Pump-how long to run?

[howbout]

Not sure where this questions fits in best but...I live in south FL. We have been using the pool pretty much year round b/c we have a heater. My question is...how long should we run the pump each day?

Now we run it 12 hours a day and it looks beautiful...but if I can cut back and still keep it looking great AND cut my electric bill I would be thrilled...

[mas985]

Pump run time is based on your turnover which in turn is based on the pump head curve.

First, determine the head loss for your plumbing. A rough estimate is to take your PSI from the filter and multiply this by 2.31. If you do not have a suction gauge (multiple in. mg. by 1.13), add about 10' of head for suction head.

Second, look up the the flow rate from the pump head curve. Usually in the pump manual.

Third, use the formula turnover (hrs) = Pool Volume (gallons) / (gpm * 60)

Fourth, set your run time to 1 or 2 turnovers depending on the swimmer load. I usually set mine for 1 turnover for very low swimmer loads and 1.5 turnovers for higher loads.

[xoroniox]

I live in fort lauderdale and run my pump 6hours/day. I also use my pool year-round BUT i do not have a heater. I believe if you cut the pump back to 8hours/day your pool will still be beautiful and in our weather it will be plenty warm this time of the year with or without the heater. plus when it hits the low/mid 90's and the humidity is high the colder the water the better for me at least!!! good luck hope i helped at least a little bit

-Arron

[howbout]

I live in fort lauderdale and run my pump 6hours/day. I also use my pool year-round BUT i do not have a heater. I believe if you cut the pump back to 8hours/day your pool will still be beautiful and in our weather it will be plenty warm this time of the year with or without the heater. plus when it hits the low/mid 90's and the humidity is high the colder the water the better for me at least!!! good luck hope i helped at least a little bit

-Arron

Yes, thanks! I think I will try cutting back...how do you swim all year round without a heater though?

[albertgarrido]

My presure at when I just pre-coated the filter is 12. Are you saying that 12 x 2.31 = 27.72 is my head? That seems really low.

I have a 20x40 pool with 3 home run suction lines (2 skimmers, 1 main drain) of 2 inch pipe....and 2 1 1/2 inch lines for returns with 2 jets on each line (total jets 4).

Filter is a 1 hp Northstar

Using that calculation....I'm pumping some MAJOR gpms.....that sound right?

[mas985]

You must also add the vacuum head to get the total head. You can either measure it with a vacuum gauge or try to calculate it from pipe size and lengths. A guess is 14 feet of head for a total of close to 42ft of head. From the Northstar curve, which I also have, gives you about 112 GPM. Yes a good amount of flow.

Normally, the pipe size is larger for suction than return are you sure the suction is 2" and the return is 2.5"? Also, how long are the runs.

[gwrace1]

I live in South Texas and we swim year round. We use a two speed pump on low speed 12 hours per day. On low speed the 1.5HP pump only pulls 3.8 amps. We run pump at night with an SWG so maintenance is easy and water is crystal clear.