Pool pump run times.

[Mr. C]

Okay here we go with another probably sort of stupid question.
I am running my pump 7-8 continuous hours a day (3hp pentair old school /pool about 22k gallons)
Zero issue with algae or chemicals.

Is it best to stay at continuous or can I / should I break it up. Even possible shorten the pump run time to 6 hours?

Say 7-10 am And then 4-7pm or there abouts
Curiosity has got the best of me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Maw]

3 hrs per day (5:00am - 7:00am, then again 9:00am - 10:00am, gives me time to check for clogged pool sweep and other issues) on the pool filter pump, 2 hp Pentair. Once a week I run the Pentair 2 hp water feature pump a half hour just to get chlorine through the lines. Around 18k gallons as I recall. The problems I have are caused by all the "tropical" vegetation that overhangs the pool on one entire side, phosphate levels need to be checked and corrected every week or two due to all the organic material.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

If youre on TOU...4-7 might be the most expensive time to run it. I do.mine personally at 5am. Maybe only 6 hrs. Pool water is fine for me. I pay SCE enough as it is.

 

[Mr. C]

We are not TOU as for I know. Will have to asked the little woman
I can do the 5-8am Which 3 hours should cycle the pool at least once.
Then figure efficiency wise when is best to run another three.

 

[Angler]

I run my 2hp pump from 10am-6pm, spa from 6-7pm.

 

[Lumpy]

Okay here we go with another probably sort of stupid question.
I am running my pump 7-8 continuous hours a day (3hp pentair old school /pool about 22k gallons)
Zero issue with algae or chemicals.

Is it best to stay at continuous or can I / should I break it up. Even possible shorten the pump run time to 6 hours?

Say 7-10 am And then 4-7pm or there abouts
Curiosity has got the best of me.

Thanks in advance.

What are we talking "Old School" ?

What model pump and where? What are trying to achieve?

I run my 2hp pump from 10am-6pm, spa from 6-7pm.

What he said.

 

[Lumpy]

3 hrs per day (5:00am - 7:00am, then again 9:00am - 10:00am, gives me time to check for clogged pool sweep and other issues) on the pool filter pump, 2 hp Pentair. Once a week I run the Pentair 2 hp water feature pump a half hour just to get chlorine through the lines. Around 18k gallons as I recall. The problems I have are caused by all the "tropical" vegetation that overhangs the pool on one entire side, phosphate levels need to be checked and corrected every week or two due to all the organic material.

Open Pool with a lot of organic material...hope you're running a DE filter instead of cartridge...as for the water feature I'de run it one minute a day...pump is exercised daily with less electrical cost.

 

[dezrtracer]

18k pool with Pentair variable speed 2hp pump runs 8am to 4pm . Starts off running 3600 and after 30 minutes changes to 2400 just enough to run vacuum .

 

[Motor Boater]

1 hour for every 10 degrees of heat. 100 degrees = 10 hours.

 

[Good Stuff]

You can always run the bulk of the filtration at night when power is cheap. I’ve known a few people without solar who did that with no adverse effects to their water quality. Not sure how it works out with day time temps if you still need to circulate the water a bit during the day or not. I’m sure there are some google results from people who have done it.

 

[TCHB]

Last week went to 4 hours per dat at 2200RPMs. Pool is clean. 20,000 gallons

 

[Jonas Grumby]

Whatever it takes to turn it over 3 times a day.

 

[havasujeeper]

All I know is once I went to the modern "variable speed" programmable motor, I've saved $50 per month on electricity. I just wish I would have purchased the "VS" type motor years ago!

 

[Mr. C]

What are we talking "Old School" ?

What model pump and where? What are trying to achieve?


What he said.

Old meaning. 23 yrs old. Not a variable. Was just ready to pull the trigger when I got let go from my job. So now I guess what I’m trying to achieve is less run time spread out over off peak times without sacrificing pool quality.
Gonna try.
7-10am
7-11pm
Then adjust when it cools down.

 

[TCHB]

Last week went to 4 hours per dat at 2200RPMs. Pool is clean. 20,000 gallons

Motor at 2200RPMs today running at 875 watts.

 

[2Driver]

Great resource site.

Home

Our main goal is to provide easy-to-understand help to pool owners and to give them the tools to care their pools easily and stress-free.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Lumpy]

Old meaning. 23 yrs old. Not a variable. Was just ready to pull the trigger when I got let go from my job. So now I guess what I’m trying to achieve is less run time spread out over off peak times without sacrificing pool quality.
Gonna try.
7-10am
7-11pm
Then adjust when it cools down.

