I bought a house with an inground pool this year, a first for me. This coming weekend Orlando is getting down to 30-32 degrees overnight, right at the 6am-7am hour, just before the sun comes up and it warms up to the high 40's.

Do I need to worry about the pool pump and exposed PVC pipes if it hits right at freezing for a hour or two? Or should I make a point to run the pump overnight?

All you can do is keep it running

Is it a salt pool?

No on the freeze. Pump on if you wish.

No. You will need more then an hour of freezing temps to cause problems.
Running your pump for piece of mind won't hurt anything.

My equipment has water and air temperature sensors, once it gets down to certain temperature it automatically kicks the pump on to circulate the water until it warms back up. Depending on the system there should be settings for "Freeze Protection".

30 - 32 deg for a couple of hours is a non issue .

Probably no big deal for a couple of hours, but running the pump will negate any risk.

I might forsake my morning dip....

I'm running mine from late at night until 6AM here because of the cold.

Run the pump.

Have the same deal in Ormond Beach,run the pump until above freezing temps. Should just be 3 nights. Turn your sprinkler system off.

I'm going to run the pump all night, it is now predicted to dip into the upper 20's. If you have a mechanical timer just pull off the stop marker, turn it on
and head inside.

Cover up any floral/blooming plants with sheets, plants here will burn up in the cold.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

Is it a salt pool?

Ahhhh, yes, forgot to mention that. I suppose that will lower the freezing temp a bit?

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

Is it a salt pool?

Ahhhh, yes, forgot to mention that. I suppose that will lower the freezing temp a bit?

Around 3-1/2 degrees for water the salinity of the ocean. For a salt water pool?

Maybe 1/4 degree or so.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
Do I need to worry about the pool pump and exposed PVC pipes if it hits right at freezing for a hour or two? Or should I make a point to run the pump overnight?

My pool system has automatic freeze control that turns on the pool pumps and waterfall pumps when temps reach 35 degrees, my normal everyday setting is 7 hours 8am-3pm. 1-2 hours is not going to kill the pipes if the pumps aren't pumping, but for longer, yes, catastrophic damage will occur. When we had the big freeze a couple of years ago, when power outages were happening, most of the pool PVC systems in my neighborhood were severely damaged. Ours survived because I winterized the pool hours before we lost power for 22 hours. But we still suffered with a cracked Polaris pump, and hairline cracks in the PVC system, which I repaired with epoxy (still holding up today). I'm friends with the local pool store and got a pump at the head of the line. Several of our neighbors, their PVC piping just literally exploded when temps were in single digits and no power.

Just this afternoon, I covered the pool equipment with a packing blanket and tarp, completely covering the whole system, we're expecting temps in the teens later this week (I did this early this year as well). My friend at the pool store did this in the 2021 freeze and his equipment and pipes did just fine, even with the power shut off for a few hours at a time. He told me that an estimated 20-25,000 pools in Texas were damaged in 2021. His company was booked solid for 8 months repairing/replacing pool systems locally.

Unless you were to go way below zero for days (not going to happen where you are) you're fine.

quote:

Originally posted by TomV:
My equipment has water and air temperature sensors, once it gets down to certain temperature it automatically kicks the pump on to circulate the water until it warms back up. Depending on the system there should be settings for "Freeze Protection".

This here. Main pump has a freeze protection setting on it directly or more likely it’s on your main board. Should be set for 35. You need to check it. Should be there and set as it’s rather common. Prior to temps dropping to 32, drain any booster pumps you have 100%. You may have a booster pump for a hot tub/spa and that needs to be drained. Water freezes in there you’ll crack the housing and all the pool equipment has gone up dramatically in price since the virus and remains so. Many times double the cost. I forgot to drain mine once, the booster, and the housing cracked causing a leak. Many times before it’d drop below freezing and I wouldn’t touch anything and it would all be fine. I got bit.

It’s coming here too tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon temps dramatically drop into the 20’s and it’ll be 14 degrees tomorrow night when I head to the gym. So tonight before I go to bed I’ll go out and shut the water valve off that feeds the sprinkler system with a flash light. Then run a few zones to purge any water in the lines. Exterior faucet guards/insulation things are already on them, keep them on year round. Last step is the pool equipment. I have a booster for the spa and I’ll drain that via removing the plug just in case there is any water in it and I’ll let it drain out for 15 minutes. The main pump for the pool will cut on itself once we hit 35 degrees and stay on for days until temps are back up to above freezing consistently which is Tuesday so I better pull the skimmer buckets out and clean them as well as the Polaris net so I don’t have to put my hand in that cold ass water during this. Damnit I thought this would hit this weekend but now I have to fuck with all this tonight. Is what it is. Will have to turn the faucets on in the house as well and let them drip. I hate winter.

Jhe is correct, I run my pump all winter 24x7, never a problem no matter how cold. But, IF you get a sheet of ice on a vinyl lined pool, don't break the ice. I've been told the resulting pieces could cut the vinyl liner.

In the South, only a problem if many hours of freezing AND accompanied by a power outage like Valentine's '21 in Texas (aka Winter Storm Uri). That decimated many pools in Texas and it took the spare parts market forever to recover.