks like it won't get OUT of the 20s until NEXT FRIDAY! On top of the NEGATIVE temps we are looking at over the weekend, it also looks like we might get a significant snow storm as well. We live in OKLAHOMA...not freaking South Dakota!!!

The pool temp is currently at 38 degrees, so not sure how cold it's going to get by the time this is over. While I understand that the ground temp is pretty steady, I can't fathom that it won't get below 32 considering how cold it will get for a significant amount of time. I am going to keep on running the pump/heat the equipment pad for the time being but am ready to drain the pad equipment if need be. My only concern is really the skimmer...but if I have to shut everything down, hopefully the "empty jug in the skimmer" will do the trick.

Oh, and there was a frog in the pool! Didn't he/she get the memo that it's freaking winter!?!?

Maybe I need to shut it all down and head to Miami instead.WX.jpg
 
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Since we are now predicted to get down to 2 freaking degrees, I did a little redneck winterizing of my pad using heat tape. I'm sure I wasted my time and $25, but it made me feel better. Any issues with this? It says safe on PVC and the guy at Lowes said it would work.

IMG_7106.jpg

IMG_7105.jpg
 
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