This is my first winter owning a pool, and I have a few questions. I have a 20,000-gallon in-ground vinyl liner pool with a sand filter. Now that swimming season is over, what should I do to prepare for winter?
Can I just cover it and forget about it until March? If I decide to shut it down for the season now, do I still need to check the skimmer every day?
Just keep the pump running when it’s below freezing, and everything will be okay. If you have a saltwater chlorinator, it won’t work when it’s under 55 degrees, so you’ll need to add regular chlorine instead. It’s easy to take care of if you don’t close the pool. I’ve had my pool for three seasons, and I haven’t closed it at all. I live in Arkansas, where we have more freezing days.
I’m in Kentucky, and we winterize our pool by blowing out and sealing the pipes. We put RV antifreeze in the skimmer and then install a “Gizmo” to prevent ice from damaging the skimmer. After backwashing the filter, we remove all the plugs from the filter and pump. We decide when to close the pool based on when the leaves fall, and then we put on the winter cover with a cover pump.
In the Texas Gulf Coast, we don’t winterize our pools. Instead, we just run the pumps for less time and turn down the chlorinator settings. What do your neighbors do? Do you have real winters where you live?
I’m not sure how cold your winters get, but I suggest you “winterize” the pool. This means blowing out and sealing the plumbing, draining the filter and pump, and covering the pool. You can find helpful videos on YouTube. I usually disconnect my pump and bring it inside for the winter, but I know many people don’t do that.
I live in central Texas, and we keep our pool open all year. It requires much less maintenance during the winter, but I still run the pump every day, just for fewer hours. You can ask your neighbors; they know the weather in your area better than we do. Generally, if it doesn’t freeze for more than 24 hours at a time in winter, you should be fine letting the pool go into freeze mode when necessary.
We got our pool about two months before the big freeze a few years ago, which damaged our heater, one pump, PVC, and more. Still, I don’t close it.