When to run pump (day vs night)

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R

rjmac

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LifeTime Supporter
Sep 7, 2010
26
El Paso, TX
I'm a new BBB-er. We'd been battling algae for several weeks (lots of chemicals down the drain). I received the TF100 kit last Friday, began shocking on Saturday, and yesterday (Wednesday) I was finally able to clearly see the main drain in my pool. I've been running the pump 24/7, but now that it's cleared up, I want to back down to 8-10 hours per day. Is it better to run the pump during the day or at night?

Jill
 
I've always been in favor of running the pump during the day. It helps keep the temperature in the pool constant throughout the water to minimize evaporation. It also helps by keeping the chemicals mixed up while the sun is beating down and using up some chlorine. If your electric rate drops at night, I would try pumping at night to save some $$$.

:cheers:
 
Here in Ontario Canada we are going to peak and non-peak hours of use (Cost for hydro electricity). If I run the pump from 9:00 pm to 7:00 am I only pay 5 cents per KWhr. If I run it from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm it costs 10 cents per KWhr. (medium rates are 8.8 cents per KWhr)I will be putting my pump on a timer to only come on at night - I did this through the month of August and had no algae issues.

On weekends rates are at 5 cents per KWhr so we run the pump all weekend long. I read in the paper that Ontario may abandon these rates and make everything 1 rate. I'm not sure if any place in the US is experimenting with Electricity rates like this though. Maybe California ?
 
My pool is about 20,000 gallons, how long do I need to run my pump to keep the water "clean". 8 hrs ?
I have the Hayward Aquarite Salt Chlorinator, Hayward 300 lb sand filter. I remember seeing a formula somewhere but can't find it.

Pool Temperature is staying around 75 with solar blanket on at night, and removed in the afternoons when it is sunny.
I was running the 1 HP Hayward Super II Pump 10 hrs at night and so far the readings Chlorine, PH, Alkalinity are perfect.
I have reduced to 8 hours and the readings are still perfect.... how low can I go ?
 
I run it during the windy portion of the day, about 3pm-sunset. This helps keep the pool well skimmed & cleaned.

As far as "how long do I need to run my pump to keep the water "clean": just long enough to keep it clean! ;) Rules of thumb are something like minimum 1x per day turnover. I have been running about 0.8 turnover successfully all summer, with 85F+ water temp. Just have to keep an eye on it, don't let it get away from you.

Cheers
 
Acroy has the best answer "long enough to keep it clean!". Every pool and situation is different so there's no set amount of time or turnovers that are perfect for every situation. If 8 hours is doing it for you, you can leave it there or you could lower it to 6 and see if it stays crystal clear.
 

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You have to know your flow rate. Multiply GPM by 60 to get GPH then divide gallons by GPH to get hours for 1 turn.

For instance if your pump flows 50 GPM and your pool is 20,000 gallons the formula is.
50 X 60=3000 then 20,000 ÷ 3000 = 6.67 hours for a full turn of the water.
 
Summer I pump during the day for about 10 hours a day. Sometimes it runs extra depending on the use. During the winter I switch the timer to run at night. I do this to minimize the overall pump time in the event of freezing temps starting the pump. I don't need it running during the day if it had been on for a few hours overnight. Also I only pump about 2-3 hours a day during the winter, it's long enough to keep it clean and the Polaris to do its job.
 
offgrid said:
Thanks Acroy, Bama.

What is the formula for 1 x per day turn over with 20,000 gallons ?
Click to expand...

Unless you know or can calculate your flow rate - I suggest start with 10hrs/day summer see how that goes for a week or 2, start going down from there until you get skeered ;)

Personally I'm at about 6hrs runtime, around $40/mo in electricity, and the salt cell can just barely keep up (only makes CL when the pump's running!). I could probably go down a bit more on runtime, but electric savings would be minor, and I'd have to start adding bleach to keep the FC up.
 
i have been running my pump all day long all summer. I thought the pool store guy told me it was to run all day every day. I didn't know you could not run it for a few hours at a time. Is it bad to run it 24/7?
 
ginamarie88 said:
i have been running my pump all day long all summer. I thought the pool store guy told me it was to run all day every day. I didn't know you could not run it for a few hours at a time. Is it bad to run it 24/7?
Click to expand...
The only time I recommend running the pump 24 hours a day is if you have a 2-speed pump and are running it on low. On low speed the electrical uasge for 24 hours is about equal to 6 hours on high speed, plus you are circulating the water all day long. It doesn't necessarily hurt the pump to run it 24 hours a day but it sure hurts your pocket book to run it on high that long.
 

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