Florida has over 1 million inground residential swimming pools, second to only California’s 1.2 million plus. Keeping all these pools clean is a lot of work, especially for your pool pump.
Pool pumps keep swimming pools clean by ‘turning over’ the water — circulating the pool water through the filter daily to remove bacteria, algae, and particles. It then sends clean water back into the pool with all the necessary chemicals.
Ideally a pool pump should turn over the water at least once every 12 hours. Most modern pumps turn the water over in 8 hours or less. Some do it in only 6 hours. For your Florida pool, the amount of time your swimming pool pump runs depends on factors like:
- How much you use the pool
- Pool size and shape
- Type of filtration system
- Pump size
- Filter size
Pool Pump Rules of Thumb: How long to run pool pump
On average, a properly cleaned and maintained pool only needs to run 8 hours each day under normal circumstances. However, Florida pools have different needs than pools in other places. Because Florida is warm year-round and summer is hot, humid, and rainy, pool pumps should run more. Below are a few rules of thumb for running your pool pump in Florida:
- Run your pool pump 1 hour for every 10 degrees F that the outside temperature is above freezing. During the mild Florida winter, run your pool pump for about 6 hours daily. In the hottest part of the Florida summer, when it’s 80 degrees F or higher, run your pump 10 to 12 hours.
- To save on power, some people run their pool pumps at night. However, you should run your pool pump during the daytime. Why? Since, warmer water breeds algae, your pump should run when the water is warm and people are using the pool.
- Running your pump all day isn’t a problem. Pool pumps and filters can function for up to 12 hours at a time without issues. However, not running it long enough each day will cause issues, leaving you with a dirty pool.
- Clean filters are more efficient than dirty ones. Old, dirty filters make your pump work harder. So clean and replace your filter when necessary so your pump can run less.
- Systems with smaller filters might need to run longer. At the same time, pool volume and filter capacity affect run time.
Running Your Florida Pool Pump
On average, your Florida pool pump should run for about 8 to 10 hours a day. Yet as we’ve seen above, the actual run time depends on a number of factors including the time of year, your pool’s size, your filtration system, and other factors.
For pool pump repair in the Miami area, contact De Ruiter Electric Motor Company at (305) 235-5000.