I'm torn whether I should run my new solar pool panels during the colder months. Right now the water is hovering around 58-60 F, which is the bottom of the range for my chlorinator to produce any chlorine. I could turn it off to keep water out of the panels in case of freezing or on the other hand, run it during the day (during winter I run pump 4hr/day) to push the water temp up a few more degrees to help produce chlorine. The lines drain from the roof once the pump is turned off, so I'm inclined to keep it on. What would be the best strategy here?
Run Pool Solar during Winter Months in SoCal?
- Thread starter locutusut
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Welcome to TFP!
I stop running my SWG and solar once the water gets into the 60s. The chlorine consumption is so low when the water is colder. I just add a jug of bleach every week or two or three. The colder it is the less FC the pool needs. I turn solar back on a month or so before I want to try to start swimming to start heating up the mass, gunite and ground around the pool.
I stop running my SWG and solar once the water gets into the 60s. The chlorine consumption is so low when the water is colder. I just add a jug of bleach every week or two or three. The colder it is the less FC the pool needs. I turn solar back on a month or so before I want to try to start swimming to start heating up the mass, gunite and ground around the pool.
Thank you and thanks for the advice. I'll turn it off then too.
I've been using Pool Calculator to figure out how much bleach to add. Yesterday it said add 50oz of 10% bleach to get it from 1 to 3 ppm, which I thought would be a little much for the cold water temp. I looked at the chlorine today and it was well above that, probably closer to 4-5ppm so I'll cut back from that next time. It's going to rain here the next few days so it will dilute again and then back at it again next weekend.
I've been using Pool Calculator to figure out how much bleach to add. Yesterday it said add 50oz of 10% bleach to get it from 1 to 3 ppm, which I thought would be a little much for the cold water temp. I looked at the chlorine today and it was well above that, probably closer to 4-5ppm so I'll cut back from that next time. It's going to rain here the next few days so it will dilute again and then back at it again next weekend.