Each manufacturer's "cold" temperature is going to be different. The fact is, colder water temperatures tend to wear out the cell prematurely. Reducing the output until the low temp protection cut off kicks in, is fine to help your cell life. Turning it off and adding by hand is better. But for the most part, too many homeowners don't do anything. The result is overchlorination, premature cell wear, and pool equipment damage.

While AutoPilot's automatic temperature compensation will automatically adjust the output higher or lower, based upon water temperature changes, manually adjusting a swg without the temp compensation will have similar results (protecting the cell).

Your system is showing the COLD because it's hit the cold temp safety shut off, but as the water temps warm up, it turns back on. The good thing is that much less chlorine is needed with it's too cold out.