Single Dual Or Variable Speed Pool Pump
If your pool pump is single-speed, I suggest upgrading to a dual-speed at the very least. Your turnover and efficiency will increase. In some states like Arizona and California, authorities ban the installation of new single-speed pool pumps despite their electricity-saving ability and efficiency.
If you want to get the most out of your investment, we advise that you go for a variable-speed pool pump. Variable-speed pumps use less energy, speed up turnover and filtering, and you might even be eligible for a utility refund. They are often quieter than single-and dual-speed pumps since they rotate at a lower RPM.
They are usually more expensive, but theyre an excellent long-term investment for your pools maintenance and efficiency.
But First Lets Talk About Why You Need To Run A Pool Pump
Your pool is filled with shimmering, blue water that begs you to dive right in and enjoy its coolness. But when the pump stops working and that beautiful water becomes stagnant, its not so appealing anymore. The pump moves the water, which is what creates the awesomeness that is your pool.
Did You Know?
Ever wonder how your pool pump works? It works like this: the pump pulls water in from your pool and then pushes it out through the filter. Then, the filter catches all the bacteria and debriseverything you dont want in your poolto keep the water pure and inviting.
All the water in your pool must run through the filter at least one time a day. This is called the turnover rate, and its an important aspect of figuring out how long to run a pool pump.
How Long To Run Pool Pump For The Best Result
So, how long should you run your pool pump? Ideally, this can be answered with all day long, every day, and every time. But as consequences, you have to set aside thousand dollars for electricity bills each month. To get an appropriate understanding related to how long you should run pool pump each day, you need to really know type of pump, purpose of pool pump and rate of turnover.
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Is Salt The Best Option For Swimming Pools
Mined salt is the best type of salt to use in your pool. This variety ranges from 95% to 99% pure sodium chloride and, as the name suggests, comes from mining it out of the earth. This is easily the most popular type of salt in the United States, which is part of why its so affordable to use in pools.
What Does A Pump Actually Do
A pump pulls water in from your swimming pool and pushes it through your filter and then back into your swimming pool. Thats really it.
Its like the heart of your entire pool and depending on what kind of filter you have, whether its sand, DE, or cartridge, your pump is going to be pushing the water through that at a certain speed and your filter is going to either filter it or not.
Were trying to create the ideal situation where youre pulling enough water from your pool and pushing the right amount of water through your filter system, so that it can work effectively and finally, push that clean water back into your pool.
Now ideally, our aim is to move all of the water from the pool through a filter system at least once a day. This is called turnover rate.
So, the turnover rate is what we need to calculate in order to find out if you have the right size pump and the right filter for your pool.
So lets calculate.
The first thing we want to know is,
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When Is The Best Time To Run A Pool Pump
You should avoid peak hours to save more on electricity bills. Peak hours are periods during which your neighborhood tends to use more electricity.
For example, peak hours in warmer regions are when people have their air conditioning turned on, maybe early evening when they arrive home from work and turn up the A/C.
You can make things a lot easier on yourself by using a programmable pool timer to switch on and off the pump at non-peak times to save you on electricity bills in the long run.
Matt Giovanisci swimuniversity.com
Should A Pool Pump Run Continuously
The simple answer is yes. In an ideal world, the best thing you could do for your pool would be to run the pump all day, every day. However, as you may have discovered, that will get you an electric bill so ridiculous that youll have to get two more jobs to cover it. Dont think that means you have to stop using your pool, though. While continuously pumping is technically best, its not necessary to have a safe, clean pool.
So, how long and how often do you need to run your pump? They dont go over this in the pool maintenance for beginners handbook.
Its generally recommended that all of the water in a pool needs to be filtered at least once every 24 hours. If the pool is being used heavily , youll probably want to cycle it through the filter twice that day.
Several variables will determine how long it takes your pump to cycle through all the water in your pool. The two major factors are the type and nature of the swimming pool pump being used and the size of the swimming pool. With regards to the pump, the efficiency and flow rate will dictate how fast and how well the pump cycles the pool water. The size of the pool tells you how much water a pump has to turn over. The larger the pool, the greater the amount of water, which means it will take the pump more time to get through a filter cycle.
Take note that these recommendations are for residential pools. Commercial pools need to have their water cycled over several times in a day.
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How Long You Should Run Your Pool Pump Each Day
To keep all the water in the pool clean and clear, plan to run your pool pump long enough to filter the entire volume of water in your pool at least once a day. The number of hours it takes for all the water in the pool to go through the filter is called the turnover rate.
