Winterizing a Pool Vs. Keeping a Pool Open for Winter

For pool owners faced with the inevitable coming of winter, they must decide whether to winterize the pool and close it up for the season or keep it open and operate it all year around. Both options entail a number of advantages and disadvantage. To learn more about which winter option is best for you, read on about the pros and cons of winterizing a pool and of operating it all year round.

Winterizing Your Pool

Pros:

If you don’t want to have to worry about maintaining your pool during the months that it won’t be swimmable, then choosing to winterize and close your pool for the cold weather season may be the right option for you. Winterizing a pool refers to the process of thoroughly cleaning it and adding in special winterizing chemicals to keep your pool in good shape while the cover stays on all winter.

As mentioned before, the main benefit of winterizing your pool is not having to maintain it throughout the cold weather season. Plus, shutting down your pool system for winter, which includes clearing all of the water out of the system’s pump, means you won’t have to worry about frozen or bursting pipes when the temperature drops below freezing.

TIP: Pools located in areas where extreme winter climates are common will mostly likely be better off being closed down for winter.

Cons:

However, there are some negatives involved with closing the pool for winter that all pool owners should take into consideration before making a decision. For one, a lot of work is involved with cleaning out and closing down a pool system for winter. If you are doing it yourself, you’ll need to set aside a good amount of time to completely and thoroughly clean the pool and to make sure every drop of water is removed from the pump system. On top of that, you should expect to spend some more time reopening the pool in the spring once the weather permits.

Operating Your Pool All Year Around

Pros:

After reading about winterizing your pool and the lack of maintenance and cleaning you’ll have to do throughout the winter, you may have jumped to the conclusion that winterizing is the right option for you. However, there are many advantages to keeping your pool open all year long. Even when the water is too cold to swim in, pools look beautiful all year around. Imagine the still, crisp blue water of your pool surrounded by a blanket of white snow—sounds stunning, right? Just because your pool can’t be used for recreational purposes doesn’t mean it can’t still serve an aesthetic purpose.

Even though keeping a pool open for winter means maintaining it all season long, the weekly cleanings will be much less time consuming than the preparations involved in closing the pool down completely and then having to reopen it again for the spring and summer. Constant maintenance means you won’t have to deal with algae accumulating on the pool floor, which can sometimes take several days to clean up when reopening for spring.

TIP: If you live in a warm region where below freezing temperatures are not extremely common, definitely take advantage of it by operating your pool all year around!

Cons:

As could be expected, operating a pool all year around is more costly when it comes to electricity. In order to avoid bursting pipes due to frozen water in your pump, you’ll have to keep the pump on continuously throughout the winter. This can lead to at least several hundred extra dollars based on 4-6 months of extra usage. Plus, winter weather is often unpredictable, so in cases where your home loses electricity completely during below freezing temperatures, you won’t have any control over those pipes freezing up and potentially causing damage to your pump system.

Check back for more information and guidance related to your pool and spa needs brought to your by The Pool Guy Store!

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Closing Your Pool for Winter

As the seasons transition from summer to fall, many of us look forward to a handful of exclusively autumn events like college football, Thanksgiving, and pumpkin spice lattes. We can even allow ourselves to start getting excited about the special aspects of the coldest months like Christmas, ice skating, and hot chocolate. Sadly though, the welcoming of fall inevitably means farewell to summer and all of its seasonal splendor: sunshine, beaches, sandals, snow cones, and of course, the pool.

Closing your pool for the colder seasons can seem as simple as throwing a cover on it and calling it a day. However, there are many common mistakes made by pool owners every year when it comes to winterizing a pool. The following guidelines for closing a pool will ensure that your pool is swimmer-friendly and ready for use by the first day of summer:

Take Your Time The most common mistake made by pool owners who are closing up for winter is speeding through the job. This practice is based on the common misconception that pools will unavoidably collect dirt and debris over the course of winter and need a full, deep cleaning come summer anyway. Lucky for you, this is wrong. If you take the time to thoroughly clean and close your pool properly for winter, you can expect swimmable water on opening day.

Clean Pools Are Happy Pools Even though cleaning the pool before closing seems like an obvious necessity, many pool owners still make the mistake of leaving debris in the water after it’s covered. While a small leaf floating on the surface may seem trivial, any amount of debris left in the water at closing will disturb the chemicals and leave you with an avoidable chore when opening your pool for the season. You’ll feel a huge sense of relief next spring when you realize another deep cleaning isn’t needed as long as you put in the work during winter.

Chemical Dump To ensure that you’ll maintain a healthy pool environment by the time spring rolls around, winterizing chemicals should be added to the pool water before a cover is attached. The biggest mistake made regarding these chemicals is overuse. In the case of winterizing chemicals, more is not better. Shoot for the following levels when closing your pool:

• pH: 7.2 to 7.6
• Alkalinity: 80 to 120 ppm
• Calcium hardness: 180 to 220 ppm

Unwanted Drainage Probably the most expensive mistake you could make when closing a pool is not properly draining your pumps and filtration systems. Removing “most” of the water will not suffice. In order to avoid bursting pipes or busted heaters, every drop of water should be drained. You can get rid of lingering moisture from your pool plumbing system with any kind of blow tool such as a leaf blower or a shop vacuum, which can remove exterior liquid as well as blow air from the skimmer through the equipment and back to the pool.

The best mentality to employ in regards to closing your pool is: more work now, no work later. The more care and effort you put into preparing a pool for the cold seasons, the less work you’ll need to do to ready it for spring and summer. The last thing you’ll want to do come springtime is worry about cleaning out gunk and green water that accumulated during the off-season. So be sure to avoid the most common mistakes when closing your pool this winter, and when the warm weather arrives next year, you’ll be ready to dive right in!

If you have any questions about the proper steps you need to take to winterize your pool, please contact us and we will be more than happy to help! Be sure to visit us at www.thepoolguystore.com for all your pool supply needs at discount prices.