Must You Use a Winter Pool Cover? No, but winter covers protect your pool from stains, algae growth and poor water balance that could damage pool surfaces. Pool covers block both debris and sunlight, to conserve your winter chemicals and protect soft and shiny surfaces.
Pool Closing Mistake 1: Skipping the Pool Cover
For one thing, an uncovered pool will become a catch-all for leaves and debris. Those leaves will spend all winter stewing away in the bottom of your pool. In the spring, you'll be welcomed with a nasty, sludgy mess.
A winter cover is essentially a large tarp that goes over your pool in the wintertime to help keep out debris. They can protect against damage to the pool as a whole, which will help things run more smoothly during come Springtime. Winter covers: HELP KEEP THE DEBRIS OUT OF THE POOL.
Your pool should be relatively protected from ice and the elements. To ensure your winter cover keeps doing its job throughout the winter and that no other issues arise over the course of the season, it is important to look out for the following potential causes for winter above ground pool damage.
If you don't cover your above-ground pool, it's going to get dirt, leaves, and other debris in it. Even if you don't have any trees nearby, the wind will still blow debris into the water.
Mild climate pools often freeze across the surface overnight. However, if the ice sheet becomes thicker than ¼” to ½”, it will put pressure on your pool tile and skimmers as the ice expands. Most pool tile is frost-free, but you should keep the water under the perimeter pool tile band to be safe.
You should cover your pool every night for several reasons. First off, a pool cover saves energy and conserves water by decreasing the amount of make-up water. Also, it reduces the consumption of chemicals, and finally, it saves a lot of cleaning time since it keeps the debris out of the pool.
In warmer climates, Intex advises to keep your pool up, if you prefer. However, you must winterize the pool when keeping it full throughout the winter. If your area maintains tropical climates all year long, you may not need to winterize your pool at all, especially if you use your pool on a regular basis.
A pool cover reduces the amount of UV light coming into contact with the water. This is an important advantage as the pool chemical chlorine is degraded when exposed to UV light. This means you won't be required to add as much chlorine, which can save you time to refill and money purchasing the chemicals.
The best time to consider replacing your cover is either when you first open the pool or before it is time to close the pool. The cover's age and the amount of visible wear and tear will help determine whether to replace it now or wait.
Solid pool covers are designed to be heavy-duty enough to withstand rain, snow, and wind, and they'll also keep leaves and debris out of the pool. You'll want to choose a pool cover with a suitable scrim (aka tight weave). A higher scrim number indicates a higher-quality or more heavy-duty pool cover.
Secure the Cover
These are holes around the edge of the cover with metal rings. If you just use a plastic tarp, it may not have grommets, and it'll be more difficult to secure. If you buy a winter cover designed for above ground pools, it should come with a cable and a winch to ratchet down the cover.
First of all, you do not have to enclose your pool equipment (pump, filter, heater). A lot of people camouflage it with landscaping or a small fence, so that is not visible. Pool equipment is designed to be outdoors. As long it is taken care of and properly winterized at time of pool closing, it need not be covered.
No! All pool types (in-ground, above ground, on-ground) need to keep water in the pool during winter, do not drain your pool to avoid the ice! In ground pools can pop out of the ground, and above ground pools can collapse inward, and the liner will shrink and discolor.
This is why the Intex pools manufacturer strongly recommends draining and disassembling your pool if the temperatures in your area drop to or below 41°F (5°C). And so do we. We don't want your cozy winter by the fire to be ruined by a messy pool collapse.
So while a solar cover won't actually 'turn your pool green', it will warm your water by up to 8 degrees, so if the other conditions are right, adding a solar cover can easily accelerate algae growth, very rapidly. You need to get the water balance in your pool right before putting the cover back on.
Conserves Water
A covered pool conserves water by losing less due to evaporation. This means you won't be filling up your pool as often as you did when you were cover-less. If you live in a drought area, using less water is the smart way to go.
In short, pool covers do not need to be kept on pools during the day. By covering the pool at night and uncovering it during the day, you can save time heating your pool's water. Because dry, windy weather may increase evaporation, it is recommended to remove the cover only on humid, sunny days.
Will My Saltwater Pool Freeze? Yes, they will! Saltwater pools only have a fraction of the salinity of ocean water, so they will freeze in Ottawa's cold winter temperatures. This is why it's important to drain the water to below the skimmer and blow out any lines when closing the pool for the winter.
When choosing a cover, you look for them by your pool's ACTUAL SIZE. The cover that you get will be bigger than your pool by 3 or 4 feet (depending on which cover you order and varies by manufacturer). For example if your pool is 24ft round you would choose that size and choose one of the covers listed on that page.
For safety reasons; if someone should end up under the pool cover, air will come in through the holes. These small holes prevent a large pool of water from getting on the pool cover.
A standard (tarp) winter cover costs $75–$225. It needs a pump on top, keeps out sunlight and light debris, and lasts 1–3 seasons. A mesh security cover costs $1,200–$3,000. It doesn't need a pump on top, keeps out debris but not water, and lasts 10–15 years.