Gizzmos in the skimmer vs draining below the returns, my take after 15 winters

No above ground here so I can't speak to a gizzmo directly, but the freeze protection logic transfers over from my inground days before I had the vinyl liner setup, my buddy ran the same low drain and blow out every line ritual on his and I always thought it was overkill for a straightforward system with no weird plumbing runs. The expansion device taking the pressure instead of you chasing every line with a compressor makes sense to me, twenty minutes versus half a Saturday is a real tradeoff when you've got years of no issues to back it up. For what it's worth if his place has a lot of dead legs or low spots in the pipe that's a different story, but a straight shot setup, your mileage may vary but I'd trust 15 winters of data over "this is the only true way.

No inground experience here so take this for what it's worth, but before I'd weigh in on gizmo vs full blowout I'd want to know how your return lines are routed underground versus above, Bill. Flat and level runs are a totally different animal than anything with a dip or belly in the pipe where water can pool and sit. 15 winters clean is good data but it's also kind of the point, if there's no low spot for water to collect the gizmo doesn't have much to prove itself against.

The guy two doors down doing the full drain and blow every year makes me think either he's had a scare before or his layout has some quirk that makes him not trust it. Worth asking him straight up why he started doing it that way, sometimes there's a specific incident behind the "only true way" stance and it's not just caution for caution's sake.

Robotvic's point about pipe routing is the one I'd want answered before saying much else, Bill. Above ground with a gizmo in the skimmer, sure, that plate takes the ice expansion fine for a self contained system, but I'm wondering how deep your return lines actually run and whether they're buried enough to hit frost line depth up in Ohio or if it's mostly above grade pipe running to the pad. Twenty minutes and a plug works great when there's nowhere for water to sit and freeze in a low spot, but that's a totally different animal than a line with even a slight dip where water collects and doesn't drain back out on its own. Fifteen winters without an issue is real data, I'm not knocking that, I'm just saying it tells you the gizmo has handled your specific layout fine, not that it handles every layout fine. What's your actual pipe run look like from pad to pool.

We dont get real winters down here in Round Rock so I cant weigh in on gizmos at all, but that frost line and pipe dip question is interesting to me, our fiberglass pool has zero of that since its inground and all the plumbing was done fresh in 2021, anyway good luck Bill sounds like a real debate with your neighbor!

First winter with my above ground I actually did the full drain down thinking that was the safe move, half froze my fingers off blowing lines with a shop vac trying to be fancy about it, and my returns run maybe a foot underground max before hitting the pad, no dip no belly, just a short straight shot. Switched to a gizmo the second year once I realized my layout is exactly what Alan's describing, nowhere for water to sit and freeze, and eight winters later still no issues. Bill it really does sound like your run and mine are similar setups, but I'd still ask your neighbor straight up like robotvic said, guys who do the full blowout every single year usually got spooked once and never trust the easy way again even when their layout doesn't call for it.