You should be fine then...just keep your chlorine up and filter cleaned! You will know if it needs more run time.

 

[jet496]

7:00 - 7:00 but we have 56 solar panels so no electricity bill to speak of. We like to run it all day to heat the pool up with heating solar panels. Keeps the pool around 90 which may sound too hot but it's nice, especially swimming at night.

 

[Blackmagic94]

How much pump cleaning time should a 14’ swim spa get per cycle or day.

 

[Warlock1]

I ran our VS pump damn near 20 hours a day. The flow rate was enough to continually circulate the water. Kick it up for an hour or 2 to run the pop ups and that was it. Our pool was perfect and super easy to maintain and was way cheaper.

 

[havasujeeper]

I ran our VS pump damn near 20 hours a day. The flow rate was enough to continually circulate the water. Kick it up for an hour or 2 to run the pop ups and that was it. Our pool was perfect and super easy to maintain and was way cheaper.

Can you post a pic of the pop up's in action?

 

[Dan Lorenze]

8 hours a day with my 15k pool, 8am to 4pm. I have the pump come on at 8am on clean mode for 1 hour, (higher RPM), then I have it go into low RPM to circulate the water in the afternoon. Then from 3 to 4 pm it goes back into clean mode for an hour and shuts off at 4pm when my TOU higher rate kicks in.

 

[Mr. C]

I ran our VS pump damn near 20 hours a day. The flow rate was enough to continually circulate the water. Kick it up for an hour or 2 to run the pop ups and that was it. Our pool was perfect and super easy to maintain and was way cheaper.

When I am able to get the VS pump. I’ll be thrilled. Just not in the cards financially right now.
I can’t wait though.

 

[samsah33]

When I am able to get the VS pump. I’ll be thrilled. Just not in the cards financially right now.
I can’t wait though.

I don't know whether I should post this in the "What I did Labor Day Weekend" thread or one of the many "F@#$% California" threads, so I'll just drop it here... Hopefully you're not in CA, I just replaced my VS pump motor this weekend and learned the hard way that suppliers won't ship pump motors to CA because CA has special pool pump motor laws...!!! I have a pool guy for my weekly maintenance, and he told me that he has to switch out a lot of excellent-condition operable pumps when the motor goes out since not all pumps have CA-compliant replacement motors. Another hidden CA tax...

Rant over, I run at 4 hours high speed and 4 hours low speed, pool is about 18k gallons.

 

[Warlock1]

Can you post a pic of the pop up's in action?

We no longer own this place. We are currently building a new backyard and the pool is planned for the spring.
I found a video that explains it. Ours was different as we used only 1 VS pump to run the pop ups and the filter system. We did have a 2nd pump but that was for the water feature only.

 

[Angler]

I don't know whether I should post this in the "What I did Labor Day Weekend" thread or one of the many "F@#$% California" threads, so I'll just drop it here... Hopefully you're not in CA, I just replaced my VS pump motor this weekend and learned the hard way that suppliers won't ship pump motors to CA because CA has special pool pump motor laws...!!! I have a pool guy for my weekly maintenance, and he told me that he has to switch out a lot of excellent-condition operable pumps when the motor goes out since not all pumps have CA-compliant replacement motors. Another hidden CA tax...

Rant over, I run at 4 hours high speed and 4 hours low speed, pool is about 18k gallons.

I just replaced (2) 2hp motors, I just shipped them to Nevada. My bro comes to my town once a month.

 

[Good Stuff]

I just replaced (2) 2hp motors, I just shipped them to Nevada. My bro comes to my town once a month.

 

[havasujeeper]

We no longer own this place. We are currently building a new backyard and the pool is planned for the spring.
I found a video that explains it. Ours was different as we used only 1 VS pump to run the pop ups and the filter system. We did have a 2nd pump but that was for the water feature only.

Thanks, I've never seen how a pop up works in pools. In fact, I've never seen one before.

 

[50onRED]

Rule of thumb is that you want to circulate the total volume of the pool every 24 hours. you have to do the math on your pools total volume and your pumps capability to figure out how many hours it needs to run daily. Doesnt matter what time of day but there are a couple things to keep in mind. If your pool has a waterfall youll evaporate more water during the heat of the day so youll spend more money on chemicals and water over the course of the year. If you have waterfalls and can run your pump at night you might save a little.
Second. I worked a deal with Edison for my rates to be lowest at night so I run my pool two times during the day for an hour each then the bulk of the running is in the middle of the night while my electrical rates are the lowest. That saves me almost 60 a month alone in my power bill.
If i had solar i wouldnt even bother.