Energy costs are hitting recent if not all times highs. Pool owners know that it costs money to run a pool and salt water pools are no different since the same energy-consuming equipment is used.
Pump. Heater. Chlorinator. Lighting. They also require a fuel source, typically electricity and natural gas.
We’ve already spoken here on Salt Water Pool Report about 5 Ways To Save Money On Your Salt Water Pool but let’s take a closer look specifically at how to save big time on energy costs that you incur to actually run your pool.
Let’s take a closer look below at 5 ways you can reduce your energy costs with regards to your salt water pool.
Switch to a variable speed pump
The pump is the biggest variable cost for pool owners when it comes to energy especially if you don’t have a heater (more on that below!).
A regular pool pump operates at one consistent speed typically 3450 revolutions per minute (RPM). A variable speed pump can operate as low as 600 RPM at varying speeds determined by you the pool owner.
The result is energy savings and a quieter pump which can please both you and your neighbors. Also, if you live in an area with time of use electricity, you can operate your pump at a lower speed when energy costs are the highest but still get benefits from constantly filtered water.
How much money can you save by switching from a regular one-speed pump to variable speed?
You can input your pool details into a variable speed pump calculator to see for yourself. For example, if you live in New York and have a 20,000 gallon pool with a 1.5 hp one-speed pump currently, switching to a variable speed pump can save around $50 per month during pool season depending on local electricity prices and how many hours you run the pump each day, among other factors. You can input your data to get an answer that is specific to you.
Get a pool pump that fits your pool size based on turnover
If you choose a pump that is too small for your pool size (water volume) you may have to run it more frequently to keep it clean and to produce enough chlorine from the chlorinator.
If you choose a pump that is bigger than what your pool size requires, you’ll spend more energy that you need to, when running it.
While pool pumps are typically marketed by their horsepower (HP), you actually want to familiarize yourself with the water flow and the turnover rate of each model you consider. The water flow refers to how much water can be pumped in a given time period. The turnover refers to how long it takes to completely cycle (i.e. to pump and filter) all the water in your pool. The minimum turnover rate to aim for is every 6 hours which means if you were to run your pump 24 hours per day, the water would be completely cycled four times during that period.
Of course, you don’t need to run your pump 24/7. You might find you only need to run it 10 hours or 14 hours per day. You can play around and test things out to see what works for you.
So you want to know the gallons per minute (GPM) or liters per minute (LPM) that your chosen pump is rated at. Then you take the total volume of your pool and use this formula:
Turnover Rate in Minutes = Pool Volume In Gallons / Gallons Per Minute
So if your pool is 20,000 gallons and your chosen pump is rated at 80 GPM, your turnover rate is:
20,000 Gallons / 50 GPM = 400 minutes or 6 2/3 hours. In this case your turnover is under 7 hours which is very good. If you run your pump for 14 hours per day, your water would be turned over twice.
The more water you have in your pool, the higher the required GPM rate your pump will need to offer.
Not to make things more complicated but the diameter of your pool plumbing (PVC pipes) also matters. The bigger the diameter, the more water can be pumped.
Don’t want to crunch the numbers yourself? Go talk with a few pool companies and see what they suggest regarding the pump GPM rate that you require. Just make sure they don’t oversell (or undersell) you the wrong pump.
Set your pump on a timer and reduce the time until you find the sweet spot
When you run the pump in a salt water pool you are doing several things:
- Filtering the water – Skimming and filtering the water and removing debris from the pool.
- Producing chlorine – You need chlorine to keep the water crystal clear and safe for swimming.
- Circulating the water – When the pump is running, water isn’t allowed to stand still and is constantly moving so it doesn’t become stagnant.
You don’t need to run a pool pump 24/7 or anything close to that actually. Depending on your local circumstances, you might need to run your pump 6 hours per day or 10 hours per day or somewhere in between.
As long as your pool water is clean and enough chlorine is being produced, you don’t need to run the pump more than that.
Start by running your pump for say 6 hours per day and adjust upwards if necessary until you get the chlorine and other chemical levels correct. Or do what I first did: Start with the pump running 10 hours per day and work your way down to find the sweet spot.
The amount of direct sun you receive each day, the amount of pool usage and other factors such as how much vegetation you have around the pool will determine your pump run time as all contribute to increasing your chlorine needs and filtration requirements.
Find the balance between your pool pump and salt chlorinator run times
You can’t produce chlorine in a salt water pool unless the pump is running. You also won’t produce chlorine in your salt water pool when the chlorinator is not running because it has met its required setting and has switched off.
Pool owners typically put their pump on a timer and may run it for as much as 10 hours per day. Let’s use that as an example. If you set your salt chlorinator to run at 50% of the time that means you’ll be producing chlorine for 10 hours * .50 = 5 hours per day. If that works for you, great.
But if you need to produce more chlorine and/or require more filtering you can:
- Increase pump time or
- Increase the chlorinator setting to say 60% or
- Increase the pump time and chlorinator run time setting.
The pump is the culprit when it comes to using electricity certainly when compared to your chlorinator. A new salt cell costs around $300 give or take to replace depending on the model and you can replace it yourself. A pump costs much more to be replaced and installed.
If you can run your pool pump less and bump up the chlorinator % setting to increase chlorine production, it’ll save you energy costs in the long run.
Occasionally shocking your pool will help reduce required pump time, too!
Manage your pool water temperature properly
Pool heating is a very costly aspect of a salt water pool. If you own a heater you already know this. If you want to learn more about pool heaters, check out my article on the subject called Can You Heat A Salt Water Pool. (spoiler alert: Yes, you can but this article gives specifics).
Whether you have a pool heater or not, you can easily save money and time and have a more enjoyable pool experience by investing in a few things to better regular your pool water temperature:
Get a pool solar blanket – Do solar pool covers work? This article answers that question. It keeps heat in and helps to keep leaves and other debris out. This is a nice bonus since that in itself can also help reduce required pump time if the water is kept cleaner and requires less filtering. And a solar blanket will help to reduce your heating costs especially when you use it overnight and when the pool isn’t being used.
Consider a solar heating option – Gas powered pool heaters can be expensive but they heat pool water quicker on demand. Electric pool heaters aren’t at the level of gas ones and need more time to heat the water. Solar heating options might be worth considering depending on where you live, your backyard and house location relative to the pool, etc. It’s worth considering to help reduce heating costs.
Consider pool location: If you haven’t yet built your pool and have some options as to where you can put it, locate it in as much sun as possible and not in the shade. The more direct sunlight you get on the water, the less you’ll have to heat it.
Summary
In my experience, the more you learn about your salt water pool the more you can figure out how to save money and run the pool more efficiently. There are a number of ways you can reduce energy costs but do remember the big costs: The pump and heating costs.
Even if you don’t have a pool heater, you can make your pool experience more enjoyable through use of a solar blanket to help retain heat and increase the water temperature naturally.
When you can reduce your pump and heating costs, you will save the most money while also helping to extend the life of your equipment which will wear out over time.
