Wednesday, March 20, 2024
HomeExclusiveHow Long To Run Pool Pump

How Long To Run Pool Pump

- Advertisment -

Calculating How Long To Run Pool Pump

How Long Should You Run Your POOL PUMP? | Swim University

If you dont want to mess with all the math, running your pump for 8 hours a day is still a good rule of thumb. You can also keep a close eye on your chemical levels to see if this is best and experiment with different run-times.

However, for the best efficiency, you can calculate exactly how long you should run it. To do this, youll need to know the pumps flow rate and the size of your pool in gallons.

You can usually find the flow rate in the owners manual or on the pump label. Same goes for the size of your pool.

If youre having trouble finding these numbers, you can look online or contact the manufacturer.

Now divide the pool size by the flow rate. For example, if your pool is 10,000 gallons and your flow rate is 2,600 gallons per hour , the formula will look like this:

10,000 ÷ 2,600 = 3.8 hours

Next, multiply this number by 2 since your pump should complete 2 full cycles for optimum performance.

3.8 x 2 = 7.6

So, 7.6 would be the ideal number of hours to run your pool pump each day.

Calculate The Running Time Of The Pool Pump

The equipment used in the swimming pool is individual, and therefore pool owners need to learn how to calculate the pool pump running time themselves.

  • Calculate the volume of water in the pool The volume must be estimated for free forms.
  • The water volume in m³ is divided by the pool pumps output .
  • The result is your individual filter run time in hours for one circulation once a day see example below.
    • Rectangular pools: Length x width x average depth of the pool.
    • Round pools: Radius² x 3.14 x depth .

    For a better understanding, the following is an example of calculating the filter run times in the swimming pool:

    Assume the pool has almost 48,000 liters of water and the installed pool pump has an output of 8 m³/h.

    Calculation: 48 m³ / 8 m³ /h = 6 hours the pool pump has to run daily.

    I mentioned above that ideally, the pump should circulate the water 1.5 times a day.

    In this case, we multiply the water volume by a factor of 1.5 and divide the result as usual by the delivery rate of the pump.

    If the pool water is circulated 1.5 times/day, the daily running time of the pool pump is 9 hours.

    The 9 hours/day running time is above the recommended 6 to 8 hours a day. That result shows us this pool pump with an output rate of 8 m³/h is too weak for a pool with 48,000 liters of water.

    The solution: A more powerful pool pump must be installed in the pool.

    What Is The Best Time To Run The Pool Pump

    Many people run the pumps at night, but expert information shows that this could be ineffective. During the day, the sun heats the pool, and as you well know, sunlight is essential for algae survival. Therefore it is safe to say that day time is when you need chlorine to run through the pool. Running the pool pump at night is like an off the hook card for algae colonies.

    You also ought to think about your neighbors. If your pool pump is the noisy type, running it at night could be a nuisance to your neighbors. Every city or metropolitan council have their noise regulation levels. You might want to check with such regulations first or get a quiet pump.

    Also Check: How To Patch An Above Ground Pool Wall

    Is It Ok To Run Pool Pump 24 Hours A Day Or Continuously

    Running a pool pump for 24 hours would be awesome. Your water would always be clean because the chemicals would be well-distributed and debris wouldnt get a chance to hang around.

    However, if you do that, your electric bill will be sky-high and your pump will wear out a whole lot faster than it should.

    What Is A Variable Speed Pump

    How Long To Run a Pool Pump

    Variable speed pool pumps, also referred to as Energy Efficient Pumps, do just that: they run at varying speeds. A single speed pump has only one speed. High. It runs only at 3,450 RPMs which utilizes a ton of energy which costs you, the homeowner, a ton of money on your electric bill. With a variable speed pool pump, the RPMs can be set to lower speeds. These lower speeds consume less energy, which in turn saves you money. Even if your were to run your variable speed pool pump at the same 3,450 RPMs of your old single speed pool pump, you would still save money.

    Heres why. A variable speed pool pump uses a permanent magnet motor and is totally enclosed and fan cooled. This prevents energy from burning off. Ever touched your single speed pool pump while it was running? Hot, huh? You will not experience this with a variable speed pool pump.

    Read Also: Romantic Getaways In Maryland With Hot Tub

    Whats The Best Time Of Day To Run A Pool Pump

    Throughout the day, power companies charge different amounts for power, depending on how much is being used by homeowners in the area. The hours that are most popular for power usage, better known as peak hours, are hours you want to avoid if you dont want to pay a premium for your electricity. You may be wondering how in the world can you estimate what hours hour neighbors are using the most power? The good news is: you dont have to! By simply calling your power company, you can learn more about the rate schedule.

