Wilmington Pool Service Blog

What to do with your Wilmington, NC Swimming Pool in the Winter!

Labor day weekend is over and October is finally here! The water in your swimming pool is probably feeling a bit chilly to most swimmers. Today I’d like to talk about the winter months in Wilmington, NC and how they can effect your swimming pool. Let me start by saying that swimming pool owners have two simple options no matter what region you live in.

1. You can keep your swimming pool open and maintained year round.

2. You can close (winterize) the pool during the winter time, then re-open it in the spring.

If you live in a region where it snows every winter and temperatures fall below freezing for extended periods of time, winterizing your pool is mandatory to avoid bursting underground pipes and ruining your equipment. When standing water begins to freeze, the water expands as it turns to ice and plastic components have no choice but to crack or rupture under this added pressure. With this in mind, we need to ask ourselves a serious question, does this type of weather sound like Wilmington, NC?

Wilmington, NC winter swimming pool temperatures

Here in Wilmington, we do get cold winters. I can personally recall some days last January when temperatures were down into the teens – Brrr. This doesn’t mean that our region of the country suffers from continued freezes during the winter months though. Here is a graph that I pulled from the weather.com website indicating the average highs and lows for Wilmington, NC during the year. As you can see, the average lows for winter months are approximately 36-45 degrees.

The question you’re probably still asking yourself is, well, what am I supposed to do with my swimming pool if temperatures don’t get that low in Wilmington?

While there is no absolute answer to this question, we recommend that most swimming pool owners continue routine maintenance to ensure that their pool is seeing the utmost care year round. Please give us a call if you’re in need of service.

If you’re still worried about freezing temperatures and really cold nights, we recommend purchasing a freeze protector or freeze protector/timer. This is a device that wires into your system’s electrical and can sense when temperatures drop below specific set points. For example, a freeze protector can sense when it’s 32 degrees outside and automatically turns on your filter pump, thus protecting your pool from damage. This one time investment is recommended to all Wilmington pool owners that keep their pool open during the winter months. Call us to have your installation scheduled.

If you have questions or concerns about your swimming pool, please give us a call today. We’re here to help serve your swimming pool needs.

Here are some winter maintenance tips for the do-it-yourselfers out there!

1. Continue to keep your swimming pool chemistry balanced.

2. Continue maintenance cleaning every week.

3. Reduce your filter pump time by 40-50% during the winter months to save energy.

4. Consider purchasing a leaf net to avoid heavy fall clean up.