I live in the deep South about 20 miles from the Alabama Gulf Coast. My water temp in my 22'x52" above ground pool is 72 degrees and nobody is going to be swimming in that. I wanted to go ahead and close the pool but after reading everything here, I see that I need to wait until the water drops below 60 degrees. My question is can I reduce the run time of my pump and SWG to save on electricity while I wait? Currently, I run the pump 8 hours and the SWG for 6 hours each day. We don't really get cold, cold weather here so I'm not sure how long it will take for the water to get down to that temperature. If it takes a while, I don't want to be paying for the electricity being used up when the pool is not being used. Also, if I reduce the run time of the pump and SWG, should I go ahead and get the pooled cleaned out and covered so the sun doesn't burn up my chlorine? I only have the cover that came with the pool. Thanks.
Water's not ready to close but can I cut down on pump running time?
- Thread starter BBrock2014
- Start date
Depends on what your FC levels are doing. You can certainly reduce the pump run time, maybe even down to just a couple hours, but you have to be sure the SWG is able to keep up. A cover would certainly help maintain the FC and reduce the debris falling in ... although it will also keep the water warmer.
Hello,
How often do you check your FC Level? As the weather cools and less sunlight to break down the chlorine you can turn down you're run times. You may want to marry up your pump/SWCG run times together. Cut the pump run time to 6 hours, and possibly turn down the percentage on the SWCG.
This link will also give some guidance: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time
My pump/SWCG runs 10-12 hours in the summer and 4-6 hours in the winter. I adjust the pump run time 3 or 4 times a year or so.
How often do you check your FC Level? As the weather cools and less sunlight to break down the chlorine you can turn down you're run times. You may want to marry up your pump/SWCG run times together. Cut the pump run time to 6 hours, and possibly turn down the percentage on the SWCG.
This link will also give some guidance: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time
My pump/SWCG runs 10-12 hours in the summer and 4-6 hours in the winter. I adjust the pump run time 3 or 4 times a year or so.
As long as you keep the FC up you could get by with a couple hours a day just to circulate the water but the SWG unfortunately needs flowing water to generate Chlorine so you might be stuck. If the SWG has a separate and smaller pump dedicated to it, then you can run the SWG the proper amount of time to generate the chlorine level you need. The other solution is to add liquid chlorine to compensate for the SWG being run less. I think this might be a good tradeoff cost wise when you take into account the need to replace the SWG cell based upon the amount of time it is used. Replacement cells are $500-$800! Some else correct me if I am wrong please.
This is what I would do if I were in your shoes. If additional chlorine is needed, simply add the recommended amount of liquid bleach and let the pump run for another half-hour or so and you should be good to go. I have a manually-chlorinated pool. With few exceptions (mainly pool parties), I run my pump for 1-2 hours / day during the peak swim season and my pool is crystal clear. However, I am very diligent about maintaining FC within the recommended range and keeping debris out of the water.Thehobe" said:
I am in the same boat. I run my pump 24/7 during swim season. Only because I have no control panel and have not taken the time to figure out how to integrate the SWG and heater to not run when the pump is off.
I too want to close, but the Midwest heat wave had my water back up to 78 over the weekend. It is supposed to get cold this weekend so hopefully it does the trick. I have my SWG running at 100% and have added 2 gallons of 12.5%lc a week to get to shock level. My auto over being closed 100% of the time helps as well.
I agree with Bo. Go the LC route. It has a huge impact
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I too want to close, but the Midwest heat wave had my water back up to 78 over the weekend. It is supposed to get cold this weekend so hopefully it does the trick. I have my SWG running at 100% and have added 2 gallons of 12.5%lc a week to get to shock level. My auto over being closed 100% of the time helps as well.
I agree with Bo. Go the LC route. It has a huge impact
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Here are a complete set of pool test results taken with the TF-50 test kit:
FC-18 (high?)
CC-.5
CH-200
TA-100
CYA-55
PH-7.6
So, it doesn't look like I will be needing to add any chlorine. I decided to just turn of the SWG for a few days and I will run the pump 2-3 hours a day and see if the FC will come down. We are supposed to have a cool down this weekend also so I will see how that affects the water temperature.
FC-18 (high?)
CC-.5
CH-200
TA-100
CYA-55
PH-7.6
So, it doesn't look like I will be needing to add any chlorine. I decided to just turn of the SWG for a few days and I will run the pump 2-3 hours a day and see if the FC will come down. We are supposed to have a cool down this weekend also so I will see how that affects the water temperature.
BBRock, I have the same pool as you, but I figured it at 12,500 gallons, which is a number that worked perfectly in my calculations of how much acid to buy & use when I added borates. How'd you get 10,500 gallons?
I'm also in the same situation as you. water temp in low 70's, leaves falling, . . . . general p.i.t.a. atm.
I'm also in the same situation as you. water temp in low 70's, leaves falling, . . . . general p.i.t.a. atm.