Mark, With your size pond I would not worry about the airstone causing any problems from an over circulation standpoint. Place it in 2-3 ft of water at any point in the pond and it should be fine. Do you have freeze control? I do not have on mine and have not had any problems that I am aware of.Bill C can expand on freeze control.I will shut my aeration down soon and restart only when and if the ponds freeze over and are "snow covered" for at least a month.Providing the air temps are not 15 F or less. I monitor DO levels after ice cover. Last year I had 105-110% saturation all winter (algae doing their job)I will open up the ice once per month for any potential gas off but have no way to tell if it is needed or not.A little sunlight through the ice goes a long way.The pond with the windmill in has been switched to the airstone also and is now in 4 ft of water for the winter. Hope this answers your concerns.I really dont think any pond in the snow belt that is at least an acre and at least 8 ft deep has anything to worry about with a windmill and a Koender Airstone for a diffuser.The bubbles are huge and the turnover is low.Winter aeration is all I use mine for. Keep in mind yours circulates approx 5 times more water when you are switched to the AirStation.Ted