Pump Run Time (of day)

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baudilus

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2009
156
Toms River, NJ
I have what the power company calls a TOD (time of day) meter, in which daytime electricity (9 AM - 9 PM in the summer months) is more expensive than normal, but nighttime electricity (9PM - 9AM) is significantly cheaper than normal.

How important is it to run the pump during daytime hours, especially since I have a salt-water chlorinator? My pool is a hair over 45K gallons and my pump run time has normally been 12 hours when it's colder (all nighttime) and 16 hours when it's warmer (12 at night, 4 in the hottest hours of the day), or whenever there are people in the pool.

I plan to add borates this year and stay on top of chemical levels, especially FC and CYA - would it benefit me greatly to run the pump during the day?
 
If you can set your timer to run for an hour or two during the peak sun hours, this is important because the sun can rapidly destroy the FC depsite the presence of CYA. The rest of your run time can be at night.

Of course you can try a nite time only schedule for a few weeks and see if any problems develop, testing and monitoring closely, but if you do develop a problem then add a couple of day time hours until you find your ideal.

It's pretty much trial and error with this sort of thing. Some folk report no problems with overnight only run times.

Good luck :wink:
 
This answer ultimately comes down to homeowner preference. Here are some things to consider:

-1HP pump, on average, running 24 hours a day, pulling, eh..8 amps...costs you about a dollar a day.
-Some filter methods recommend running more than others, sand and cartridge filters, which don't have the micron capacity a DE filter has, will require more run time to keep the water clear.
-Certain salt systems may require running a minimum amount of time per day, check with the manufacturer or dealer

My company has always recommended 24 hours a day, all day, every day, to constantly keep turnover at a maximum, we also use mostly DE filtration systems on all AG and IG pool setups, so we feel we have cleaner clearer water than the sand filter dealer down the street who recommends a 12 hours run time.

Basically if you find yourself struggling with the pool water and chemicals on a shorter run cycle, definitely consider a change.
Hope that helps =]
 
Running a pump 24/7 as the answer to keeping a pool clean (and sanitary) doesn't make sense to me.

24/7 will certainly keep your pool cleaner than 8-10 hours daily but it seems a big price to pay for electricity and, if your equipment is properly sized, very unneccessary.

Like polyvue, I like those Ohio electric rates. That can't be done in NC.
 
polyvue said:
knick_mike said:
-1HP pump, on average, running 24 hours a day, pulling, eh..8 amps...costs you about a dollar a day.
Click to expand...
Ohio doesn't sound like such a bad place to have a pool... :lol:

Or perhaps 1 Ohio dollar = 4-5 California dollars?
Click to expand...

Try close to $19/day. A full rated 1 HP pump will use close to 2 kw and 48 kwh @ $0.40/kwh ~ $19/day.
 
I'm not trying to argue or bicker over math, but why are you paying 40c per KwH..you need to call your electric providers.

Look at this...

1HP Pentair Intelliflo pump, one of the more common pumps used to combat all the VGB coding running 24hrs./day costs lest than 75 CENTS, I'm using current pricing for local electric distribution at .15 kWh.

Less economical / non-variable speed/ non-variable flow is obviously going to use more energy. But it still really comes down to if the amount of filtration achieved by a shorter cycle is keeping the pool in tip top shape. However, I apologize for any misconstruing or misunderstandings I may have stated in my previous post. Hope that helps =]
 

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knick_mike said:
I'm not trying to argue or bicker over math, but why are you paying 40c per KwH..you need to call your electric providers.

Look at this...

1HP Pentair Intelliflo pump, one of the more common pumps used to combat all the VGB coding running 24hrs./day costs lest than 75 CENTS, I'm using current pricing for local electric distribution at .15 kWh.

Less economical / non-variable speed/ non-variable flow is obviously going to use more energy. But it still really comes down to if the amount of filtration achieved by a shorter cycle is keeping the pool in tip top shape. However, I apologize for any misconstruing or misunderstandings I may have stated in my previous post. Hope that helps =]
Click to expand...

PG&E rates are quite high out here. During the summer with AC, you can easily get to tier 4 which is $0.40/kwh without the pump. So the incremental cost of the pump is $0.40/kwh but the average cost of all electricity is less. I could go to time of day billing but with solar, it would end up costing me even more. But even at the next teir down, the rate is $0.28/kwh so 24 hours of a 1 HP pump is still on the order of $13/day. So hardly anyone out here will run their pump 24/7.

As to the Intelliflo, it isn't always the most cost effective solution because of the intial cost. It depends on the speeds used and the run times. Solar, cleaners and even skimming require higher speeds than the most efficient setting of the Intelliflo (~1000 RPM). I did a quick calculation in this post, and it took 200 months for the Intelliflo to overtake a two speed 1/2 HP pump in terms of cost savings. It isn't always a slam dunk for the Intelliflo.
 
I totally agree with your statement on the Intelliflo, I don't think it's anywhere close to a slam dunk. My company is a Pentair dealer, and I think it's a bit pricey. However, a lot of our customers are trying to prepare for the future, with reliability and cost versus up front cost, and going with things like Intelliflo over conventional pumps, and heat pumps over LP or Natural units.
 
For me the greater issue is the pool skimmer system and Kansas winds. The wind typically blows the hardest here in the hours of daylight. So running the pump at night would be fine but the cleaning duties would go through the roof.

If you don't have wind in your area this may not be an issue, but for me nighttime pumping is a bad idea.
 
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