Quick Question for those in SE Texas - Pool Temperatures During the January 2024 Freeze Event

[gkw4815]

All indications are that our pool equipment (and other exterior plumbing) survived the January 2024 winter freeze without damage. I left the main pump running in freeze protect mode and drained the separate water feature pump + made sure that no valves were fully-closed. I'm in the Houston area and saw minimum overnight lows of ~20 degrees Monday and Tuesday night this week. Only minor glitch was that my manual pool fill valve froze up, despite me wrapping it up tightly, but now that it's thawed it is working fine and not leaking.

Perusing this forum + pool-related facebook groups, I'm seeing that many in TX saw water temps in the 40s or even all the way to or below freezing. My own water temperature (as indicated by the iAqualink app) dropped from ~60 degrees prior to the freeze to a low of 50 degrees, and is currently up into the mid-50s. I'm a bit surprised that it didn't drop lower, although I guess this depends somewhat on the size of the pool / thermal mass of the water. I'm second guessing the accuracy of my water temperature gauge at low temps (air temperature gauge tracked closely with that reported by my HVAC system, which also has an exterior thermometer).

Just curious, for those in the SE Texas / Houston area - how cold did your water get?

 

[pjt]

My water bottomed out at 40°. Currently showing 46°.

 

[Newdude]

Just curious, for those in the SE Texas / Houston area - how cold did your water get?

It might be a stretch to be able to check the temps. Texans going outside be all like

 

[Zalligan]

Think there's too many variables here to draw any useful conclusions. Size of pool as you mentioned plays a huge role - pool volume, surface area, circulation/turnover, whether the pool is covered or not, etc etc.

That said, bit north of you here in the DFW area, but my pool temp was 49 on Jan 8 before the freeze and reached a low of 38 degrees on the 17th. Pool ran in freeze protect the whole time with equipment pad tarped, and the pool itself is covered with a looploc pool cover.

 

[KevMo]

I live a little north of Houston. My pool water temperature sensor got down to 34F. Freeze protection ran for close to 48 hours. Tuesday morning I had a thin layer of ice that was about 35 sq ft. I had my equipment pad tarp with a heat lamp. Everything survived,mbut I was probably not far from having some serious problems.

 

[stshields91]

Also north of DFW with a 15X30 pool, Tanning ledge and spa in the shallow end and 5.5' deep end. My water temp started at ~50 degrees before the temps dropped and bottomed out around 33 or 32 degrees. on the third morning of below freezing temps My pool developed a solid cover of ice about 3/4" thick. I when out to break it up but soon wished I hadn't as the ice chunks started collecting in the skimmer. Equip pad was covered in old sleeping bags, Heater and Filter covered in insulation with heat lamps under a tarp. My pool is new with the first spa use on Dec 23rd. I was freaked out! but survived, as far as I know so far, without damage.

 

[DavidArmenB]

(air temperature gauge tracked closely with that reported by my HVAC system, which also has an exterior thermometer).

Off topic but what thermostat do you use that supports a local external temp sensor?? I like my ecobee with the interior sensors for each room to average out temps in the entire house but I don’t think it supports an external temp sensor.

 

[txgunlover]

All 3 of our Trane systems' thermostats have external temp sensors along with multiple (per room) sensors per thermostat.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Off topic but what thermostat do you use that supports a local external temp sensor?? I like my ecobee with the interior sensors for each room to average out temps in the entire house but I don’t think it supports an external temp sensor.

Our Ecobee will display the external temp on the main screen. There is no external temp sensor, but it pulls in the temp for your zip code.

 

[HermanTX]

All indications are that our pool equipment (and other exterior plumbing) survived the January 2024 winter freeze without damage. I left the main pump running in freeze protect mode and drained the separate water feature pump + made sure that no valves were fully-closed. I'm in the Houston area and saw minimum overnight lows of ~20 degrees Monday and Tuesday night this week. Only minor glitch was that my manual pool fill valve froze up, despite me wrapping it up tightly, but now that it's thawed it is working fine and not leaking.

Perusing this forum + pool-related facebook groups, I'm seeing that many in TX saw water temps in the 40s or even all the way to or below freezing. My own water temperature (as indicated by the iAqualink app) dropped from ~60 degrees prior to the freeze to a low of 50 degrees, and is currently up into the mid-50s. I'm a bit surprised that it didn't drop lower, although I guess this depends somewhat on the size of the pool / thermal mass of the water. I'm second guessing the accuracy of my water temperature gauge at low temps (air temperature gauge tracked closely with that reported by my HVAC system, which also has an exterior thermometer).

Just curious, for those in the SE Texas / Houston area - how cold did your water get?

My pool hit 43 degrees F. if you are concerned about your temperature probe - either the water or the air, then you can test it or just replace it. Amazon has 3rd party products that do just as well as the Jandy OEM.

You can test your water probe by putting a digital thermometer in your pool and compare. It may not exactly match but should be close. You can do same with air temperature by measuring with a proper air thermometer.

 

[HermanTX]

Off topic but what thermostat do you use that supports a local external temp sensor?? I like my ecobee with the interior sensors for each room to average out temps in the entire house but I don’t think it supports an external temp sensor.

I use a Tempest weather station - about $200 (I think) is mounted in my yard and it links wirelessly. I have an app on my phone. It also links to the Rachio sprinkler system if you need a spinkler controller.

 

[gkw4815]

Off topic but what thermostat do you use that supports a local external temp sensor?? I like my ecobee with the interior sensors for each room to average out temps in the entire house but I don’t think it supports an external temp sensor.

Our main AC is a Carrier Infinity system with a communicating thermostat that can communicate with the exterior compressor/condenser unit, report error codes, etc. It also reads temperatures that I assume are reported from a sensor on the compressor/condenser, as the unit isn't wifi-connected and doesn't have any standalone exterior sensor that I've found.

The system works well, but is complicated/proprietary, and when it eventually dies I'll replace it with a simpler two-stage unit with an Ecobee thermostat. Our other ACs are all controlled by Ecobee thermostats, which I'm pleased with.

 

[gkw4815]

My pool hit 43 degrees F. if you are concerned about your temperature probe - either the water or the air, then you can test it or just replace it. Amazon has 3rd party products that do just as well as the Jandy OEM.

You can test your water probe by putting a digital thermometer in your pool and compare. It may not exactly match but should be close. You can do same with air temperature by measuring with a proper air thermometer.

I'll try that.

FWIW, for "normal" pool and spa temperatures (~60s to low 100s), the temperatures reported by my iAqualink probe and read by my heater control panel are within a couple of degrees of one another. I should've checked what the heater was reading during last week's cold snap. If there's a divergence, it seems to only show up at low temperatures.

And I guess it's possible that my pool simply didn't cool down as much as some others. It's ~25k gallons with a dark bottom, FWIW.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

In Central Texas, my water was 53F before the freeze, got down to 39F (during prolonged air temp of 15-20F), and now back up to 44, as per AquaLink.

 

[SJPoe]

My Pool is NOT in SE Texas, but it IS in a deep freeze (Mid-Michigan).

Yes...there is a pool there...
Even now, after a week of sub-freezing temps, the bulk of the water is still in the 40s - just the top foot is probably solid
A lot depends on where you measure the temp - my pool probe is about 3 feet deep in the deep end - closer to the surface would see more fluctuation (until it froze at least)

 

[gkw4815]

The votes are in:

Aqualink: 54 degrees
Heater: 53 degrees
SWG: 55 degrees
Meat thermometer: 52 degrees

Close enough, I'd say, but I'll cross-check again if we get another cold snap this winter.

 

[Mayorb]

Southwest Houston water averaged about 45F.