For us in the South (USA), how often do you clean/brush/etc. in the winter?

[red-beard]

I pull the solar cover off weekly and clean out the leaves. So far, the solar cover is keeping the water temperature around 60-62F. Hayward manual says the unit will operate down to 50F.

Anyway, my lawn guy is not being as careful with the leaf blower as during the regular part of the year. LOTS of leaves. Again, I'm cleaning the cover weekly, then pulling the cover off and cleaning the pool, with a robot assist.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Here is my rough schedule of Winter vs Summer

Skimmers - Winter: Every 2 days / Summer: Weekly
Testing (TC and PH) - Winter: Every 3-4 days / Summer: Daily
Testing (full TF100) - Winter: Monthly / Summer : Weekly
Adding chlorine - Winter: I just have a floater with pucks since my CYA is low / Summer: I'll tweak the SWCG output monthly or so
Robot - Weekly in both the winter and summer. Note, I could probably run the robot more in the winter especially on windy days, but I like to store it in the shed and only pull it out once a week.
Brushing - Weekly in both, usually just the spa/steps/tanning as I'm putting the robot in the pool.

 

[Nikilyn]

@JJ_Tex Why do you check the skimmer so much more often in winter than summer?

 

[Wobblerlorri]

I cover my pool, and have a leaf net over that. Clean the leaf net every two weeks, check FC weekly and add chlorine as needed, pump off the cover as needed. Only time the brush hits the water is to blend chlorine in -- ain't taking that winter cover off!

 

[red-beard]

Nikilyn, I check quite often as well. This is the time of year leaves fall off the trees. First frost here is usually December. In fact, I just had an issue which I think was caused by high vacuum from the skimmers being plugged. I'm pool testing about every 2-4 weeks.

Here is a picture with the pool covered

 

[JJ_Tex]

@JJ_Tex Why do you check the skimmer so much more often in winter than summer?

Our "fall" lasts from about December to March. Right now I'm looking at a bunch of trees with half their leaves on them. What doesnt fall off in the winter will be pushed off when the trees start budding in the spring.

After than final fall of leaves in the spring, its time to start mowing the grass and you dont really have to worry about leaves. I throw on the skimmer socks at that point and let my skimmers catch kid hair, dust, grass clippings, etc.

 

[Nikilyn]

That makes sense. Our fall is right now also. We used to have a tree that actually changed color and lost its leaves. It would happen in January .

 

[H-12 1/2 Mike]

I check ph, salt level and Cl every other day. Full chemical check every two weeks. Empty skimmer every day and use robot for leaves every other day. We have a cedar elm that my wife won’t let me cut down and they are messy!

 

[Teenwolf74]

This is our first year with the pool, but we have it uncovered. We check skimmers every couple of days and net leaves as needed, we check chemicals and do a full brush/vacuum on Sunday afternoons. We havent had our robot in since the temp got below 40 since everything I've read says that cold water can damage the seals/gaskets.

Honestly, it only takes about an hour or so tops per week and we haven't had to add much chemicals at all.

 

[clduncan]

I have a cover on the pool, I check FC/Ph weekly. I run the vacuum every other week and brush the pool after the vacuum is done. I run the pump for 6 hours daily no worries for me.

 

[jark87]

My winter routine is very similar to those above: roughly a weekly test of TC, pH and TA; monthly for salt unless heavy rain. I clean skimmer baskets at least 1x per week. I keep the old school in-wall cleaner in the pool, but since I have a good leaf cover, I only run it a couple of times during the winter. I know debris gets in (hence cleaning the skimmer baskets), but I can’t see anything and getting the cleaner out to empty the bag is kind of a pain with the cover. I also keep the hair net things on my skimmer baskets year-round.

And back to your original question: unfortunately I don’t brush at all during the winter. Too much effort to take the cover off. Yes, I’ll have quite a bit of “dust” come springtime, but my pool opening usually only takes a day or less to get it cleaned up.