Did You Know?Routinely running your pool pump longer than your turnover rate is a waste of electricity and a shock to your electric bill. Not only that, youll end up wearing out your pool equipment much faster than necessary.
The rule of thumb is generally 8 hours, although it could be anywhere from 6-12 hours, depending on your pools size. Each pool is unique, so to keep your pool pump efficient and effective, you need to figure out exactly what your pools turnover rate is.
Sizing Your Above Ground Pool Pump
Sizing your above ground pool pump is crucial to the overall performance of your swimming pool. An undersized pump lacks the power needed to circulate your water properly to prevent algal blooms. Adversely, a pump that is too large will completely bypass your filter altogether. This, too, creates a dirty pool. In a way, its similar to the likes of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. You dont want a pump that is too big or too small, you want one that is JUST right.
How can you determine which size pump is right? Lets explore.
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What Is The Pump Flow Rate
The water flow, or flow rate, for most pool filter pumps is measured in gallons per minute , versus gallons per hour . As the measurement names imply, flow rate is an indicator of how much water can flow through the pump in a given span of time. Depending on whether youre needing GPH or GPM, theyre easy to convert:
GPH ÷ 60 = GPM
GPM X 60 = GPH
Run A Pool Pump From Sunrise To Sunset
You will get the best water quality by running your pump from sunrise to sunset, but it is unrealistic for most homeowners to do so.
If you cant do it this way, run the pump from about 10 am to 5 pm.
You should also be sure that there is no debris in the pool and that the water level is higher than the skimmer. These will cause an excess of air and friction and waste a lot of energy and time.
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Do You Have To Run The Pump For 8 Hours In One Go
You do not have to run the pool pump for 8 consecutive hours.
You could run it for, say, 4 hours in the early morning and another 4 in the late afternoon.
To save money, you could set the timer for the pump to run for 4 hours until the higher peak electricity charges start, then be off during the peak hours and restart for another 4 hours when the non peak hours start again.
How Long Should I Run My Above
A pool pump is the pool equipment that ensures the pool water is kept moving to allow the filter to clean it, mix the chemicals, and prevent algae growth. But how long should I run my above-ground pool pump remains the subject for most pool owners.
The best answer is once a day, 30 days in a month, and 365 days in a year. But this would mean you will be paying for extremely high bills end month. It doesnt have to be if you take advantage of the time to run the above-ground pool pump, understand its purpose and take advantage of the type of model youre using.
This post is mainly here to tell you how long you should run your above-ground pool pump, why run it, how much it will cost you to run it, and the best time of the day to run it. So, continue reading itll help you understand how to utilize the system well and save on your bills.
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Other Factors That Affect How Long A Pool Pump Should Run
Other than the pool pump and pool size, the duration of running a pool pump also depends on:
The type of pool pump you are using
whether you use a pool cover or you leave the pool exposed
The amount of foliage around your swimming pool
The season of the year and the local climate
The level of activity the pool gets
Whether swimmers clean up before diving into the pool
An open swimming pool exposed to light will need longer pumping. The same is the case with pools during the summer or in hot climates, or pools surrounded by many trees that shade leaves. On the same note, a swimming pool that gets used often will also need long hours of cleaning.
Is It Better To Run Your Pool Pump At Night Or During The Day
Many people run it at night, however it is highly ineffective and ends up costing more in both time and money.
The daylight hours are when the sun is hitting your pool and your pool gets used the most, that is when you need chlorine filtrating through your system. Algae needs four things to form and survive. The Sun is one of them, and you are giving it free access if you run it at night.
It may be cheaper to run the pump at night, but honestly you should run it 1 hour a day per 10 degrees of temperature at least, and it should be during the day. Running the pump at night should only be when you are doing a major chemical treatment such as algae clean-up. Your pool is more vulnerable during the day, plants dont grow at night the way they do during the daythats true of ALL plants including Algae.
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Does Location Affect How Long To Run Pump For
Location matters a lot when it comes to the runtime requirement for a pool pump. If youre in locations such as California and Florida where summers are long and dry, run the pool pump for 5-8 hours depending on the volume of your pool.
Florida often gets the wild windy weather. South Africa also has a similar climate, where there is often desert wind and scorching hot summer. Look out for those weather conditions, and run the pool pump for a longer time, as the pool water will get dirtier than usual.
Texas has a very muggy and hot summer. So, the weather will often be very sweaty and dusty. For such locations, its a good idea to run the pump for a bit longer than its optimal runtime.
