24/7 Pump Run

[Texas50]

Lots of reading on this site over the last three months as my pool was being constructed and I have a question for the experts about running my pump 24/7. I've done some searches and haven't seen this question asked before so here it goes.

Equipment specs are in my sig line:

According to the manual, running the pump at a low speed - approximately 300 W, with an electric price of $0.10 per kWh ends up costing $0.03 per hour or $0.72 cents a day.

I actually run my pump at just under 300 W and my price per kWh is $0.09 so my cost is less than posted in the manual but this gives easy numbers to work with. So my question is - is it worth it to take the time to setup the pump schedules to only run the time needed to turn the pool over at least once per day, or since the savings would be negligible since I would have to run the pump at a higher speed to turn the water over in a shorter amount of time therefore spending more in electric costs, just leave it as is?


Thanks to all the awesome info here we have had water in the pool for about a month and we have been crystal clear since day one.

 

[woodyp]

Water "turn over" time actually means very little. Run it only as much as your pool NEEDS it to remain skimmed and clear.

 

[Donldson]

I have never run the numbers but my pump runs on low 24/7. I decided long ago that the few dollars a year I would save by running less often would not be worth putting in a timer. If you already have a way to set a schedule then I would set it up to run on low for 12 hours a day and see if you notice any difference. Water clarity is first and foremost a chemical issue anyway and people have kept their water clear for several days during power failures and broken pumps with only chlorine and some form of occasional circulation (swimming, brushing, etc).

 

[Texas50]

You suggested to run it on low on for 12 hours and see if I notice any difference, difference in what? If clarity has to do with chem's and I manually dose those, what would I be looking for?

 

[Donldson]

If you notice any clarity difference. Clarity is primarily a chemical issue, but pools do have filters for a reason. Dust and debris and pollen and other stuff is always falling in to it that needs filtered out and will build up over time if it isn't. So if you switch to a 12 hour run cycle and notice any change in clarity then you can bump it back up to 18 or 24 hours. If everything still looks good though then you just saved yourself 36 cents a day.