Money Saving Tip: Run Your Pool Pump At Night

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• by Matt Giovanisci
• April 6th, 2011
• Money Saving Tips
• 5 Comments

Courtsey of SanDiegoDreamPools.com

Let’s face it, everyone is trying to cut corners and save a buck. Heck, that’s why I even write these series of blog posts. It’s our most popular segment and this week, I think I got a really good one.  It’s short and sweet…

RUN YOUR POOL FILTER AT NIGHT!!!

I wrote that in all caps so that it really drives my point home. I also gave it away in the title of the post, so I figured I’d say it again anyway.

The peak hours for most electric companies are from 7:00am to 7:00pm during the week. This is when it costs the most money to use electricity. So, to save some green, run your filter during the off peak hours.

Here at Swim University, I always recommend shocking your pool at night anyway which requires you to run your filter for 8 hours afterwards. So, just continue running it at night during the rest of the days.

If you have any other money saving tips for your swimming pool, feel free to share them below in the comments. Or, if you want me to write yours up and give you props, just email me.

Tags: pool pump, pool shock, shock at night, swimming pool shock

About The Author

Matt Giovanisci
Matt Giovanisci is the creator of Swim University and has over 15 years of experience in the swimming pool and hot tub industry. He is also an award winning web designer and has been featured on Martha Stewart Radio as a pool & spa expert. Email me | Follow Me On Twitter | Like Us On Facebook

5 Comments

Scott Bair

That is ONE OF THE BIGGEST ERRORS someone can do. This suggestion puts people at risk of water born bio-badies and pool clarity will deteriorate.
Chlorine demand at night is significantly lower than during the day. By running at night and shutting down during the day, the available free chlorine needed for sanitation is depleted by both activity and the sun.
By the middle of day, algae and other biologicals now have an environment to reproduce. If someone has a skin infection and swims anyway, others may get it. If someone has an accidental fecal discharge (ADF), not having enough chlorine would prevent any biologicals from being killed.
Running the system during the day replenishes lost residual free chlorine that would otherwise be lost by sunlight and activity.
The money saved is not worth the risks to my family, my friends, your family or your friends. Please retract your claim of night operation being a way to save money. One hospital/doctor’s visit plus any meds will eat that perceived savings in one shot. Imagine 20 guests needing medical attention.
Scott Bair
APSP Certified Pool Operator # 06-203111
Owner PoolGuyNJ LLC
Home Owner with a pool
poolguynj-1@comcast.net
April 7, 2011 @ 1:09 pm

Matt Giovanisci

If you keep your pool sanitized properly, running your pool filter at night won’t be a problem. Your family is not at risk because you run your pool at a different time of the day.
April 7, 2011 @ 1:23 pm

Scott Bair

If people use the pool during the day and that eats Free Chlorine (FC) and the sun causes additional FC losses, if you aren’t replenishing it, the residual will quickly go away leaving an opportunity for biologicals to reproduce, putting the swimmers at risk.
BTW, the sun and activity are the top two causes of FC loss followed by the actual sanitation and oxidation need created losses. Overnight chlorine loss is always less per hour than day time losses.
Your advice for running the system at night instead of the day puts people at risk for the perceived savings on the power bill. It makes far more sense to use a variable speed pump at a low speed to save on energy costs.
Scott
April 7, 2011 @ 3:20 pm

Matt Giovanisci

I completely understand your point, but the chances of putting people at risk in a swimming pool because your Free Chlorine dipped a little during the day is very VERY slim. However, I do agree that getting a two-speed pump is also a good way to go when trying to save money on your electric bill.
April 7, 2011 @ 3:28 pm

Scott Bair

It doesn’t take long for the FC level to drop. I don’t think you understand that. Let me try to help you to understand it in simple terms so that any homeowner will understand.
1) The sun energizes FC in a pool. The energy causes the FC to rise and gas off into the air.
2) Activity in a pool raises chlorine demand by both exposing additional water to the air and adds impurities such as skin, skin oils, tanning oils, bug sprays, and what not that the chlorine needs to oxidize and rendered inert. Add to that any biologicals such as skin infections such as athletes foot or staff or influenza, et. al. that need to be killed.
3) Cyanuric acid (CYA), also know as Conditioner or Stabilizer will help but not stop this gassing off from occurring. However, it also ties up some of the FC, making it not available. FC should be about 8 to 10% of the level of the CYA if Tri-Chlor tablets or bleach/liquid chlorine are used to add FC to a pool. The ideal range for CYA in a pool is between 30 and 50 parts per million (ppm). A salt water chlorine generator is best when the CYA is between 60 and 80 ppm and and FC reading that is at least 5% of that. These levels will allow a cell to be effective and promotes a longer cell life.
4) If you ran the system at night, by the early afternoon, the FC is depleted. That leaves a lot of time for bio-badies to reproduce.
How long do you think it take to rebuild a residual FC level, the main thing that protects swimmers from water borns with things any bio baddies breeding? It can’t. Standard chlorinating systems are designed to do that. They are designed to meet the demands to maintain the residual, not rebuild it.
I guarantee that withing 10 days of running at night, people will have cloudy water, algae blooms, skin rashes, gastro intestinal issues, etc…
I find your advice to run a pool’s system at night to be a reckless endangerment to the health and safety of the people that came here looking for professional tips on caring for their residential pools.
Pool owners in areas of California where power may cost as much as $0.34 per Kilowatt Hour are better served with a variable speed over a two speed. A two speed may cut consumption in half, variables can cut it to almost 90%, given a decent plumbing configuration.
I have been in this industry for about 12 years. I worked my way up from the bottom to becoming the owner, chief cook and bottle washer of my own services and maintenance company, I have been helping homeowners for many years on other forums, at least on of which I know you have frequented. A simple Google search of PoolGuyNJ will yield the searcher many hits about me.
Prior to coming to the pool industry, I was a Systems Engineer for some pretty well respected companies such as Cisco, Intel, Alcatel, and a few others. I may not have designed many web sites or won any awards for them, I have connected more people to the internet than you will ever have hits on your sites. I learned how to listen and support people.
I enjoy it and it helps me to be a better person for it. I do the forums on my own time and for no financial gains or motives. You are a paid employee. I have no motive other than to help ensure people that have questions get honest and straight information. You are a paid employee. There is a big difference.
April 7, 2011 @ 9:57 pm

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