- When should I run my pool pump: day or night?
Should I run my pool pump during the day, or at night?
There are pros and cons with each. Running your pool pump during the day is good because that’s when the sun is out. UV rays are eating up the chlorine, so it is good to have the pump running to counteract the sun’s effects. A pro for night time would be that it’s off-peak utility hours. It’s cheaper to run the pool pump at night. Or if you are doing a chemical treatment, and you want your chlorine level up really high, add it at night to prevent that natural burnoff.
Personally, with my pool, I need to run it during the day because it gets direct sunlight. We’re in Florida, it’s called the Sunshine State for a good reason. I noticed that when I running the pool pump at night, it just didn’t keep the pool as clear as I wanted it. But the choice of when to run is up to the pool owner. You might even try a couple of different ways, but I lean towards running it during the day.
Another method that works for the Southern states well is to split up the pump run times. Let’s say if you run your pool pump around eight hours a day, split it up four and four.
You would run it from 11:00 to 3:00 or 12:00 to 4:00 which is when the sun is at its hottest and burning off the chlorine, then you would run the other four in the middle of the night just so you can catch up on chlorine production or even get a step ahead for the upcoming day that you would have chlorine when the morning sun hits it. Is that good?
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I have been looking for an answer to a completely different question. We run our pump/spillway during the day for 9 hours and have found a great balance in the chlorine pool. My question is: when is the best time to run the spillway? The pool seems to get really hot on those lovely Texas heat days. Does the water cool or heat up as it goes over the spill edge?
A spillway cools your pool. The more you run it, the colder your pool will get.
Have a client in Southwest Florida that runs salt pool from midnight to 8am. When 1 or 2pm come around on a sunny dry day they get a chalky buildup on the pool tile . Water chemistry is balanced. Calcium 200 to 250 ppm and salt level is 3500. Water is crystal clear. I’m the business for 15 years and never had this issue but all my other clients run pump during the day. Any idea what the build up could be
?
The chalky build-up is scale, it is a somewhat common occurrence in salt pools. That white stuff you clean off the cell blades is usually scale. Use a descaling agent, like Natural Chemistry’s Scale Free
Hi Simmons,
Somenone says that salt system pool needs to let the pump run all day and night 24 hours. Is it right ? What is your advice? Thanks.
Li
No, that is not normal. The advice we give in this episode applies to traditional chlorine and saltwater pools. Most pools only need a pump running 5-10 hours a day if it is a standard single speed pump. unless your salt system is having severe trouble keeping up with the pool’s chlorine need then there should not be reason to run it longer.
Read this article: How Long Should I Run My Pool Pump?
Thanks Mat! You really give good advice. Appreciate your help ！
No run it for 6 hours winter and summer