When to run pump?

[David0408]

Hey guys and gals,
Does it matter when I run my pump? Is it important to run it during the day or can I run at night? How many hours per day? I’ve always run during the day. Now I want to add chlorine at night and then run the pump 6-8 hours, again, at night. What say you? Thanks in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

If I were to schedule on/off pump times in our area, I'd probably have it running during the day simply because our winds have be crazy lately. Run as long as you need to to ensure good surface movement to get stuff into the skimmer. Nighttime is usually more calm anyways. I usually add my chlorine later in the evening so that if I was to turn off my pump, it's had about 30 minutes to mix and is good if the pump is off at night.

 

[Jnet]

I have variable pricing with my electric utility. I charge may car and run my pump between 11pm and 7am when electricity is cheap. Sometimes even negative.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You can set your run times up to run some in the day and some at night. If you like to run it 8 hours a day try for 2 runs of 4 hours each. Say something like 9-1 am and pm. Or whatever periods you prefer.

I like to run mine during the day to keep the surface skimmed when I'm seeing it. Others strive to run it at night to save electricity costs. Either way works.

Maddie

 

[David0408]

Do I need to run the pump for 8 hrs? I thought you had to turn over the water once a day? Is water turnover a myth? Is the only purpose of the pump to skim and distribute bleach?

 

[mknauss]

I thought you had to turn over the water once a day? Is water turnover a myth?

Water turnover is a myth. The chemistry of the pool water keeps it clear. The filter removes stuff that falls into the pool.

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[David0408]

Ok, I’ll cut it down to 4 hrs then and see what happens. Gonna save a little money is what’s going to happen

Thanks again!!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I would suggest starting with a cut back to 7 hrs. If that still keeps the pool clean, next try 6.....and so on. When your pool starts to look a bit dirty, crank it back up an hour and call it done.

This is something that can also be seasonally variable.

Maddie