To close or not to close ?

[rtpatter]

I have a 23k inground vinly in B'ham AL. I have a mesh loop loc cover which is used as much for child saftey as for keeping debris out. Last year I turned everything off and drained the filter. The temp's here rarely go below freezing. This year I was considering putting the cover on and leaving everything else as is and maybe running the filter for like an hour a week just for circulation.

Would I be better just to completely close it all down or put the cover on and periodically run the filter from time to time. What are the pro's and con's of each.

Thanks,
Russ

[DBC]

I am watching for a reply on this also. I live SW of Atlanta very similar weather. I installed IG this past spring with SWG. I put a Freeze switch on, have set at 38 degrees and plan to run pump normally 2 hours a day with Solid safety cover with mesh drains. Neighbor has had good success that way but with no cover.

[larry2338]

Here in Dothan AL, 16x32 inground vinyl, we leave ours open. Only thing I do is turn the pump on about 10:00 at night when it's supposed to get below 32 degrees, then turn it off in the morning when temps warm up. Pump then runs about 5 hours/day on the timer.

[aylad]

My IG in Northwest Louisiana stays open year round....we get very few consecutive nights below freezing here. When the water temp gets below 60 or so, I shock it and clean out any debris in it, and decrease my pump time to a couple of hours a day. If the weather is to get below 30 degrees, I run the pump at night and just shut it off in the mornings. Have done that for 5 winters, and have never had any problem except that I replace my pressure gauge yearly in the spring...once it gets wet and cold, it sticks and no longer works...no big deal. I run my Polaris once every couple of weeks, and find that my bleach usage drops to a little over a gallon every 10 days to 2 weeks. Much easier than closing, and that way when my water gets warm enough to swim, we're in the pool!

Janet

[rtpatter]

Well I had to make a trip to the pool store and the pool guy once again convinced me the most expensive option is the one I should take. He says with a mesh cover I have to keep the pump running 8 to 12 hours a day or algae will stain the pool and ruin the liner etc. Last year I just shut everything down and put on the mesh cover. It was dark geen water when I opened but a few days belach fixed that. He says to run the pump and test PH regularly to make sure it is in balance to keep from ruining the heater and liner. SO did I just get lucky last year when I shut everything down or is the pool guy just trying to make sure I'm using chemicals year round. Also how can I test the water with the loop lock bolted down I don't want to have to get the pry bar out just to get to the water. Also I'm afraid even with a timer on the pump and running 4 hours a day that something will freeze.

[elsie]

I'm guessing your mesh cover is the influencing factor here...I'm about 30 miles south of B'ham, and for the four years I've had my pool, I don't close, just cover with a solid cover. For the past month I've just been running the filter for about an hour a day to keep it circulated, and then for the handful of times we drop below freezing I let the pump run all night then turn off on way to work in a.m. as it never stays below freezing during the day. No sense for me to go to all that work of closing. Of course I would be in tough shape if we had a prolonged power outage AND the temps dropped below freezing.

If I don't feel like peeling a few waterbags off to get a water sample periodically (although I rarely do as my chlorine level stays stable until I uncover in May because the pool gets no sunlight), after running the pump for the afternoon I'll turn it off then take a sample from the secondary basket at the filter location. There should be no difference between this water sample and what's literally in the pool at any given moment -