    Most likely, power will be the cheapest overnight, when the vast majority of us are comfortably snoozing. Additionally, surface evaporation and heat loss are lowest at night, so water circulation is much more efficient during those hours. While it is nice to have the pool pump running while people are actually using the pool, dont consider it mandatory.

    What about running the pump off-season?

    Generally speaking, overnight hours tend to be cheaper, no matter what time of year it is. However, theres no harm in asking your utility provider whats considered non-peak, and if those hours ever change. Regardless of when you choose to power up your pool pump, it also helps to have a dedicated pool pump schedule. An experienced pool professional can help you create a pump schedule to keep your pool at its best.

    What Does A Variable Speed Pump Do

    Do you always run your pump at full speed? Did you know that might not be necessary? Switching from a single-speed filter pump to a variable speed pump is an environmentally friendly upgrade that can result in energy savings.

    Most pool owners discover the benefits of high-efficiency, variable-speed pumps over single- or even two-speed pumps. It saves energy, they are quieter and last longer. With multiple speed options, you can decide when you need more power for more intense filtration and when you can switch back to a lower, more energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly setting.

    In reality, its not practical or necessary to run your pump all the time. As long as the water in your pool is running through the filter, it will stay clean and healthy.

    However, keep in mind that running the pool pump longer than twelve hours can waste electricity and money. After all, you dont want to wear out your pool equipment much faster than necessary.

    Platinum Pools makes backyard dreams come true. With custom-designed pools and surrounding areas, technologically advanced equipment, beautiful materials, and exceptional craftsmanship, we make sure to turn that area into a special, quality pool environment that brings your family memories and happiness. Visit our website for more information about our services and ask for a free quote.

    Also Check: What Hotels In Vegas Have The Best Pools

    How Long To Run A Pool Pump And The Best Times To Do It

    Swimming pools are designed to keep themselves clean with the filter and skimmer systems. These keep out debris that can foster the growth of algae.

    A pool pump helps keep your pool water clean, as long as it runs long enough to circulate all of the water in your pool through the filter. The amount of time you need to run your pool pump depends on factors such as pool size, frequency of use, and pump size. Pumps typically dont need to run for more than 8 hours a day with proper pool cleaning and maintenance.

    How long should I run my pool pump every day?

    When it comes to running your pool pump, there are many different approaches. You can be an early bird, a night owl, or a combination of the two. Some run their system for long hours, and others try to use it as little as possible.

    The industry guideline is to run the pump for at least one turnover every 24 hours.

    Every swimming pool is unique. There are a lot of calculations made when building your pool in order to determine the pump sizing, plumbing diameter, and filter sizing. These are important to ensure that your entire pool is being circulated and the turnover rate is satisfactory.

    There are pros and cons to each method, so lets run through the options and determine which is best according to the situation.

    Running Your Pool From Sunrise To Sunset

    Leslie’s Pool School – How Long Should I Run My Pool Pump?

    It may seem logical to have the pump running during the day, while people are swimming in it, so the water stays clean. And thats a good thought. But consider a couple of other things too.

    Those non-peak hours your utility has may be at night, especially if you live in a warm climate where people are more likely to run their air-conditioning during the day.

    Also, running your pump is usually necessary after youve added chemicals to your pool. In order to get the chemicals dispersed throughout the water, it has to be moving. Otherwise, you may end up with super-sanitized spots and pockets of not-so-clean water, and thats not the kind of Marco Polo you want to play.

    But theres one chemical that needs to be added at night, or at least at dusk: pool shock. Add it during the day, and the sun will just burn most of it off, reducing its effectiveness.

    So when you shock your pool, youll definitely want to run your pump at night, and for a minimum of eight hours to fully distribute the shock.

    Read Also: How To Heat An Inground Pool

    How Do You Know Your Pool Turnover Rate

    Your swimming pool water circulation system turnover rate is directly affected by your swimming pool volume. That means, if you dont already know your above-ground pool volume, usually given by the manufacturer in the owners manual, youll have to start by calculating it.

    With the most above-ground pool being either rectangular or circular with uniform levels, its easy to use the simple volume formulas:

    Calculating your above-ground pool volume:

    Rectangular:

    Length x Width x Height of pool x 7.5 = Pool Volume

    Circular:

    r2 x height of your pool x 7.5 = Pool Volume Where pi is 3.142 and r is the distance from one of the pools across the center divided by two.

    If you have an irregular-shaped pool, you have to divide it into circles and rectangles, determine their volumes and add them up.

    If youre not up to all these calculations, you can use the pool calculator below:

    How Long To Run A Pool Pump

    This independent website is funded by its readers. It can earn a commission on any purchases made through product links, at no extra cost to the buyer. Learn more >

    How long your pool pump runs every day affects your pool health and has a direct effect on your bank balance health too because the pool pump is the largest contributor to your swimming pool running costs.

