I have an small inground pool in the backyard. I live in central Florida, so it doesn't get too cold around here very often. However, tonight there is supposed to be a hard freeze (24°F for 4-7 hours) and I'm a little worried about the pool.
If I do nothing in particular, might that be bad for the pool? If so, what can I do to protect it?
Edit: The pool still has all its water in it and isn't covered. We don't tend to empty pools around here, and I don't own a cover.
I honestly doubt that it will freeze over in that time, as the water will take some time to get anywhere near freezing temps.
If you are worried anyway, a good idea is to leave the filter pump running. Water that is still will more easily freeze over.
Of course, if you were truly worried, you could make it into a salt water pool, dropping the freezing temperature by a few degrees more.
At +24 deg F, just run the pumps, and you'll be fine.
The temperature of the pool is often significantly above the temperature of a winter night's air. It takes a long time (or a massive amount of energy) to change the temperature of a pool significantly, and even if it gets cold during the night, the pool will also heat up a little during the day. As long as you keep that above-freezing water going through the pump, it will be fine.
On top of the fact that the pool's water is above-freezing, running the pump moves the water, and moving water is much, much harder to freeze than stagnant water.
We don't empty pools in a Florida. They are used almost year round, especially if you have solar heat. But, you should definitely run the pump overnight to prevent the water in the pipes from freezing and causing damage.
Don't EVER empty your pool in FL. You could float it. Meaning, the water level in the ground is very high. Without the water in the pool holding it down, emptying it can literally pop the whole thing out of the ground. This usually happens during hurricanes/tropical storms. People do crazy things to prep, and empty their pool. As ground becomes increasingly saturated with storm rain-out pops the pool.
NEVER EVER EMPTY ANY POOL OF IT'S WATER!!!! If it's an inground fiberglass pool, it will definitely "float" or pop out of the ground. If it's a vinyl liner inground pool or above ground pool, it will ruin your liner.... Your liner will shrink and then you will be replacing the liner once the weather gets back up to warmer temps. Ideal installation temperatures range between 50° and 80° F. During the times, when the weather is below freezing, you need to do 1 of 2 things: either winterize your pool completely or keep the pump running 24/7.
We live in Washington state and our temps fall below freezing quite a bit. We put a log in the swimming pool. That prevents the ice from expanding and affecting the pool walls.
That's cold... Of course it depends on the material the pool is made of, but emptying it should be fine, but I suppose it is empty already.
