When to run pool filter/pump (best times)

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turquoiseknight

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Aug 9, 2011
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First time poster and I'd like to say that this site is awesome for helping us noobie pool owners. My pool is clean and clear thanks to the knowledge posted here.Thanks to you all!

I'd like to know if there is a best time of the day to run my filter (morning as opposed to evening?). Currently, I have a timer on it set to run from 10am to 8pm everyday. I do this because members of my family, typically and randomly, swim between those times. I'd like to cut it down to the recommended 8 hours. Would it be alright if I had the timer shut off the filter for an hour or two during the middle of the day?

I had an idea of setting the timer to turn the filter on and off at set intervals through out a 24hour period. Is this advisable? (eg. 10am to 12pm, 2pm to 4pm, 6pm to 8pm, 10pm to 12pm)

Thanks in advance.
 
Here in Texas, I was told to run the pool pump in the heat of the day, as that's the best time to chlorinate the pool. I was also told to run it for an hour for each 10 degrees of ambient temperature. So for the past 38 days, that's been 10 hours a day! It works great for me - no algae or clarity issues all year! Hope that helps, Bill
 
Thanks ToyGuy. Yeah, I've heard that too but I've read here that its the chlorine level that takes care of algae, not necessarily the filter. I too run it for 10 hours during high sun hours but I'd like to save some money on my electric bill if possible.
 
If you ahve tiered electric rates you can run it whenever the cheapest rates are. I'd probably run it an hour in the middle of the off time just to keep the water stirred but the rest can be all at night if that's the best rates.
 
It may depend on whether you have a single speed pump, two speed pump, or variable speed pump. And what speed or flow you run the pump at.

I have a variable speed pump, and run the pump for more than 10 hours a day, buy at a relatively low flow of 23 gpm.

Also, the number of hours is dependent on your particular pool characteristics, trees, dirt blowing in, swimmer load, etc.
 
Like many other things, you have to start somewhere, then tweak it to suit our own pool.

I run my filter mainly at night, because the design of my pool tends to add a lot of heat in the summer. The pool does get some shade, but the spillover spa and the waterfall add a whole lot of heat from the southwest sun. I have to run the waterfall from time to time to keep it free of algae and I run it more in the cooler months when I am tying to add heat to the pool. I also run the Polaris a few times during the day and that gets some chlorine circulated.

In all, my pool is getting 11 or 12 hours of total circulation, I think it is about 8 hours from midnight to 8 AM, then about 3 hours total from the waterfall and the Polaris. The waterfall in short bursts of 30 min each and the Polaris for longer, 2 hours total or maybe 3.
 
Thanks to you all for your responses. I guess I will have to play around with it and figure out what works best. :wink:

@Ride, I will have to calculate the flow rate of my pump. I'm sure its pretty high being a 1.5 hp pump and I am not sure if its variable speed. I doubt it. This pool was a "hand me down" from the previous owner of our house. Its an 18'x33' above ground with a Hayward sand filter.

@anonapersona, does a running filter add heat to a pool?
 

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