For locations such as New York, that have a lot of pollution, its advisable for the pool pump to run for a longer period of time, maybe 7-10 hrs per day. However, if youre in a location like Australia, where the air quality is very good, you can just consider running the pool pump for its average optimal run time every day maybe 6-8 hrs.
It also matters where your pool is located. Pools that are surrounded by a lot of large trees will get dirty quicker because of shredded leaves and pollen. In those cases, the pump has to run for a longer time.
Do Pool Pumps Have To Run All The Time
By: Sarah Gleim | Updated: Jun 22, 2022
Much of the world is experiencing oppressively hot temperatures this summer. And there’s probably no better way to cool off than taking a dip in a cool pool.
Of course, that’s only if your pool is properly maintained and that includes running the pump to filter the water. But does the pump have to run all the time, as in 24 hours a day? Before you just turn it on and leave it, let’s first talk about what a pool pump actually does.
The pump is the main part of the swimming pool circulation system. When it’s running, it keeps the water moving otherwise the water would become stagnant and things like algae and bacteria could grow. The pump also clears debris from the water and keeps those pool chemicals mixed by pushing water through the filtration system.
Many variables determine how much time you need to run the filtration system, including the size of the pool and how you use it. But the bottom line is 100 percent of your pool’s water must filter through the system at least once a day something called turnover rate.
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How Long Should I Keep My Pool Pump Running
We all love a good pool day, especially when you have your very own in the backyard. However, outside of splashing and relaxing, there is quite a bit of maintenance that needs to happen. If you dont properly maintain your pool, it can develop problems that range from uncomfortable to deadly. One of the most important parts of maintaining your pool is ensuring that you have working equipment.
Article Contents
Tips For Shocking Swimming Pool Before Using
There arent any set tips for the best way to shock a swimming pool but there are a few swimming pool shock treatment facts that you should know.
Swimming pool chlorine or swimming pool shock treatment with lower concentrations is less harmful to swimming pool liner and swimming pool paint than swimming pool chlorine or swimming pool shock treatments with higher concentrations so always err on the side of caution and be careful when shocking the swimming pool during the process.
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How Many Gallons Are Actually In Your Swimming Pool
This is very essential in order to determine what the turnover rate is going to be, and you can use online pool volume calculator to find it out.
You can calculate pool volume by simply entering the size of your pool, length, and width and what kind of pool you have, and itll give you the number of gallons.
Once, we have the number of gallons that are in swimming pool, we need to divide that by eight, which is eight hours, and that is going to give us the gallons per hour.
Turnover Rate = Pool Volume / 8
Now, you know the turnover rate, when you buy a pool pump its usually calculated in gallons per minute, so were going to have to do some more calculations which means take that gallon per hour number and divide it by 60
which is 60 minutes in an hour, and that will give you your gallons per minute.
Gallons Per Minutes = Turn over rate / 60
Okay, now you have the gallons per minute
if youre looking for the right pool pump, theres one more calculation you need to do that is called the feet of head.
In order to to calculate feet of head, you need to determine all of the pipe lines that are going into your pool.
For example, You might have a main drain line, you might have a line from your skimmer or you might have a line from two skimmers.
Now that you have both the values, the gallons per minute and your feet of head calculation,
There are a couple different types of pumps available in the market i.e. single speed, dual speed, dual speed, and variable speed pumps.
Exceptions When Night Time Pump Circulation Might Be Ideal
Chlorine distributed in the pool at night lasts longer at night than during the day. That is because sunlight often causes this chemical to disintegrate during the day. That might demand that your salt chlorinator runs for longer during the day. It is estimated that running your chlorinator for 6 hours at night is equivalent to running it for 9 hours during the day. Such electricity savings are too significant to ignore.
Apart from the energy savings, nighttime pumping is also ideal when you are doing a chemical treatment. It helps to keep the chlorine levels high.
Day time is best
Your pools sanitation is more at risk during the day than it is at night. Aside from the fact that algae thrive under the sun, swimming pools get used the most during the day. Even for homeowners that run their pool pumps at night, most end up running it for a couple of hours during the day too. That could also work. Many pool owners in the Southern states split the time so that they run the pump for four hours in the day and another four hours in the night.
If you are doing the split day and night pool pumping, the best thing is to start at 11 am to around 4 pm when the sun is hot so that it can burn off the chlorine. Another midnight schedule will help you get a good chlorine build-up ahead the next day.
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