How many hours a day do you run your pool filter?

[skipskip]

Pool company suggests 12, electric company says 24!

We have doing about 8 per day , with no visible problems. How about you?

any particular time of day?

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[cowboyjosh]

In ground, above ground, how many gallons is the pool? In Arizona most everyone and most every pool installer recommends 24/7 on in ground pools; it won't hurt anything as the motors are continuous duty motor. I don't know what it cost to operate a pool pump, I've never broke it down, but with AC, its minimal I'm sure because the electric bill at my house in Scottsdale with a pool pump, and 3 13 seer air conditioning units in a 6200 sq foot house with 4 kids was $329 last month and thats with hair dryers, coffee pots, washer, dryer, lots of interior lights, pool lighting, landscape lighting, etc.

Another thing it depends on what size pump you have, the smaller the pump, the larger the pool the more its going to need to run. Believe it or not a pool not circulated can get real stagnant and start to smell within hours and it can wreck havoc on the chlorine and PH levels, so keep an eye on it.

 

[930dreamer]

I have a 30X17 above ground 15000 gallons ish, I run the pump/filter 24/7.

 

[djjsr]

My pool is 12,000 gallons. I run the pump 12 hrs a day. I test the water twice a week and have no problems. Been doing it for almost 10 years.

 

[kmacht]

It depends on the pool size and the pump size. I believe that the recommendation is that the pump has to run long enough and be big enough to run 3x the number of gallons in the pool each day. So if you have a 10,000 gallon pool, your pump needs to run long enough to push 30,000 gallons through. That being said, it is just a rule of thumb. It is also going to depend on the pool temperature, the number of hours of sun, the chlorine level, etc. The warmer the water is, the hotter the sun is, and the lower your chlorine level the more likely you are to get alge growing in there. Typically I run my pool from about 8am to 7pm each day. I run it for a few more hours each day when it starts to get hot in July and run it fewer hours when it gets cooler towards september. Your best bet is to start with 10 hours and keep an eye on the pool. Any sign of algea or your chemicals going crazy then increase the time. If you see no sign of problems then try decreasing it. Keep doing this until you find a happy medium.

Keith

 

[nehog]

I've always done daily tests of water for chemicals and quality, and adjusted the run times as needed. Never ran 24/day, usually 8 was enough, but that was with pools with big filters and pumps.

 

[Rickster55]

I, too, am in upstate NY. When I did have a pool, I ran it overnight. Never had a problem. Best to have it on a timer.

 

[GarageEnvy]

Wow, I'm amazed at thest answers. I have a 45,000 gallon inground pool and our pool guy set the timer to run 6 hours in the summer and 4 hours a day in the winter. We installed a newer more efficient pump with less horsepower and it still adds $50-75 a month in power usage. 24 hours a day would definitely be PG&E bill shock.

 

[rodnok1]

I ran my 18' round pool filter 12 hours a day. my buddy has good size inground and only shuts it off when it might freeze in the winter....

 

[Elkiebob]

I want a pool. would rather have a hot tub though. with girls in it. even better.

 

[38 Special]

I run mine 24/7.

 

[sveesix]

about 12 hours a day.

 

[kbs2244]

Go with the professional setting.

 

[portcity]

i run 8 a day. no problems

 

[sammm]

All you are looking for is to 'turn over' your pool water daily. Divide number of gallons by GPM rating of your pump/motor/filter.

I run ours 6 hours a day in the summer. 3 in the morning, 3 in the evening.

 

[Mattlt]

In ground, above ground, how many gallons is the pool? In Arizona most everyone and most every pool installer recommends 24/7 on in ground pools; it won't hurt anything as the motors are continuous duty motor. I don't know what it cost to operate a pool pump, I've never broke it down, but with AC, its minimal I'm sure because the electric bill at my house in Scottsdale with a pool pump, and 3 13 seer air conditioning units in a 6200 sq foot house with 4 kids was $329 last month and thats with hair dryers, coffee pots, washer, dryer, lots of interior lights, pool lighting, landscape lighting, etc.

