You don't need to run your heater, moving water likely will not freeze. Disconnect any aerators and lines to slides. Booster pumps for pool cleaners don't need to run continuously. Water feature pumps should be run and valves should be open.
Without Power
Open the air relief valve on your pool's filter. Remove the drain plugs from the front and rear headers of your pool heater. If you have a heat pump, remove those drain plugs too. Remove the lid and drain plugs from your pump.
If you have an above ground pool with the pool filter system and plumbing above ground (like nearly all above ground pools), pipes and pumps can freeze up in less than an hour of minus 32 degrees. The same is true for inground pool equipment that is not running when temperatures are below freezing.
We suggest you kill the power to the equipment so it does not immediately come back on when the power returns, and cover the pool equipment with tarps and blankets. This can help protect your equipment and plumbing from freezing.
Install a Freeze Control Timer: A freeze control timer can protect your inground swimming pool and spa equipment as well as pipes. Just set the temperature with the adjustable thermostat and the freeze control timer turns the pump and heater on when the weather drops.
Air Pillows, aka Ice Equalizers or ice compensators, are your best defense against ice damage. The presence of an Air Pillow prevents ice from freezing under the air pillow, which stops solid ice sheets across the top of the aboveground pool.
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.
As long as you keep that above-freezing water going through the pump, it will be fine. On top of the fact that the pool's water is above-freezing, running the pump moves the water, and moving water is much, much harder to freeze than stagnant water.
Chlorinated and non-chlorinated pools freeze at the same temperature. However, salt water pools will freeze at a slightly lower temperature. It should also be noted that above-ground pools will generally freeze at a higher temperature than inground pools.
Use a leaf blower on light, powdery snow to blow the snow off the cover. Wait for frozen snow and ice to melt on its own if it is a solid sheet on the cover. If you have a cover pump and it is buried under ice, pour a few gallons of hot water into one spot on the cover to let the device do its job.