Keeping Pool Open - First Timer Decision

[cpachris]

Looking for some good advice from those that have lived this decision before. We put our pool in this summer and it is our first. Everything has gone "swimmingly" well (pun intended) but I'm now faced with either closing the pool for the season, or keeping it open. I'm located in Oklahoma, and we are going to have an early cold spell starting this weekend with 3 straight days of temps dipping down below freezing. Would love to hear from other Oklahoma/Texas pool owners and why they choose to keep pool open or close it. Also...a few specific questions below:

- Other than utility costs (fairly cheap here in Edmond, OK) is there a compelling reason to shut the pool down?
- If I just keep my heater running all winter is there any real chance of damage to pipes?
- Other considerations?

Our spa is a separate stand-alone unit from the pool so that portion of the equation is not in play here.

Have enjoyed and really leaned on the advice from this community so far. Appreciate the additional help in advance.

 

[wireform]

Your signature doesn't show a pool cover and that being the case how will it maintain temperature. Are you prepared for a power outage while in a deep freeze. All things considered if the pool won't get used very much it would be better to winterize and leave dormant till next season.

 

[cpachris]

I don't have a pool cover, but do have a generator which "should" be able to keep pumps running. I have not yet experienced what the water temps will do in extremely cold weather. I've been running the pumps/heater 24/7 since I opened the pool this summer. Water stays at a 90 degree (wife mandated) temperature. Will that be impossible in the winter? And if it is, does the water at least stay warm enough to prevent freezing/damage? It just seems like so much work to shut it down for a couple of months. But I have zero experience.

 

[mgtfp]

I don't know, but maintaining 90° through winter without a cover sounds like literally heating the sky to me. Even if it's cheap, it's a waste of resources.

 

[wireform]

You will also experience massive evaporation and besides the standard pool heaters suffer from condensation as they're not designed for running through freezing temps.

 

[reggiehammond]

Here in N Texas - "closing" a pool is simply not a thing. There's no need to heat your pool during winter if you're not trying to use it. I just run the pool as I do in the summer, and let water temps do what they will. With continuous circulation during a freezing event (which your pumps will do automatically), it's a non-issue.

The only issue I've (and most others) ever had was the bad freeze a few years ago with 4+ days of power outage. You'll just need to know how to drain the filter and pump(s) quickly in that event, but that storm was a freak event.

Your SWCG will eventually shut down when water temps get too low (50-60's) but that's a non-issue as FC demand is basically zero at that point. I use a couple of chlorine tabs in a floater during those few months but the usage is very minimal.

 

[cpachris]

I don't know, but maintaining 90° through winter without a cover sounds like literally heating the sky to me. Even if it's cheap, it's a waste of resources.

I probably should get a cover @mgtfp . And we definitely wouldn't keep it at 90 in the winter. That is just the standard temp for my wife this summer/fall.

You will also experience massive evaporation and besides the standard pool heaters suffer from condensation as they're not designed for running through freezing temps.

@wireform Would the evaporation be worse than during the summer/fall? Would a cover help with evaporation? For some reason I thought the heater issues were starting them with water temps below a certain temp. If I was simply keeping water above a certain temp, does that create heater issues?

Here in N Texas - "closing" a pool is simply not a thing. There's no need to heat your pool during winter if you're not trying to use it. I just run the pool as I do in the summer, and let water temps do what they will. With continuous circulation during a freezing event (which your pumps will do automatically), it's a non-issue.

The only issue I've (and most others) ever had was the bad freeze a few years ago with 4+ days of power outage. You'll just need to know how to drain the filter and pump(s) quickly in that event, but that storm was a freak event.

Your SWCG will eventually shut down when water temps get too low (50-60's) but that's a non-issue as FC demand is basically zero at that point. I use a couple of chlorine tabs in a floater during those few months but the usage is very minimal.

@reggiehammond interesting....no heat at all, huh? i've only seen two utility bills since we started running pumps, and not even a full month since we started with the heater. But it doesn't seem like it would take much to keep the water heated to some degree. Does the SWG need something done with it during winter? Or it just becomes ineffective?

 

[reggiehammond]

No - why would you heat a pool you're not using? It will cost you exponentially more to keep the pool at 80ºF when it's in the 40's at night, versus summer temps. There's zero benefit to keeping the water warm if you're not swimming. Just setting money on fire, and creating FC demand that otherwise wouldn't exist.

