This is our first year with a pool here in SC also (Kershaw County), so I'll be watching this part of the forum this year! Our neighbor has a small IG fiberglass "patio" pool (maybe 6' wide x 10' long and about 4-5' deep) and they didn't "close" their pool last year. I know that when we first opened the pool this spring and the water temps were low, we had to use very little bleach to keep the chlorine levels up. I'm figuring on just cutting the pump time down to a couple of hours during the night and keeping the chemicals balanced.