Using a patio heater to keep pool equipment from freezing up when power goes out

[texaspoolman57]

I have a portable patio heater that runs off a propane bottle. I am wondering if I would be able to run this patio heater adjacent to my pool equipment to keep it from freezing in the event the power goes off and it is below freezing.

Thoughts on this idea?

TIA

 

[Toxophilite]

It could work like smudge pots work to keep citrus trees alive during similar event, so I guess, as long as ventilation is considered and fumes can't vent to house eaves, it would work somewhat. When I was a kid, the highway department used to discard these along the road, and some folks used them as smudge pots as well:

 

[texaspoolman57]

It could work like smudge pots work to keep citrus trees alive during similar event, so I guess, as long as ventilation is considered and fumes can't vent to house eaves, it would work somewhat. When I was a kid, the highway department used to discard these along the road, and some folks used them as smudge pots as well:

View attachment 461123

Thanks, I have plenty of ventilation as my pool equipment is out in the corner of my property and not even close to the house.

These patio heaters are designed to keep the people under them and around them warm on cold nights.

I have a brand new patio heater in the box that was never opened and given to me. I was thinking of selling it and then one night I woke up and it hit me that perhaps this could keep my pool equipment from freezing if the power goes out and it is at or below freezing.

I think I am going to keep it and plan on it as an emergency back up to keep my equipment safe from freeze damage.

All I would need to do is purchase or rent a propane bottle from Lowe's or Home Depot and have it on hand.

A few years back our power went out in Texas and people's pool equipment was damaged from freeze over. Fortunately for me our power only went out for no more than about 40 minutes and my equipment was spared but it was not a pleasant experience.

 

[Toxophilite]

Yep, well remember the event and lived through it myself, though no pool at the time. It would take some preparedness, as the first thing to go off the shelves will be bottles of propane. IIRC, those bottles will run a deck heater about 1/2 day of full run. I keep a 250 gallon tank of propane for house, but it did me little good with the furnace not able to run. I did use my stove to survive!

 

[HermanTX]

Thanks, I have plenty of ventilation as my pool equipment is out in the corner of my property and not even close to the house.

These patio heaters are designed to keep the people under them and around them warm on cold nights.

I have a brand new patio heater in the box that was never opened and given to me. I was thinking of selling it and then one night I woke up and it hit me that perhaps this could keep my pool equipment from freezing if the power goes out and it is at or below freezing.

I think I am going to keep it and plan on it as an emergency back up to keep my equipment safe from freeze damage.

All I would need to do is purchase or rent a propane bottle from Lowe's or Home Depot and have it on hand.

A few years back our power went out in Texas and people's pool equipment was damaged from freeze over. Fortunately for me our power only went out for no more than about 40 minutes and my equipment was spared but it was not a pleasant experience.

While using a heater has it advantages, it may not be completely fool proof to prevent freezing when the electricity is out.
You should have a plan to know where the drain plugs are for the pump, filter, and heater. Your pool can survive without circulation if you prepare the pool by ensuring it is balanced and you can additional chlorine in prior to losing power and let it circulate. Cold water does not promote algae growth so you don’t need much.

 

[texaspoolman57]

While using a heater has it advantages, it may not be completely fool proof to prevent freezing when the electricity is out.
You should have a plan to know where the drain plugs are for the pump, filter, and heater. Your pool can survive without circulation if you prepare the pool by ensuring it is balanced and you can additional chlorine in prior to losing power and let it circulate. Cold water does not promote algae growth so you don’t need much.

Thanks, yes I am completely familiar with my pool equipment as I do all the servicing myself. I have replaced the pump, motor installed new plumbing, do my own filter cleaning, installed new heater capacitor etc etc. so I am very familiar with all the drain plugs.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Here in Georgia Skippy usually covers the equipment during freeze nights with a heavy moving blanket and plastic tarp, and hangs a work light under (the kind you used to hang off the hood of your car to work on the engine).

 

[Toxophilite]

Here in Georgia Skippy usually covers the equipment during freeze nights with a heavy moving blanket and plastic tarp, and hangs a work light under (the kind you used to hang off the hood of your car to work on the engine).

That works good here as well, since the freezes are far between warmer days. There's still plenty of ground heat, and even without a heat source it will feel like a warm hot house beneath the tenting if you seal it to ground well enough to keep wind out.

 

[texaspoolman57]

That's all fine if you have a power source, the grid but if the power goes off and you do not have an alternate source of power such as a gas generator to keep it running then.................

 

[Toxophilite]

That's all fine if you have a power source, the grid but if the power goes off and you do not have an alternate source of power such as a gas generator to keep it running then.................

My water well was under a plastic fake boulder during that entire freeze out we had in Texas. No power and it not running. Even after days of freezing temps, it was warm under that rock. The ground heat was sufficient for that duration.

 

[Leebo]

so I am very familiar with all the drain plugs.

