Can someone explain the economics of proper opening and closing to me?

[Mdragger88]

I use a solid cover & prescribe to the soft close/soft open method wherby those two extra months of operation you mentioned the pool is covered so it stays clean but still operating on a very reduced schedule (a couple hours a day). Fc demand is greatly reduced. I generally do this around the beginning of October and fully close around Halloween.
I can deploy my robot under the cover for a final sweep when its time to fully button it up, add my remaining necessary liquid chlorine (to slam level- no polyquat), do my oclt, then winterize the plumbing & resecure the cover.
I do this in reverse in the spring before the water temp gets much above 60. Starting usually in March getting everything hooked up then taking the cover off about mid April after the seed pods are finished falling.
My fc levels upon soft opening are generally high target or so.
To run my pool on the reduced schedule (1-2hrs/day) for 2 months costs me approximately $10 total & i have a 1.5hp single speed pump - not a variable speed.
At opening I usually need some salt ($30) & about $25 of water, my cya doesn’t degrade much over winter usually.
Draining my pool isn’t an option & risks collapse/liner shift.
Edit to add: I prefer this approach also because it allows me to do it in stages. I do everything myself so it makes it much more manageable & less of a big deal than doing everything at once or fighting leaves

 

[primuspaul]

I use a solid cover & prescribe to the soft close/soft open method wherby those two extra months of operation you mentioned the pool is covered so it stays clean but still operating on a very reduced schedule (a couple hours a day). Fc demand is greatly reduced. I generally do this around the beginning of October and fully close around Halloween.
I can deploy my robot under the cover for a final sweep when its time to fully button it up, add my remaining necessary liquid chlorine (to slam level- no polyquat), do my oclt, then winterize the plumbing & resecure the cover.
I do this in reverse in the spring before the water temp gets much above 60. Starting usually in March getting everything hooked up then taking the cover off about mid April after the seed pods are finished falling.
My fc levels upon soft opening are generally high target or so.
To run my pool on the reduced schedule (1-2hrs/day) for 2 months costs me approximately $10 total & i have a 1.5hp single speed pump - not a variable speed.
At opening I usually need some salt ($30) & about $25 of water, my cya doesn’t degrade much over winter usually.
Draining my pool isn’t an option & risks collapse/liner shift.
Edit to add: I prefer this approach also because it allows me to do it in stages. I do everything myself so it makes it much more manageable & less of a big deal than doing everything at once or fighting leaves

Is the collapse/liner shift only an issue for your resin-type pool? Is it a thing for concrete pools?

 

[wmarq]

ery few pools have any CYA after the winter.

really? what happens to the cya over winter?

 

[Mdragger88]

Is the collapse/liner shift only an issue for your resin-type pool? Is it a thing for concrete pools?

I have a partially buried above ground pool with a vinyl liner.
Concrete pools can “pop” out of the ground when fully drained if the surrounding water table is too high.
Fully draining any pool except a temporary intex type pool is a risk.

Draining - Further Reading

www.google.com

 

[SoDel]

Is it true that Chlorine does not deteriorate in pool water as long as sunlight does not hit it?

Can’t be true because my FC tests zero when opening in the Spring. Never had algae. I don’t do anything special to the water at closing other than adjust TA so the CSI remains in range at the calculated pH ceiling down to 32 degrees F. As indicated by others, draining an in-ground pool can be risky so as a practical matter, if there’s algae in the water at opening, kill it with chlorine and filter the water (I’ve never had the misfortune of algae so I don’t know if killing it is that big of a deal but it doesn’t seem so — plenty of chlorine often and Bob’s your uncle). As far as “winterizing,” I don’t see any way to keep FC in the water over the long haul and fussing with it in the Winter isn’t for me so I got nothing for you there lol. Close it, forget it, deal with whatever when you open in Spring and your life will be simpler lol.

 

[JohnT]

really? what happens to the cya over winter?

Likely consumed by bacteria or otherwise decomposes. It’s nearly always zero in the spring.

 

[Mdragger88]

I fully closed in late October 2023 with fc 27, cya 70
Opened early April 2024 to fc 10.5 & cya 60.
So a 10ppm cya loss-

 

[Eauclaire]

A good rule of thumb is if you detect hydrogen sulphide (H2S) when you lose the ice cover and start your Spring cleanup, your CYA will be zero. The degradation pathways are well understood and occur in pockets of anoxia under ice cover.

 

[wmarq]

I fully closed in late October 2023 with fc 27, cya 70
Opened early April 2024 to fc 10.5 & cya 60.
So a 10ppm cya loss-

add anything over the winter at all ? chlorine?

 

[Mdragger88]

add anything over the winter at all ? chlorine?

Nope - I do usually dip my arm in around Christmas and again in February and grab a sample but I have yet to ever need to add anything in 10 years.
Around Christmas we tend to get a little warm spell (mid 80’s or so).

 

[Whynotme]

I winterize because I don't want a green mess in the spring.