When is it OK to open a pool in Long Island

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M

Mandrake

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May 26, 2016
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Setauket
Hi,

With Spring rapidly approaching, I am itching to open my pool soon. I usually open it in the middle of April (I have a mesh grid cover, so it takes 2-3 weeks for water to clear), but I am thinking of opening it sooner this year, maybe even towards the end of March. I have a gas heater and due to pandemics, we are staying home, so I was thinking that maybe I can start using it in April.
I also have a solar heater on the roof, but I am not planning to use it until at least May 1st (to make sure it does not freeze and destroy the panels).

Is there any drawback to opening the pool early ?

Thanks!
 
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Hey Mandrake !! So here’s the deal for us. The spring is all over the place. Today was almost 70 so those thoughts start creeping in, but it will cool off again and possibly even freeze for a while. When it is really *time* it will of course be cooler and ‘Meh, I can wait 3 more weeks, it’s too chilly to want to swim anyway’. BOOM, swamp. That’s what happened to me last year. I opened ‘early’ per the water temps but way too late for all the warm days we had here and there.

You’d be best opening soon and if we happen to get a cold spell, just run the pump for the 3 days it’s bad. Or it warms up altogether and you are ahead of the game.
 
Thanks Newdude,

I am perfectly fine not swimming if the weather is bad - I like the view of the open pool way more than I like it covered :)
I just want to make sure I don't ruin anything with opening too early. I was particularly concerned with the solar heater (since it's thin), but I guess if I don't get the water up there I should be fine. I have a variable speed pump, so I can run it for days, no problem.
 
If you are certain you have seen the last of the hard freezes in your area you should be fine to open the pool. A few hours below freezing can be managed by keeping the pump running. If you expect a few days where the temp never rises above freezing then you may want to stay closed a little longer. Look into what the expected long range outlook is for your particular area before you decide.
 
Mandrake said:
I just want to make sure I don't ruin anything with opening too early
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Nope, nothing to ruin. In 2 weeks or so we should be over the hump for any extended freezes. If we get an oops, you won't even know the pump ran for a few days. I ran my VS pump 24/7 for about $20 a month

I always preferred looking at the water too so I inadvertently opened really early every year with clear water. Last year cooled back off in the early spring and I waited because of it. I still opened early, just not super early and I was punished.

The solar cover won't care either. :)
 
I’m on Long Island also and the weather these past few days has me thinking the same thing. Looks like the weather will be cool again for a little bit but I’m thinking that I’ll open on the next warm weekend we have. Or the first week or so in April. Whichever comes first. A little nervous about my first time opening it up, since it was built in May. But, this site has me confident that I can do it. 💪🏻
 
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We just put it on the calendar to open the weekend of April 3. I was really pushing for end of March, but I'll settle. HA! I can't wait!
 

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Mjwall82 said:
Do you think that if I had opened on one of those 70 degree days that I would be fine running the pump 24/7?
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Oh yeah. It will take longer for the water to get to freezing than the cold blast is gonna last. You probably wouldn’t have even needed to run the pump today because your water is still well into the 40s We should be done with the worst of it in another week or two.
 
Mjwall82 said:
I’m on Long Island also and the weather these past few days has me thinking the same thing. Looks like the weather will be cool again for a little bit but I’m thinking that I’ll open on the next warm weekend we have. Or the first week or so in April. Whichever comes first. A little nervous about my first time opening it up, since it was built in May. But, this site has me confident that I can do it. 💪🏻
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Opening is much easier then closing. You need to know the pool equipment and understand what needs to be buttoned up before powering up. Make sure you understand the valve positions and what goes where. Very important make sure not to dead head the pump otherwise you can damage stuff. Have o ring lube on hand too. The rest is easy.
 
wireform said:
Opening is much easier then closing. You need to know the pool equipment and understand what needs to be buttoned up before powering up. Make sure you understand the valve positions and what goes where. Very important make sure not to dead head the pump otherwise you can damage stuff. Have o ring lube on hand too. The rest is easy.
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Well I took pictures of the equipment pad and valves before it was closed and I just ordered some O ring lube. Maybe I’ll start a thread once I’ve got everything in place and ready to turn on just to make sure I’ve got everything correct.
 
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ajw22 said:
I hope you ordered silicone based lube and not PTFE based.

Pool Lube - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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I should have known that there was a pool lube article. There’s an article for everything here. This is what I ordered. Still time to cancel the order. What do you think?
 

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