Hello, this is our first summer with our pool here in Houston. The temps have been in the 90's lately, with a lot of rain. I know that pump run times vary with each pool, but just wondering how long you all run your pumps in the summer, particularly folks in the hot/humid SE part of the US. We've been running ours around 6 hours a day... seems fine so far, but not sure if I should run longer or may be able to get away with less run time. Thanks for any feedback!
For those in the SE parts... how long do you run your pumps?
- Thread starter JuYuHu
- Start date
samwestx
0
Holydoc
Gold Supporter
- Jul 17, 2016
- 499
- Pool Size
- 17500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I have a two speed pump, so I run my pump on low 24/7. But it varies per pool and per person.
The general rule if you want to find out how long to run your pump is to keep cutting down the time you run it until you see a difference in your water. For instance if you run your pump 6 hours during the day and your water is crystal clear, try running it 5 hours and see if you have a difference. If it is still crystal clear, then try 4 hours. Do this until you discover the minimum amount of time that you need to run your pump to keep your pool in optimum condition.
Be aware that different times of the year, may warrant different run times. For instance pollen season or, in our case, lovebug season may warrant a longer run time.
Also if your pool is a SWG pool, then you may need a bit more math to determine the optimum time to keep the water clear while also running enough to keep the FC up.
Here is a good writeup in Pool School talking about this subject:
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time
The general rule if you want to find out how long to run your pump is to keep cutting down the time you run it until you see a difference in your water. For instance if you run your pump 6 hours during the day and your water is crystal clear, try running it 5 hours and see if you have a difference. If it is still crystal clear, then try 4 hours. Do this until you discover the minimum amount of time that you need to run your pump to keep your pool in optimum condition.
Be aware that different times of the year, may warrant different run times. For instance pollen season or, in our case, lovebug season may warrant a longer run time.
Also if your pool is a SWG pool, then you may need a bit more math to determine the optimum time to keep the water clear while also running enough to keep the FC up.
Here is a good writeup in Pool School talking about this subject:
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time
i run ours for 2hrs in the am and 2hrs in the pm year around.. I haven't tried any lower yet as this works fine for me.
I have a variable speed pump and SWG. Run it 18 hours a day. Very low speed for 15 and run my Polaris 3 hours. Could probably get by with less but low is cheap to run and with that much run time my SWG just runs 30%. Water is always crystal clear.
I live in southeast Louisiana and I learned, early on, to run my pump 24/7 during the hottest summer months. 
dorgan
0
Wow sounds like I need to run my pump ALOT longer than I have been. Which explains why I have been battling with it since it really started to heat up here in central Florida.
I run my pump 8 hours during day at 50% speed. And an additional hour at 100% speed when I add chemicals.
Having properly balanced water is more important than how long you run your pump. Also, I noticed that running at lower speed catches more debris in skimmer or at least keeps it on top of water for me to easily skim. If I run at high speed, more leaves end up sinking to the bottom which is more of a pain for me.
Having properly balanced water is more important than how long you run your pump. Also, I noticed that running at lower speed catches more debris in skimmer or at least keeps it on top of water for me to easily skim. If I run at high speed, more leaves end up sinking to the bottom which is more of a pain for me.
I run 90 minutes mid-day to mix during high temps....then again 3 hours from 7-10 PM because this is when I add chemicals if needed...Pool has been crystal clear since completing my Slam the end of May and using TFP methods!
I live in southeast Louisiana and I learned, early on, to run my pump 24/7 during the hottest summer months.
I've only been running mine about 8-12 hours, and I'm noticing a touch of cloudiness after last week's tropical-storm-influenced weather. Tons of leaves and bugs in the water. 99% of that is cleaned out, but the water is not quite as clear as it was. Maybe I should let the filter go continuously for 36 hours or so, kick in some extra chlorine, and see if that helps.
I really feel like this is one of those "whatever works best for you" scenarios... A lot of factors can influence it: size of pool, amount of time in direct sunlight, region/climate where you live, how many trees around your pool, etc. I just know, for me, running it 24/7 during the summer months has saved me a lot of headaches I used to have.
live in SE Louisiana, run it on low 4-6 am, on high for one hour while adding bleach in evening
done. crystal clear, no problems
done. crystal clear, no problems
Extra chlorine (enough to increase TC by 4 ppm instead of 2 ppm) and a 24-hour pump run made a big difference. Going to continue to keep the chorine up high for the short term. Also thinking that overnight pump running might be more efficient for whatever reason than running during the day. Probably not, but why not give it another shot?