This is my 5th winter for my pond and I have found that if I have a diffuser placed near my deck, mine this year is 6 inches from the front of the deck and at about 2-3 feet deep it will keep the ice away for most of the winter. I say most because when it a -15 or more for a few days it is hard to keep the ice out, but once the temps go up it will remove the ice. I have set up a separate diffuser for this purpose so I only have to shut down the others that are deep and turn this one on, makes it nice not to have to pull one from here to put it there.

half-acre pond, LMB, HBG, BG, GSH and CC ....goal is to
have fun fishing. And I subscribe!