Ran pump @ 2000 rpms since last fall - should I increase the speed for summer?

[famousdavis]

It's been almost a year since we began using our new, inground pool! Thanks in large part to this site, maintaining our pool has been a snap. Since we're beginning to use the pool even more now (I live in So. Fla.), I do have a few questions. Here's the first.

I've been running my pool pump 8 hrs a day @ 2000 rpms for the last 6 months. When we got our pool last May, I initially ran the pump 8 hrs a day @ 2750 rpms. I cut it back to 2000 rpms hoping to save some electricity...some money. My pool water is perfectly clear, and has been that way since I made the newbie mistake of listening to a pool store clerk tell me my phosphates were low, and I needed to add stuff to lower my phosphates (which just clouded up my water terribly).

Our water has been warm through the winter -- in the 70s always, and often in the 80s, even upper 80s, because we used a solar blanket.

Now that summer is about here, and our pool will get to be about 90 or so even without the solar blanket, I'm wondering if I should run the pool pump at a higher rpm than I've got it -- not sure how/whether/if pool water and pump speed (and maintaining clear water) are at all correlated.

Thoughts?

[mas985]

In your case, your minimum run time may be dictated by your SWG and getting enough chlorine in the pool. That is first priority. But that may not enough to keep the pool as clean as you would like so you need to experiment some. Beyond chlorination, run time is about skimming, filtering and cleaning the water and pool which is basically aesthetics and mostly a personal choice. So if you don't mind having a slightly dirty pool, you can reduce run time as much as you like as long as the pool is getting enough chlorine.

A variable speed pump tends to have the most efficiency GPM per watt around 1000 RPM. So if you are interested in saving energy, set the RPM to 1000 and see how well the skimmers work and how long you need to run the pump. But don't forget to adjust the SWG when shortening run time.