This part of the thread is major. Many down south didn’t have the knowledge of where the drain plugs were as they never needed them in the past. The heater will help, but draining the system in a pinch is a huge safety net. If things hit the fan again, I myself would simply setup the heater right over the equipment and use it to keep myself warm while I drain the system……then turn off the heat and forget about the pool for a few days.

 

[Toxophilite]

This part of the thread is major. Many down south didn’t have the knowledge of where the drain plugs were as they never needed them in the past. The heater will help, but draining the system in a pinch is a huge safety net. If things hit the fan again, I myself would simply setup the heater right over the equipment and use it to keep myself warm while I drain the system……then turn off the heat and forget about the pool for a few days.

While I've never contemplated past knowing where some of the drain plugs are on my equipment, would it be safe to assume that if all vertical piping and pad are above pool, draining those points is sufficient? Asking from pure ignorance on draining system for freeze.

 

[HermanTX]

I myself would simply setup the heater right over the equipment and use it to keep myself warm while I drain the system……then turn off the heat and forget about the pool for a few days.

This is so true, cause if it is 20 deg F and wind blowing, the heater is more beneficial to the human while you drain the equipment.

 

[texaspoolman57]

Just as a point in reference. Last year here in texas the temperatures got well below freezing, in the teens for more than 24 hours. The power was out in many cases for more than 2 days (out in Fort Worth). My son lives out there and has a pool and his power was out for 3 days. He did not drain anything and his equipment was damaged (heater and salt cell). My power was out for 40 minutes, 3 times on the same day with about an hour and a half between outages. I did not drain anything during that day and all was fine thank goodness. When the power was on I used a small space heater and covered everything in blankets and I had zero damage. I thought about draining things but chose not to. Looking back I have no idea how close I was to a failure. It was a scary experience for sure.

If the water is already frozen then pulling the drain plugs doesn't do a thing. The plugs have to be removed before anything freezes up.

 

[jark87]

We were lucky during the heavy freeze a couple of years ago. I had covered the equipment with a tarp, hoping to trap heat from the pump motor, which was running 24x7 due to below freezing temps. Our power cycled off and on quite a bit, but was never off for more than 2-3 hours at a time. We didn’t have any freeze damage to the pool equipment.

 

[Newdude]

if it is 20 deg F and wind blowing, the heater is more beneficial to the human while you drain the equipment

If it's 20 and windy, the heater isn't helping the owner OR the equipment. Wind chill is a force to be reckoned with, like a hair dryer in reverse.

The equipment needs to be tented to stop the wind, and that creates issues for the heater, because a makeshift tent with enough clearance for the heater will be easy to blow away.

 

[Newdude]

If the water is already frozen then pulling the drain plugs doesn't do a thing. The plugs have to be removed before anything freezes up.

And what we learned last time, was that when we kept the water from freezing with the pumps running, the water temp was well into the 20s, if not the low 20s.

Coupled with the relentless wind providing a ridiculous amount of cooling BTUs, It froze far faster than water at 'freezing' temperature. Instead of taking a couple hours, things were bricked in minutes in some cases.

 

[HermanTX]

I thought about draining things but chose not to. Looking back I have no idea how close I was to a failure. It was a scary experience for sure.

I was in similar situation with outside temperatures in 20’s. My system was fully covered with tarp and internal temperature stayed in high 30’s, but my plan was to drain the system if power off exceeded 90 mins. No science other than given I was above freezing to start. I also monitored water in pump basket.

 

[gkw4815]

We closed on our house last April, it was vacant when the freeze hit and lost power for at least a day or so. I doubt that the pool equipment was winterized, but it might have been (seller didn't seem at all mechanically inclined...)

I only discovered the freeze damage to the pool equipment after we had been in the house for a couple of months:

-A hairline crack to one Jandy valve that had been left completely shut (only dripped when the waterfalls were running). Easy replacement.
-Hairline crack/leak on the filter. I'm not positive that this was caused by the freeze, but in any case the filter was 25 years old so we went ahead and replaced it.

I've since installed an interlocked generator inlet, a natural gas quick-connect fitting T'd off the pool heater gas line, and I've purchased a big Westinghouse generator and converted it to tri-fuel. It easily runs the house and pool pump. Only requires a bit of load management if I need to run the central AC (but it will run it). Actually had to use it last night, when the line of storms that blew through TX knocked out our power for ~8 hours.

If another major freeze hits, I'll probably drain all of the equipment instead of trying to keep it running on grid or generator power. But good to have options. Propane heater doesn't sound like a bad idea, but IMO a generator is worth it to keep the rest of your house comfortable and minimize damage from frozen/burst pipes in the attic.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Here in Georgia Skippy usually covers the equipment during freeze nights with a heavy moving blanket and plastic tarp, and hangs a work light under (the kind you used to hang off the hood of your car to work on the engine).

I forgot to say- we always run the pump all night on freeze nights. Usually the days go above freezing so we don't run them then.