How many hours per day do you run your pump?

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Ripper70

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Apr 24, 2015
78
Long Island, NY
Hey All,

Well, for a variety of reasons, I finally got my pool up and running. Opened up two weeks ago and finally got all my chemistry where it should be. Even added borates this season, as per Pool School recommendations, and am happy with the results.

In the interim, I received my first warm weather electric bill. Between the AC usage and now the pool pump I nearly fell over.

I have the pump connected to a timer and am wondering if how to effectively run the pump on a schedule and not mess up my chemistry. I'm imagining having the pump run on a "6 hours on 2 hours off" per day but would be interested to know if this is the most effective way to cycle the pool.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ripper70
 
Generally you should only need about 2-3 hours of pump run time in a day to mix the chemistry.

You might need more if that is not skimming the pool enough or generating enough FC ... I hope you are being careful with your CYA if you are using the CL200 in your signature.
 
themadangler said:
Do you mean you are running your pump 18 hrs per day on and 6 off? If so, and I'm no expert, but that's quite a bit. I run mine for 5 hrs at night and 5 hrs during peak sunlight
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Yes, that's what I was thinking. Like I said, I want to make sure I don't get any algae blooms, but I'm not sure how close to cut the runtime. I'd gladly run it for less if I could be sure I wouldn't end up screwing everything up.
 
jblizzle said:
Generally you should only need about 2-3 hours of pump run time in a day to mix the chemistry.

You might need more if that is not skimming the pool enough or generating enough FC ... I hope you are being careful with your CYA if you are using the CL200 in your signature.
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Thanks for pointing out the CL200 risks. One of the things I needed to do was fix a suction side leak that was emanating from the chlorinator. I ended up just removing it from the system and use a floater now when I'm away for the weekend or need to add CYA after water replacement. Also, I've adjusted my signature.

As for the pump runtime, is it really possible to only run it for just 2-3 hours per day? That'd save me a bundle of money if I could really get away with it!

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borjis said:
I only run mine 2 hours a day. Been doing that the last 2 years. No problemo.

The only exception is weekends during swimming with guests over or when heating.
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Do you run yours during daylight hours or at night?
 
The chlorinator is after the pump, so on the pressure side ... you can not have a "suction" leak there.

The chemistry (chlorine specifically) is WAY more important to keeping algae from growing than the pump run time.

I had no pump for 2 weeks in the heart of AZ summer ... no algae because I kept the FC up and mixed with a brush. Pool was dirty, but no algae.
 

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jblizzle said:
The chlorinator is after the pump, so on the pressure side ... you can not have a "suction" leak there.

The chemistry (chlorine specifically) is WAY more important to keeping algae from growing than the pump run time.

I had no pump for 2 weeks in the heart of AZ summer ... no algae because I kept the FC up and mixed with a brush. Pool was dirty, but no algae.
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Sorry. I misspoke. You are correct. The suction side leak I had was at the junction of the 3-way valve for the skimmer/main drain. My main drain has never worked since we moved in. Wasn't planning on spending the money to fix it so I eliminated it. Also, had a leak at the chlorinator joints because of overly worn threads. After discovering TFP I stopped using it except on rare occasions. Now, the floater works just fine for me.

Thanks for the info on the pump runtime. Very happy to know I won't go broke every summer trying to keep my pool clear!

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Razorhog said:
I run mine 10am - 2pm and then 1am - 4am. I could run it less but we have a lot of trees and I like getting leaves in the skimmer basket rather than on the bottom.
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That's what I was hoping to hear. I'll try a couple of hours at night and a couple during the day. I do have a neighbor with a badly shedding pine tree that I secretly wish would fall over on his house and relieve me of my daily skimming drudgery.
 
I run my VS at 1500 rpm from 5:30 am to 11:30 am each day. Been doing this for several years now with no problem. Pool is crystal clear. I maintain correct FC for CYA level. Never seen any hint of algae. 38000 gal pool in So Cal heat and sun. Measure FC each day with TFP 100 kit.
 
I should add that I turn it on when there are swimmers too - by dividing pump run times between day and night I can easily just "let it go". If we are done swimming at 6pm, I just leave it running and know it will turn off during the night. If I turn it on at 10am to swim I know it will go off at 2pm. The reason I chose 10am - 2pm is because I like to check the water and add chemicals during my lunch break, which varies in time. This gives me enough time to test water and add/mix chems.
 
Can you still maintain an adequate chlorine level with minimal pump time if using a SWG system? My pump runs 24/7 and it does get rather expensive. I don't have a timer but can certainly buy one if I can reduce the pump run time and still maintain a good chlorine level.
 
Central Florida, fully exposed pool to brutal sun, water temp at least 86 degrees, frequent rain, never more than 4 hours a day in the summer, usually noon-4pm, and if forecast is dry and not windy, noon-2pm 2 hours only. Zero algae, but requires more frequent brush/vac due to debris on floor every so often. I do keep my FC between target and shock though, because unpredictable heavy rain and unexpected heavy bather load. Still only lose 2.5-4.5ppm FC/day when no bathers or rain.
 
jjfromtheburgh said:
Can you still maintain an adequate chlorine level with minimal pump time if using a SWG system? My pump runs 24/7 and it does get rather expensive. I don't have a timer but can certainly buy one if I can reduce the pump run time and still maintain a good chlorine level.
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That is one of the qualification that I made .... or intended to.
You may need longer run times for adequate skimmer or chlorine generation (with a SWG ;) ).

What is the % output of your SWG if you are running 24/7?

If you cut the pump run time in half, just double the % output on the SWG ... etc.
 

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