How Long Should You Run Your Pool?
A few factors determine how long you want to run your pool daily, including pool size, features, and if it’s a pool and spa combined or a pool only. The most important consideration is the time of year – as you’re likely to run it longer in the summer than in winter.
A general rule is that you’ll want to run your pool for an hour for every ten degrees of water temperature.
For example, you would aim to run it for 8 hours if the water’s temperature is 80 degrees.
You’ll also want to run your pool longer if you (or a pet) do a lot of swimming or if you regularly get quite a bit of vegetation or debris that falls into the water.
If you have an energy-efficient variable speed pump running at 2000 RPMs, compared to a single pump (which typically runs at 3450 RPMs), that 8-hour window must be more meaningful.
Running Your Pool Longer
In the case of 12, 14, or even 24 hours, if your RPMs are running low enough, you could run your pool as long as you want and still save on energy with that variable speed pump.
Here are some things to remember when running your pool in the winter. Our previous rule still applies. So, for instance, if your water temp is 60 degrees, you’ll want to run it for roughly 6 hours. You can expect freeze guards to kick in at a water temperature of around 38 degrees to protect your equipment.
One energy-saving tip for the cold winter months:
Switch your system to run at night instead of during the day. You’ll take advantage of the freeze guards (which run every evening due to the temperature drop) and save energy during the daytime.
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