    Theres quite a few things a pump has got to do. Skim the surface, circulate the pool, disperse chemical treatments, transport dust and debris to the filter and run your pool vacuum if you use one. You might also have an installation bristling with add ons that the pump has to take care of too, like solar panels, heaters and heat pumps etc.

    Unfortunately theres no magic number for how long to run your pool pump. It should run long enough to circulate at an absolute minimum at least one complete pool volume every day. Its actually amazing when you look at the size of the pump compared to the size of the pool then youll see its got quite a task to pull off day in and day out.

    The pump is the foot soldier of your pool setup, without it nothing gets done and weve got a duck pond instead of a pool.

    Lets dig a little deeper and try to unravel the mystery of how long to run a pool pump.

    You May Like: What Casino Has The Best Pool In Las Vegas

    What Is Turnover Rate

    And how do we calculate it?

    Turnover rate is the number of hours it takes to all the water in your pool through the filter once.

    To determine the turnover rate, first, we have to calculate the volume of your pool. If you dont know how many gallons of water your pool holds, you can easily calculate it here.

    The next part is to check your pool pump. How fast does it pump water through your filter?

    Start your stopwatch and your pump. When your entire pool has gone through your filter, stop the timer. Thats your turnover rate. Just kidding, thats crazy .

    Instead of sitting by your pool trying to figure this out with a stopwatch, we turn to math .

    Once youve figured out the volume of your pool, divide the total by 8 to determine the number of gallons per hour that need to be pumped. For example, if you have a pool with 20,000 gallons youll need a pump that can move 2,500 gallons in an hour.

    GPH is a little annoying to deal with because most pumps talk about water movement in gallons per minute , so then we divide that by 60. There are 60 minutes in an hour right?

    You probably dont need the 6 repeating, so lets round it up to 42. So in our example, youll need a pump that will pump at least 42 GPM to cycle your entire pool in an 8 hour period.

    When You Should Run Your Pool Pump

    How Long To Run Pool Pump

    Just as important as how long you run your pool pump is when you run it.

    You know you need to turn over your pool water in 6-12 hours but that doesnt mean 6-12 consecutive hours. To save money on your electric bill, opt to run your pool pump during non-peak hours when electricity costs the least. You can choose to run it for, say, three hours in the early morning and another five hours in the evening. Your electric company can tell you which hours are billed at peak rates and which are billed at non-peak rates, so you can plan your pumps schedule accordingly.

    On the other hand, there might be some times when you want to run your pump during the hottest, sunniest time of day. UV rays burn up the chlorine, so running the pump helps counteract the suns effects.

    In addition to daily pumping for turnover, youll also want to run your pool pump any time you add chemicals so that they get evenly distributed in your pool water. Whether its a shock treatment or simple routine chemical maintenance to your pool, run the pump immediately afterward to properly disperse them.

    Read Also: How To Open Pool In Spring

    What If I Have A Pool Cover

    If youre using a pool cover on your pool, youll still need to run it everyday however you may be able to cut down the number of hours you run the pump. e.g you may run the filter pump for 6 hours instead of 8 hours when using a swimming pool cover. The pool cover will keep out a lot of the dirt, debris and contaminants.

    Again, it does depend on the regularity of your usage. If you use your pool everyday then you should run your pump every day.

    What Does A Pool Pump Do

    If the water in your pool didnt move, it would quickly become a stagnant swamp, host to algae and all kinds of other yucky stuff. One of the most important factors in keeping your pool clean and swimmable is pool circulation. And that is generated by the pump, which is the first component of your pools filtration system.

    The pool pump pulls water in, and then pushes it out through the filter. No matter what kind of filter you have, it only works if water moves through it. Thats how the filter is able to capture debris and bacteria.

    To keep all the water in the pool clean and clear, it must run through the filter system at least once a day. This is called the turnover rate.

    You can skip this whole process by investing in the pool care video course and finally master pool water chemistry and maintenance for good! Its time to take control of your pool and save a ton of money in the process.

    Recommended Reading: How Many Gallons Is My Pool

    What Is A Turnover Rate

    The big idea when it comes to running your pool pump is to get all of the water in your pool to go through the filter at least once a day. This is the turnover rate for your pool, and most systems can turn over the water about 2 3 times a day. But, getting your water through the filter is not the only factor involved in cleaning your pool.

    If your pool sees heavy use, it is going to accumulate more debris. The more people in your pool, obviously, the dirtier your water will become.

    However, if you are not using your pool every day, one turnover will ensure that pool chemicals get distributed, and no algae build-up occurs.

    RELATED ARTICLES
    - Advertisment -

    Most Popular

    - Advertisment -