Thinking about keeping your pool open all winter, if you don't want the hassle of winterizing your pool equipment or you don't like the look of a winter cover in your backyard, there are a few precautions. You need to take to keep your pool open in the colder months, so here are eight steps to keeping your pool open all winter long, let's dive in well real quick before we continue. If you want more help taking care of your pool, be sure to grab our free pool care cheat sheet at swimuniversity.com, cheat sheet, it's totally free and will help you keep your pool, clean and clear all season long. So, first, should you leave your pool open in the winter? Well, there are a few pros and cons to leaving your pool open all year round.

Here are the pros to keeping your pool open one you'll save time and money by not winterizing closing your pool for the winter means buying. Lots of supplies like winter covers safety covers winter chemicals and water weights, not to mention the time it takes to close winterize and install everything. Two you don't need to reopen or clean up your pool in the spring. Leaving your pool open year round means not worrying about pool opening expenses and headaches, and that means no expensive pool opening chemicals and treatments and no algae blooms that many pool owners experience when they open their pool for the first time in the spring.

Three pools are easier to maintain in the winter. Algae has a hard time growing in temperatures below 60 degrees, fahrenheit or 16 degrees celsius. So, if you keep your pool open in the winter, you'll need less chlorine or sanitizer and after all, the leaves fall. You'll get less organic debris falling into your water in the winter, and that means less work for your sanitizer and because it's cooler out, you won't lose as much water and chemicals to evaporation.

Here are the cons to keeping your pool open in the winter one. Your utilities are more expensive in the winter utilities, like electricity and gas usually cost more, and that means it's more expensive to consistently run your pump or heater. Two salt chlorine generators and pool heat pumps. Don't work well in the cold heat pumps, stop working well when it's below 50 degrees, fahrenheit outside and salt chlorinators, don't generate chlorine when your water temperature drops below 60 degrees fahrenheit.

This means you'll need to use an alternative, sanitizer method like a chlorine floater in the cooler months. Three, your equipment could be damaged by a freeze. You'll need to keep your water constantly moving whenever temperatures get close to freezing, but if your pump accidentally shuts off because of a power outage, your plumbing and pool equipment could be seriously damaged. Four, you have to perform ongoing pool maintenance if your pool is open in the winter, you'll still have to regularly skim brush vacuum and balance the water, because your system is running, you'll need to clean and backwash your filter.

So now that we've weighed the pros and cons, here's how to keep your pool open all winter, one keep all the valves open. Your pool valves need to be at least partially open to keep your water moving freely through your plumbing water. That isn't moving is at risk of freezing and damaging your equipment, and this means keeping the valves partially open in the skimmer lines. Cleaner lines, drains returns, water features and attached.

Spas two keep the pumps running. The goal during the winter is to keep your water moving to prevent it from freezing keep your pump running whenever temperatures start to drop below 40 degrees, fahrenheit or 4 degrees celsius. Even if the surface of your pool freezes, the water in your pipes, won't freeze, if all the pumps are running and all the valves are partially open, you should also run your pump in the fall, if leaves and other debris are getting into your pool. But if you don't have a lot of debris and you aren't experiencing freezing temperatures, you only need to run your pump for a few hours a day in the milder winter months.

Three keep the water warm, especially in cold climates. If you live in an area where temperatures drop and stay well below, freezing running your pump won't be enough. You'll need a pool heater to keep your water at 40 degrees, fahrenheit or above to prevent your plumbing from freezing. Regardless of where you live.

You can help retain heat in your water by using a pool cover and if you live in a warmer climate and you use your pool occasionally during the winter use, a solar cover to help trap in heat and if you're, not using your pool. Consider a more permanent cover to keep the heat inside and keep debris out. Four install a freeze sensor. If you don't want to run your pool pump.

24 7, you can use a freeze sensor. These sensors monitor air temperature and or water temperature, and will turn on your pump when temperatures drop too low. Some newer pump models actually come with built-in freeze protection control: 5. winterize, your water features.

If your pool has fountains waterfalls or deck jets, consider winterizing and closing the valves and turning them off to reduce the risk of freeze damage 6., keep the pool clean. It takes much less work to maintain a pool during the winter, especially after the leaves fall, but it still takes consistent cleaning, especially if your pool is left uncovered. Skim, your water at least twice a week or more often, if leaves, are falling brush the walls once a week and vacuum at least once per week. If you have a lot of leaves in your pool, you may want to consider buying an automatic pool cleaner.

That's built for picking up leaves seven keep the water balanced. While you may need less chlorine in the winter. You still want to maintain good water chemistry to prevent damaging your pool, equipment and surfaces, make sure your ph alkalinity, calcium, harness and cyanoarc acid levels are in the proper ranges test and balance your total alkalinity and ph at least once a week. While your pool is open, your total alkalinity should be between 100 and 150 parts per million, and your ph between 7.4 and 7.6 you'll also want to test and balance your calcium hardness levels.

These should be between 175 and 225 parts per million for vinyl, liner pools and 200 and 275 parts per million for plaster or concrete pools. Normal cyanic, acid or cya levels should be between 30 and 50 parts per million, but you shouldn't need to add more cya to your pool in the winter, especially if you're, adding stabilized chlorine to your pool, and you won't need much chlorine in the winter. Because there's less algae and less evaporation, you can keep your chlorine levels at one part per million during the winter months, once temperatures start to rise to 60 degrees, fahrenheit or higher, you may want to increase your chlorine levels to three parts per million or start shocking. Your pool once a week eight monitor your water level make sure that your pool's water level is at least halfway up the skimmer, so your pump and filter can run without sucking in air.

Now what happens if your pump accidentally shuts off in the winter? If your filter or pump fails, while the outside temperature is at or below, freezing you'll need to act fast to prevent damage, turn off the breaker to power down the pump and heater in case the power turns back on immediately loosen all of the drain plugs on The pump heater filter and any other equipment close the line valves and then open the filter, air pressure release aka the bleeder valve. So if you live in a colder climate, where freezing temperatures are common, it might be easier for you to close and winterize your pool. All together, rather than worrying, if your equipment's going to fail or freeze in cold weather, but if your winters are milder and you want to keep your pool open, follow these steps to keep your pool protected and clean in the off season months. Finally, if you need more help, maintaining your pool grab our free pool care cheat sheet at swimuniversity.com cheat sheet, and if you found this video helpful leave a comment hit the like button and subscribe for more pool maintenance tutorials throughout the season.

That's it thanks again and happy swimming you.