SWCG eventually shuts down due to low water temp and I turn it off. Nothing else to do.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Most people here just keep their water moving as their freeze protection, with a backup plan to quickly drain if you have some sort of failure of power or equipment in a deep freeze.

Running your heater in the winter can lead to damage from the condensation at certain temps when it cylcles on/off. Make sure you read up on that if you are planning on using your heater too much over the winter:

Heater Condensation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kjmoriarty]

Here in N Texas - "closing" a pool is simply not a thing. There's no need to heat your pool during winter if you're not trying to use it. I just run the pool as I do in the summer, and let water temps do what they will. With continuous circulation during a freezing event (which your pumps will do automatically), it's a non-issue.

The only issue I've (and most others) ever had was the bad freeze a few years ago with 4+ days of power outage. You'll just need to know how to drain the filter and pump(s) quickly in that event, but that storm was a freak event.

Your SWCG will eventually shut down when water temps get too low (50-60's) but that's a non-issue as FC demand is basically zero at that point. I use a couple of chlorine tabs in a floater during those few months but the usage is very minimal.

I’m in North Texas and I don’t close my pool. It’s not heated. I just run the pump for about 5-6 hrs a day and have my freeze-protect set at 35 degrees. I have a plan on how to drain the pump/filter if I lose power during a deep freeze. Haven’t had to do that yet. I have 2 skimmers and put one 3” chlorine tab in each every few weeks or so.

 

[wireform]

Kj
5-6 hours a day means the chlorine tab is sitting in the skimmer basket the rest of the time. By the time the pump goes on for the next cycle you're bringing highly acidic water through your pump again and again day in day out which isn't healthy for your pump. You would be better off having a floater in the water.

 

[RHanna]

The first winter I just ran the pump 24-7 and when it really dropped down I ran it a little faster. There was a week that the temp dropped enough that if the power went out I would have been screwed. Now I just winterize it for piece of mind. I don't have a cover either and it will accumulate a lot of leaves over the full winter but I'd rather not worry about it. Winterized or not it will require work in the spring to remove the junk in the pool, you aren't supposed to run a pool vacuum under a certain temp.

What type of generator do you have? You'd have to have it wired through the main panel to keep the pump running I would think. Also be aware that if it does drop below freezing and you lose power and decide to try and winterize it's going to suck big time.

 

[Hootz]

Most likely you would be ok just keeping the water moving. There is a risk of equipment failure when you most need it and the repair costs rise exponentially in those cases. I have always winterized..once the cover is on it gives me a break from pool maintenance until spring.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Looking for some good advice from those that have lived this decision before. We put our pool in this summer and it is our first. Everything has gone "swimmingly" well (pun intended) but I'm now faced with either closing the pool for the season, or keeping it open. I'm located in Oklahoma, and we are going to have an early cold spell starting this weekend with 3 straight days of temps dipping down below freezing. Would love to hear from other Oklahoma/Texas pool owners and why they choose to keep pool open or close it. Also...a few specific questions below:

- Other than utility costs (fairly cheap here in Edmond, OK) is there a compelling reason to shut the pool down?
- If I just keep my heater running all winter is there any real chance of damage to pipes?
- Other considerations?

Our spa is a separate stand-alone unit from the pool so that portion of the equation is not in play here.

Have enjoyed and really leaned on the advice from this community so far. Appreciate the additional help in advance.

I am just up the tpke from you in the Tulsa area. I am wrapping up season #4 since I had my pool built. I keep it open year round, as doing a little bit of testing and maintaining the water throughout the winter with liquid chlorine additions, seems to me to be a better option than fully closing, and opening to a potential mess in the spring. Plus I get the benefit of looking at the water all year, and if we have a warm weekend in March, I can always kick on the heater and we can go swimming.

I also have an attached spa, so that does play into the equation a bit. I wouldn't be able to use it if I fully closed.

No issues with freezing as long as the water is moving. Even through the arctic blast we had a couple years ago, I tented my equipment pad to keep the wind off of it, and fortunately my power stayed on, so no issues. The surface of the pool and spa mostly froze over but no damage and the water kept moving.

--Jeff