Running pumps over night...rather than during the day

[Guest]

Recently I have begun running my pumps overnight with fountains, waterfalls, and whatever else I can find to try to cool the pool. It seems to be working, pool is down about 3 degrees in the heat of the day.

Here's my question...am I more susceptible to algae or other problems if the pool isn't circulating during the day while the sun is directly on it, or is everything fine as long as the chemistry is right and it runs long enough at some point to turn the water over sufficiently.

Thanks for your input,
Craig

 

[duraleigh]

Consider breaking that 12 hours into 3 - four hour intervals. Maybe two at night and one in the day. That'll keep your water from being motionless for 12 hours.......not really a good idea.

Or, better yet, make yourself an evaporator.it-s-too-hot-t14114.html

 

[Buggsw]

We always run ours at night. I think most of my neighbors theirs at night, too.

 

[amjohn]

We are running ours at night only with fountain for cooling as well. During the day, we let it sit from 7am to about 5pm- the top foot or so of water gets warm, but under that seems to be insulated, and is quite cool. I am able to keep it around 87-88 degrees that way- which is about 5 degrees less than those around us. Considering we have just finished a run of 10 days above 100 degrees, we are doing pretty good. I was worried about the water not circulating during the day as well, and would run it some during the day, but that would warm up the water faster, and I had to run the fountain more (thus more evaporation) to cool it. I use borates, so that may help keep the algae at bay, and I keep the chlorine levels up a little higher (a couple ppm than my required level for my cya)- water is sparkling, and very refreshing, so far.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You do risk FC "dead spots" if you don't have some run time during the day.

 

[amjohn]

I swim 2 to 3 times a day, with my day time swims being quick dips to cool off from the horrible heat, while the pump is not running. It stirs the water some, because I can feel alternating swirls of warm and cool water against me- a very cool feeling and very refreshing. If I did not keep my pool temp under control, we would not be swimming, we would be simmering, so I am willing to take a few risks. I have been very happy with the improved condition of my water with borates, as well. Not even a hint of algae this year so far. Of course, summer has 3 more months to run here, so things could change.

 

[mas985]

Remember too that most of the chlorine is lost during the day due to UV, so if you want to keep a steady level of chlorine, you need to keep adding it during the day which is hard to do without the pump running. Otherwise, the pool is subject to large swings in chlorine level with the lowest levels right before your pump cycle which may be when you want to swim.

 

[Buggsw]

Let me correct myself a little bit. With the high temps we have been experiencing, I run my pump 12 hours a day, so I do get some daytime run time on my pool. I run mine from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. in the summer. But, in the winter, I run it only at night.

 

[amjohn]

This is Texas. The UV loss of chlorine in an unshaded pool is continuous. I add bleach nightly after our last swim of the day. The pump runs to circulate it for the rest of the night. The only way to have a constant chlorine level here is to add it hourly or have a SWG and run the pump 24 hours. I too start my pump around 5PM, and start the fountain then as well, so we can play in it, and to keep the temp from rising any further.

 

[tedinelkgrove]

I run my pump 9am to 12pm and 8pm to 11pm. I have really good cirlulation; 3 returns all breaking the surface and lots of swirling. Is that sufficient or should I be running longer? My pool water looks great and is sparkling clear. I get direct sunlight all day here in Sunny Elk Grove.

 

[reebok]

then that's fine.
pool-school/pump_run_time