Enclosure for pool equipment?

[voidpointer]

The equipment for my pool hasn't been set up yet. They've just laid down a concrete pad to put it on and ran the plumbing up to it. The plan was to just put a small fence around it. But I got to thinking: Ever since the Feb. freeze, I'm a little paranoid about having thousands of dollars of freeze damage to pool equipment.

Would it be worth it to get some type of enclosure built around the pool equipment? I'm not sure if sun, rain, freezing, other weathering is a problem. If I ask the PB to do this, I'm going to guess it will be a significant expense, but I'm not really sure yet. In Texas weather, is it practical to do this?

 

[Jimrahbe]

VP,

Here is what I did.. I have a small hot oil heater that turns on with freeze control. The problem here in Texas was not the cold, but the loss of electrical service. I was lucky and did not.

IMG_4124.JPG

• Jimrahbe
• Mar 26, 2017

Pad pic.jpg

• Jimrahbe
• Mar 26, 2017

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

An enclosure is nice but often can be more of a hassle. At a minimum you want to shade your equipment from the sun and perhaps have an easy way to put a temporary cover over it or tarp it. Freeze damage is way overblown unless you get freezing weather and power outages. And the problem with the Texas freeze was that people had no idea how to drain their equipment when the power went off and so the freeze hit with stagnant water in the equipment.

 

[voidpointer]

So rather than an enclosure, just educate myself on how to drain the equipment when they are unplugged / without power? Is that the practical advice I should be getting from what you said?

I'm still unsure if I should have the PB do something right away while the pool is being built, or do something relatively easy myself, or hire a contractor after the pool is done to build something. I think with the fence around it, I could reasonably throw a tarp over it to shade it. What would the tarp be for? Shade? In that case I would want something a little nicer for the long term right?

I appreciate the advice.

 

[Oona]

While my pool equipment isn’t set up, we live on a well and we do use well houses (or tarp) with a propane heater. We used the one below with the last freeze and it literally saved us $1000s

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09B79VZ9Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[Leebo]

So rather than an enclosure, just educate myself on how to drain the equipment when they are unplugged / without power? Is that the practical advice I should be getting from what you said?

Yes, absolutely that’s what I too would suggest. While spending cash to build a shed will help, there’s still the major issue that could occur, loss of power. Even with a shed if your power goes out due to freezing weather you do stand a chance things will freeze. The chance is reduced for sure, but it’s still there. Instead spend some time learning your system and how to winterize things. It’s free and way more effective. If you want a shed, by all means build one…….it’s not gonna hurt anything……but please, learn how to winterize your pad.

 

[voidpointer]

I'm encouraged by the fact that I should have no problem learning how to properly manage my equipment with this helpful community around. Everyone here is really fantastic. Thanks for the help. I'll forego the shed for now and just focus on educating myself.

 

[flynwill]

We put our equipment in a shed, but not for freeze concerns, but rather to protect the equipment from the sun and the rain. If you are going to build a fence or wall to hide the gear, a small shed roof is a minor addition.