How Long Should You Run a Pool Pump?

Most pool owners don’t think about how long they should run their pool pump. Many people simply turn it on and leave it running all day, every day. But is this the best way to do things? Or are you just wasting energy and money? In this post, we’ll take a look at how long you should run your pool pump and the effectiveness of running your pool pump.

How Long Should I Run My Pool Pump?

On average, you should run your pool pump for at least 8 hours each day. This means that if you’re turning it on when you get up and shutting it off before bed, you’re doing it right! Of course, some factors can impact how long your pump should run. For example:

1 . Pool Size

The larger your pool, the more water it holds and the stronger its circulation system will be. In turn, this means that you can run your pump for a longer period without consuming too much electricity. However, the opposite is also true—the smaller your pool, the less water it holds and the weaker its circulation system tends to be.

If you have a large pool but only run your pump for 4 hours per day, it may not be running long enough to effectively clean and circulate the water. On the other hand, if you have a small pool that runs your pump for 8 hours each day, you could be using too much electricity.

 2 . Climate

If you live in a climate with cold winters, you will want to circulate the water more frequently. More circulation keeps the pool warmer at night and prolongs your heater’s lifespan. Your pool pump will need to work much harder in the winter than it does during the summer months (or spring and fall, which are great times for swimming).

3. Capacity of Pump

How powerful is your pump? How quickly does it move water? If it has a high flow rate, you won’t have to run it as long as if you had an older pump with no booster jets installed. When you buy your equipment, be sure to get the best and most powerful pump that you can afford.

 4 . Usage level

it’s important to consider how much you and your family use your pool. If no one ever goes in the water, the pump doesn’t need to work as hard to keep things running smoothly. On the flip side, if your entire family is swimming all day long, your pump can’t run as long.

5. Filtration System

How often do you clean your filter? If you clean it every week, then you don’t need to run the pump as long because there isn’t much in it for water to be filtered through. However, if your pool is still dirty after two or three weeks, then you’re going to have to run the pump longer. If you don’t clean your filter and it’s really dirty, then you’ll want to run the pump for a couple of hours per day until things start looking better.

6. Pool Water Chemistry

You will need to add more chemicals for proper pool water balance and therefore increase the run time of your filter pump, depending on how often you are adding chlorine or other chemical treatments.

Effectiveness of Running Your Pool Pump

• Saves Electricity – By running the pump, it circulates the water, lowering the pool’s temperature. If you are running your heater, it will heat up faster when there is less time for heat loss caused by evaporation and when there is not as much water in the pool to cool down.
• More comfortable environment to live in – The pump is running so there is more water to help cool down the air around it.
• Keeps your pool clean – Circulates debris on the bottom throughout the pool, especially near the skimmer. By doing this, you are not pushing debris into the filter only to have it come back out.
• Helps heat the pool’s water – The filter pump does not just move water through the filter media; it also mixes up cold and warm layers so that more of the pool has a chance to be heated by the sun and by people swimming in the pool.
•  Keeps water levels high – If, for some reason, the automatic fill fails and water starts to fall below skimmer level, having a running pump will help keep the level up so that any additional rainwater will not dilute the water chemistry.

Back to our original question, how long should you run a pool pump? It is recommended that you run your pool pump for a minimum of eight hours each day. This is the time it takes to circulate and filter all of the water in your pool. If you’re running on an automatic timer, adjust accordingly so you don’t over-or under-fill your pools with too much chlorine and other chemicals.