How long should I run my pool pump? Is a question I get asked almost daily during the summer. The answer I give is usually brief and easy but there is a more detailed one too. I’ll give both here.
As a general rule, if your above ground pool came with the correct sized equipment, you should run the pump on high for about eight hours each day during the summer months.
THERE’S A FORMULA FOR HOW LONG YOU SHOULD RUN YOUR POOL PUMP
When I’m in a backyard, just completed an above ground pool install, and am now going over the operations of the pump and filter, I rarely explain in detail how long the pump should run. I just tell them to run it eight hours a day in the summer months and back it down when it starts to cool off.
TURNOVER RATE
It’s not my intention to make things complicated in this article. I, instead want you to quit over-thinking things about your swimming pool and just go outside and start enjoying it. It may be helpful to understand what this thing called turnover rate means.
The turnover rate is how long it will take your pool’s pump to move as many gallons of water as your pool has in it.
So, your above ground swimming pool has a pump. And that pump takes pool water in and moves it through the filter and back to the pool.
Now your pool’s pump sucks in and sends back out several gallons of water per minute. Most above ground pool pumps will move between 40 and 50 gallons of the pool’s water every minute. This means that if the pump is running for an hour, it will pump between 2400 and 3000 gallons of the pool’s water through it.
If you have a 24’ round above ground pool (the most common size), then it will have about fourteen thousand gallons of water in it. So, if your pump moves 2400 gallons of water per hour, then it will take it about six hours to pump 14k gallons through it. Six hours, then, is your pool’s turnover rate.
BACK TO THE SHORT ANSWER
The pool industry wants your pool’s pump to move at least as many gallons as your pool holds at least once every 24 hours. This means that if your above ground pool equipment has been properly sized for the pool, then like the above example, it will pump as many gallons as the pool has in about six hours.
So, if you then run your pool pump (on high if it’s two-speed) every day for about eight hours, then you are better than good.
RUNNING THE POOL PUMP ON LOW SPEED 24 HOURS A DAY VS RUNNING ON HIGH SPEED FOR 8 HOURS A DAY
In-ground pool pumps have gotten super complicated. Most of the new ones are now multiple speed pumps that will operate at different rates throughout the day. Personally, I think it’s all a bunch of overthought crap that only adds to the cost of products and doesn’t save any money in energy.
Above ground swimming pools are much less expensive, so fortunately, we haven’t been hit yet with the brilliant idea of multi-speed pumps.
Some above ground pool pumps do come with two-speeds though. And as an option, some will run their pumps on low speed continuously (24 hours per day)
PROS AND CONS TO RUNNING THE POOL PUMP ON LOW-SPEED CONTINUOUSLY
- You won’t need a timer – This is really the only advantage that I can see to running an above ground pool pump at low speed. Since it will be running continuously, you won’t have to install a timer with your electrical hook-up.
- Doesn’t make as much noise – Pool pumps don’t make too much noise but at low speed, they are definitely quieter.
- Doesn’t move the water too fast – The faster water moves, the more it can oxygenate. At low speed, the water in the pool moves very slowly and therefore doesn’t get as much air moving with it. This makes the water overall less healthy for swimmers. Also, while swimming, there will be little to no current or flow in the pool. Most people like the pool to be running while they are using the pool so they can feel the flow. On low speed, the pump will be running, but you won’t feel it much.
- May save in electric cost, but you get what you pay for – Pool pumps work like this, the more water they pump, the more electricity it takes. So, if your pump is running at low speed, then it’s pumping fewer gallons per minute and using less electricity. But it’s running 24 hours a day. Typically, an above ground pool pump running a low speed 24 hours doesn’t pump as many gallons as if it were on high speed for 8. And if this is the case, it’s using less electricity but pumping fewer gallons. So, you’re not saving anything.
PROS AND CONS TO RUNNING THE POOL PUMP IN HIGH SPEED
1 It will need a timer – Well, it doesn’t NEED a timer, but if you don’t have one, then you will have to go out and turn it on in the morning and then off in the afternoon manually every single day. This will only be good if you don’t have a lot going on or are retired and home every single day.
Also, if you go on vacation, it’ll be really nice to have a timer turning the pump on/off while you’re gone
Timers come with all in-ground pools, but not with above grounds. If you are in the planning stages or just got a new pool, consider that you will need an automatic timer.
2 Makes more noise – A pump running as fast as it can will make more noise than when at low speed.
3 Moves the pool water faster which makes it healthier – The faster water moves, the harder it is for stuff to live in it. This is why you would instinctively prefer to drink from a fast-moving river as opposed to a slow-moving creek if you were out in the woods. The faster the water moves, the more presence of oxygen. And things don’t live well with the presence of oxygen.
3 Helps create a whirlpool effect – With round shaped above grounds, you can point the return jet to send the water back to the pool parallel with the wall. This will create a whirlpool and send most of the pool’s debris to the bottom center of the pool. Only running the pump on high speed will achieve this. This can make it a lot easier to keep the pool clean.
WANT TO SAVE MONEY ON ELECTRIC? DON’T RUN THE PUMP AS LONG DURING THE COOLER MONTHS
The warmer the water is, the easier and more likely things will want to grow and reproduce. This work in the opposite too. The cooler the water is, the less likely things will grow or thrive in it. This is why you have to use so much more chlorine and other chemicals during the heat of the summer.
What this means in terms of how long you need to run the pool pump is that you can run it less when the pool water is cooler. It won’t need to move or filter as much.
I live in Central Florida. We never close our pools down for the winter and our swim season is long. Regardless of where you live or if you close your pool in the winter, you can back down the pump hours at the beginning of the pool season and at the end depending on the outside temperature.
This is for people who want to save on energy. You don’t have to reduce your filtering hours if you don’t want to. It won’t hurt anything. You can choose though to back your pool pump down from eight to six hours a day and save about 50 cents per day on average.
This can add up to about $15 per month during the off months. Not a ton of savings or anything but still a saving.