A 6200 square foot house?!?! If my house was that big a $300 electric bill would seem like pocket change!

 

[george4]

I am at about 30k gallons in a lap pool. Run a 2 hp main filter 6 hours per day and 1 hp bottom sweep cleaner for 3 hours, all year long. Brush and vacuum the bottom to waste about every two weeks, check chemicals at the same time with a chlorine shock. Regularly use a leaf rake to pick up leaves and small critters that find there way in. If I am going away for more than a few days, I kick up the filter time by a few hours a day and chlorine shock right before I leave.

 

[memento]

I'm in upstate NY with a 30k gallon inground pool and a 1/2 HP pump with DE filter. I run my pump 8 hours a day and check levels twice a week. Been doing it like that for 8 years. I actually want to drop that down to 6 hours a day but with the construction on my garage real close, I'm going to keep it at 8 this summer.

 

[usa89gt]

2-3 hours per day and we have had no problems. Granted the water temp rarely goes above 78 degrees.

 

[snyder]

I have had an 18 foot above ground for 4 years.. 1 horsepower with sand filter. Chlorine puck dropped into the skimmer basket every other day.
I originall tried running the pump only during daylite hours but found that any leaves or bugs that fell in over nite would sink to the bottom before the filter would run and skim them out..
So what I did three years ago was install a timer that I have set to run one hour on followed by one hour off.. This seems to be a good compromise between energy usage and not allowing too much debris to settle.
By the way my water chemistry is always right on. I only shock monthly, and adjust the Ph. twice a season..

 

[mhm993]

30k gallons, Dark colored 48x16 liner in NY, in a sunny location. Only keep the pool open between June and end of Sept.
Run about 10 hours, a couple more when the water gets near 80. 4 jumbo tabs weekly. Vacuum weekly. Shock twice monthly.
I had the plumbing replaced this week, and the contractor used larger diameter pipe and a separate line for each skimmer. Presuming this will make the filter more effective, I'm hoping to cut back a bit.

 

[jeffe19007]

Lets see, 27,000 gallons in ground and 10 hours in the summer (Phoenix, AZ) and as low as 4 hours in the winter. There are bursts of 24 by 7 due to storms and etc. when a bunch of junk gets in the pool.

The pool is now over 10 years old and I don't shock it, just keep the phosphates under control and regular chlorine.

And yeah if it was run 24 x 7 all the time it would be a BIG bill.

 

[Falcon67]

IIRC, I ran the above ground 24' pool we had in Houston about 8 hrs a day - 4 early afternoon, 4 night. And on when people were playing in the plastic pond. I used the same 1 HP sand filter here on a 16' x 36" model and ran it maybe 6 hours a day.

78F - hell, I couldn't get in one that cold LOL.

 

[Brian41]

20x40 in ground run the filter when in use or every other day for about 8 hours. Vacuum 1 or 2 times a year...... its indoor.

 

[1pfieffer1]

33,000 gallons at a campground - 12 hrs a day, inline chlorine feeder feeding around 8 to 10 - 3" pucks a week, test weekly and adjust ph and alkylinity as necessary (kids pee in pools - don't tell anyone), never have to vacuum or skim all summer (mem day to labor day). Backwash 2x a week, you don't want to see the color of the backwash water. Pool water is crystal clear all summer.

 

[WaterWish]

33,000 gallons at a campground - 12 hrs a day, inline chlorine feeder feeding around 8 to 10 - 3" pucks a week, test weekly and adjust ph and alkylinity as necessary (kids pee in pools - don't tell anyone), never have to vacuum or skim all summer (mem day to labor day). Backwash 2x a week, you don't want to see the color of the backwash water. Pool water is crystal clear all summer.

I agree with this one. 10 - 12 hrs a day is just enough. Backwashing could be painstaking unless you own a cartridge filter instead.