How long should the pump run, and what is that costing?
Ask ten people how long to run a pool pump and nine will say eight hours. That number comes from an era when every pool had one pump speed, and it is the wrong question anyway: what the water needs is a volume moved, not a length of time.
So hours come out of this rather than going into it. Tell it about your pool and your pump, and it works out the schedule, what that schedule costs, and what a different pump would have cost instead.
Not sure? Work it out from your dimensions.
Most residential pumps move 50 to 80. It is on the pump curve, not the horsepower.
Retail electricity here is deregulated. Yours is on your bill.
Run it, texas summer
7.5hours a day
- Costs
- $65.07 a month
- Uses
- 14.25 kWh a day
- Moves
- 70 gpm
Across a whole year
Four months of summer, four of spring and autumn, four of winter. Winter genuinely needs less, and shutting the pump off entirely is how pipes freeze.
Texas summer
7.5 hours a day
$65.07/mo
Spring and fall
5.5 hours a day
$47.71/mo
Winter
3 hours a day
$26.03/mo
About 3,702 kWh a year, or $555.
What a variable-speed pump would do
Same pool, same turnover, same water. The only thing that changes is how fast the motor spins to deliver it, and power falls with roughly the cube of speed while flow falls in step.
Single-speed pump, as it runs today
One speed, so the only lever is hours.
$555/yr
Variable-speed pump, programmed properly
Longer hours at low speed for the same daily turnover.
$141/yr
Saved every year
About 75% of the pump's electricity.
$414/yr
Installed cost in this area commonly runs $1,200 to $2,500 depending on the pump and the plumbing. Taken at the middle of that, this pool pays the upgrade back in about 4.5 years, against a pump that should last ten.
There is no Oncor rebate to wait for. Oncor publishes no residential variable-speed pool pump rebate, so the upgrade has to justify itself on the energy arithmetic alone, and on most pools it does. See the variable speed guide for the working.
This prices the pump and nothing else. A cleaner booster pump, pool lights, and above all a heater are separate, and a heater dwarfs everything here. The cost of ownership calculator adds them up.
Not sure your pump is actually doing what the timer says?
Equipment gets checked on every weekly visit, and the photo report shows you what was found rather than telling you afterwards. If the schedule is wrong, or the pump is drawing more than it should, that is the kind of thing worth catching before it becomes a replacement.
Why the pump matters more than the hours
Half the speed is an eighth of the power
Two relationships govern everything on this page, and neither is intuitive. Flow through a pump falls roughly in proportion to its speed. Power draw falls with roughly the cube of it. Put those together and a pump running at half speed moves about half the water for about an eighth of the electricity, so the same daily turnover costs around a quarter as much if you are willing to take twice as long over it. Nothing about the water minds. The filter does not care how quickly the gallons arrive.
Turnover is the target
Every gallon has to pass the filter to get cleaned. One full turnover a day keeps a pool sanitized and skimmed; Texas summer water wants closer to two.
Let the water tell you
If chlorine holds and the pool stays clear between visits, your run time is enough. If either slips, add time before you add chemicals.
A loaded filter costs money
A dirty filter makes the pump work harder for less flow every day it stays dirty, and shortens the pump's life while doing it.
Questions we get asked
- How many hours a day should a pool pump run?
- Long enough to move the pool's whole volume through the filter, which depends on your pump's flow rate rather than on a fixed number of hours. One full turnover a day is the working baseline and a North Texas summer wants closer to two. The eight-hour rule of thumb is a leftover from an era when every pool had a single-speed pump, and it is only correct by accident.
- Is it cheaper to run the pump longer at a lower speed?
- Much cheaper, and it is not close. Flow falls roughly in proportion to pump speed but power draw falls with roughly the cube of it, so halving the speed moves about half the water for around an eighth of the power. Running twice as long at half speed delivers the same daily turnover for about a quarter of the energy, which is the entire argument for a variable-speed pump.
- Should I turn the pump off in winter?
- No. Run time should come down in winter, not to zero. A pool still needs circulation to stay sanitized, and standing water in the plumbing is how a hard freeze turns into a repair. Switching the pump off does not save money, it moves the cost to the plumbing line.
- Is there a rebate for a variable-speed pump in Texas?
- Not from Oncor, which serves most of Collin County. Oncor publishes no residential variable-speed pool pump rebate. Entergy Texas runs a distributor program worth up to $350 per qualified pump, but that is a different service territory. The upgrade has to justify itself on the energy arithmetic alone, and for most pools it does within the life of the pump.
- What flow rate should I enter?
- The flow your pump delivers at full speed, in gallons per minute, which comes off the pump's performance curve rather than its horsepower. Most residential pumps move somewhere between 50 and 80. If you cannot find it, the default for your pump type is a reasonable stand-in and the hours will be close.
- Does this include my heater and cleaner?
- No, this prices the circulation pump alone. A cleaner booster pump, pool lighting and above all a heater are separate, and a heater dwarfs everything here. The cost of ownership calculator adds them together with water, chemicals and equipment replacement.
Free tools
The rest of the arithmetic
What does a pool really cost to own here?
All five lines, not just the service rate: electricity, water, chemicals, filter cleaning, and the replacement reserve nobody puts on a quote. Prices your pool both ways, doing it yourself and having it done.
Price my poolWhat do I add, how much, and in what order?
Enter what your test kit read and get an ordered correction plan with real doses for your volume. Alkalinity before pH, sanitizer last, and never two things that should not meet.
Balance my waterIs my pool leaking, or is that just a Texas summer?
The bucket test, done properly. Two measurements 24 hours apart tell you whether the water is going somewhere it should not, and what it is costing you a month if it is.
Run the bucket testHow many gallons is my pool?
Measure three things and get your volume, the surface area, and what one adjustment costs at that size. Every other calculator here starts with this number.
Measure my pool