I have/had a truly oddball setup for my IG pool...at least as compared to most of the others I read about. I have posted on here about it as I have worked through some issues over the years as I bought the house as a foreclosure.

My 12x24 IG pool used to have a sunroom built over top, so that made it kind of an "indoor" pool. The sunroom was not in great shape, so we decided to remove it. We did that last fall, installed a new liner this past spring, had a great swimming season (except for the cool summer!), and now I am doing my first full winterization.

Another "odd" part about my setup is my cartridge filter and pump are both in the basement of my house (the pool is actually right out the back door, with about a 4' sidewalk separating the pool from the house). This scares me from the standpoint of leaks or catastrophic pipe breaks, but it is great when it comes to keeping the equipment at a stable temp and out of the weather. I have one skimmer and two returns (the second return used to feed a fountain which was removed, I kept the line feeding it in case we ever want to use it in the future, it just sticks out of the concrete on the side opposite the house. I do use this to drain water from the pool, I attach a flexible hose to it and put the other end in the downspout drain).

So, first is winterizing the lines. Last year I didn't have a cover on the pool since we were replacing the liner anyway. I drained the lines by opening the valves in the basement and figured gravity allowed the water to exit the lines...but there was no real way for me to tell if they were truly void of any water. I did add anti-freeze. With no cover the skimmer basket kept getting water in it, so I kept adding anti-freeze, the cold winter kept me up at night. I don't want to go through that again this winter. I have done some research on blowing out the lines. My pump has that plug at the bottom that I can unscrew and hook my pancake compressor up to (which is what I do to flush my sprinkler lines for the season). However, I have read where some folks don't think that type of compressor will have the volume of air to do the job. If I do try this compressor, assuming I don't do something stupid like leaving a valve shut, can I do any harm? I do have a heater which is also in the basement, but it is shot and will be removed at some point, just not now. Thoughts on using the compressor?

The other issue is the cover. I bought a standard winter cover and was going to use water bags to anchor it. I also have a couple air pillows to help keeping it from sinking to the water level, especially if it gets some rain/snow on it. I have read where some folks now prefer not to cover, but I would prefer to keep all the junk out of it over the winter as we have a lot of trees around. I am guessing I will probably have to pump off some water from the cover over the winter if some low spots present themselves. Thoughts on this?

My last question is my filter cartridge. Should I keep it submerged in water all winter (either in the filter or in a garbage can) or take it out and store it dry?

Other than that, I should be good as the equipment is in a heated environment, correct?

Any input appreciated!!