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.
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.
Leaving your Intex pool out in colder temperatures can completely rupture your pool lining. That's a mess you don't want to clean up or repair. ... 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).
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.
Your pool water level should not be too low, as the water must support the cover in situations where you receive a heavy snowfall. At the same time, ideally you don't want the water to touch the underside of the cover under general conditions as that contact will create a wet spot where debris will accumulate.
It is best to close your pool when the temperature of the water is consistently below 60 degrees. Once the water temperature drops below 60 degrees, microorganisms and algae cannot grow and become dormant for the winter season.
Helpful tips to keep your pool and its equipment safe during freezing temperatures. Run your pool pump continuously when temperatures are near or below freezing. You don't need to run your heater, moving water likely will not freeze. Disconnect any aerators and lines to slides.
Skim out floating debris and vacuum the pool thoroughly. Add an algaecide to prevent algae from forming before the water has frozen. Follow your pool manufacturer's directions for lowering your water level. Only a few type of pools need to be completely drained during the winter.
To ensure that your pool stays full of water you will need to make sure that your pool cover pump is placed out on the cover for the entire winter season and periodically monitor the water level in your pool. Keeping your pool cover dry in the winter is the best way to ensure that your pool will remain full of water.
Covering a pool when it is not in use is the single most effective means of reducing pool heating costs. Savings of 50%–70% are possible. Pool covers on indoor pools not only can reduce evaporation but also the need to ventilate indoor air and replace it with unconditioned outdoor air.
Pool pipes that are located above-ground can crack if the pump is not kept running when temperatures reach below 32°. If PVC pipes freeze, the ice will expand and can crack pipes, pumps, valves, filters, and heaters.
Safety covers should be drum-tight, with only a slight deflection in the middle. When covers are too loose, leaves can blow under easily, and a high water level in springtime quickly traps leaves and turns your cover into a giant tea bag.
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.
A chlorinated swimming pool freezes at around 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the same temperature as non-chlorinated water.
At what temperature does a pool freeze? 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.
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.
A pool blanket should be used until the nighttime temperatures average at least 60 degrees, typically in early March. But you can leave the cover on for as long as necessary to achieve the desired water temperature.
If a warm pool is a must-have for you, a pool cover can help to significantly reduce your heating bills. It's not just leaks or excess splashing that cause a drop in your swimming pool water level. ... Installing pool covers will reduce the water loss that occurs when the pool isn't in use.
Should I drain the pool then? 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 lowers the water level in the pool, which is needed to support the weight of the cover, and snow and ice. A good automatic cover pump can keep rain pumped off, but it can't do anything with snow and ice, until it melts.
Safety cover sagging is okay, well in most cases. It is not the safety-cover that supports the snow and ice. It is the water underneath your cover that helps it and keeps it from sagging too much. Whoever sold you the cover should have warned you or directed you to read the directions.