I’m new to this site. I have a question about an above ground pool, hope it is appropriate to ask here! We just put up a new Intex above ground pool. We may have been a little quick to do this, because the weather forecast has changed and temp is supposed to drop to 37 degrees F on Friday night. Just one night at this temp (so far, give it ten minutes and the forecast will change again- we live in southern Indiana). Does anyone know if this will damage the pool, or if there are any steps I need to take to protect it? The instructions that came with the pool talk about disassembling and storing pool in winter when temps start getting below 41 degrees at night, but this is one weird night in spring. Anyone have similar experience or any insight? Thanks in advance!
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2Not an expert or personal experience, so just a comment here: I suspect the instructions are based on "If it gets below 41 in the fall, then it is likely that within a few days you will get to 32, so start taking it apart now". I can't see any reason why there would be any real issue until you get to freezing - 32 - though a degree or two of buffer is a good idea since 34 at the weather station could easily be 32 at your house. But 37 at night in the spring - you should be fine.– manassehkatz-Moving 2 CodidactCommented May 3, 2020 at 13:59
2 Answers
The only concern that I can think of is freezing; so many hours in the 20's are required to cause some freezing. It takes time to lower the temperature , then freezing require removal of a great amount of heat. Hoses will be the first thing to freeze. I had a 32 X 16 in the Chicago area and did not do much for winter ; I think I needed a new liner every other year. Many years there was about a foot of ice. Putting in a liner was much easier than taking it down and putting it up. One year it did freeze solid ; an iceberg in the back yard.
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1I had one in Ohio freeze solid but it was below freezing for over a month with -20 at night for almost 2 weeks it did not thaw out for over a month. But the liner was ok that year and I moved back to the west coast so I don’t know how long it lasted.– Ed BealCommented May 4, 2020 at 14:43
There will be no problems at your current temps for your pool. Even at 32 degrees at night there will probably be no problems when the night time temps get below 27 this is when things start freezing and keeping the pump running at night can protect the pipes. In my area it is common for people to get a couple of peeler poles (the round poles you can buy at lumber yards) these are cheap, we paint them black and float them in the pool to prevent a solid sheet of ice from forming. On built in pools this can break the tiles and damage the finish of the pool. With “plastic” pools that are left up it can buckle the top and cause the wall to collapse. By floating the peeler especially if painted black they prevent this damage into the teens but we do normally drain the pumps if not left running. It has to be really cold to freeze more than a couple of inches on top and even a black sheet of plastic on top can create enough heat in the day that a plastic above ground pool can survive even negative F temps. So at your current temps you have nothing to worry about.
