How many hours a day to run your pump for a full turnover — and what that costs in electricity. Clear water without overpaying the power company.
Flow varies with plumbing and filter condition — these presets are ballparks. Use your pump curve or a flow meter for the real number.
One full turnover takes 5 hrs 33 min at 60 GPM.
Run your pump about
5 hrs 33 min
per day for 1× turnover of 20,000 gal
Per day
$1.42
Per month
$42.50
Per season
$215.33
turnover = gal ÷ (GPM × 60) = 20,000 ÷ (60 × 60) = 5.56 hr
runtime = 5.56 hr × 1 = 5.56 hr/day
cost/day = (1500 W ÷ 1000) × 5.56 hr × $0.17 = $1.42
Turnover doesn’t filter 100% of the water in one pass, but it’s the standard circulation yardstick. Season ≈ 5 months.
One turnover/day is the baseline. In peak season, heat waves, heavy bather load, or when fighting algae, run more (1.5–2 turnovers).
Run the pump during daylight when chlorine demand and algae pressure are highest — unless off-peak electricity rates make splitting the schedule worthwhile.
That wattage points to a single-speed pump. A variable-speed pump moving the same water at low RPM typically cuts pump electricity 50–80%.
Pump runtime comes down to one job: pushing your whole pool through the filter often enough to keep it clean. Move the full volume through once and you’ve done a turnover. Divide your gallons by your pump’s flow rate (in gallons per minute, times 60 for an hourly rate) and you get the hours one turnover takes — that’s your daily baseline.
Run more than one turnover when demand is high: hot weather, lots of swimmers, heavy debris, or an algae bloom. Run closer to the minimum in cool, off-season weeks to save power. The biggest savings lever isn’t fewer hours — it’s a variable-speed pump, which moves the same water at a fraction of the wattage.
A 20,000-gallon pool with a 60 GPM pump:
turnover = 20,000 ÷ (60 × 60) ≈ 5.6 hours. So one turnover a day means running the pump about 5 hr 34 min. A 1,500-watt single-speed pump over that time uses ~8.3 kWh — about $1.42/day at $0.17/kWh, or roughly $43/month. Drop to a variable-speed pump at ~750 watts and the same circulation costs well under half that.
Long enough to turn the water over at least once a day. For a typical 20,000-gallon pool with a 60 GPM pump that’s about 5–6 hours; in peak swim season, heat, or after heavy use, run 1.5–2 turnovers (closer to 8–12 hours). Enter your volume and flow rate above for your exact number — undersized runtime is the most common cause of cloudy, algae-prone water.
First find your turnover time: gallons ÷ (GPM × 60). That’s how long the pump needs to push your whole pool through the filter once. Multiply by how many turnovers you want per day (1 is the baseline) to get daily runtime. For example, 20,000 gallons ÷ (60 × 60) ≈ 5.6 hours per turnover.
Turnover is circulating a volume of water equal to your whole pool through the filter and back. One turnover doesn’t filter 100% of the water (some treated water re-mixes), but it’s the industry yardstick for circulation. Public pools are often required to turn over every 6 hours; residential pools generally aim for at least one turnover per day.
Almost always, yes. Power rises with roughly the cube of speed, so running at half speed uses about an eighth of the energy — even though you run longer to move the same water. A variable-speed pump at low RPM might use 300–700 watts versus 1,500–2,400 for a single-speed, cutting pump electricity costs by 50–80%. Enter your pump’s actual wattage above to see your numbers.
Run it during daylight if you can. Chlorine and circulation are most needed when the sun is driving photosynthesis (algae) and bathers are in the water. The exception is cost: if your utility charges lower off-peak rates at night, splitting the runtime — some midday for chemistry, the rest off-peak — can save money without hurting water quality.
It depends on the pump’s wattage, daily runtime, and your electricity rate. A 1,500-watt single-speed pump running 6 hours a day at $0.17/kWh costs about $1.50 a day — roughly $45 a month. A variable-speed pump doing the same circulation at low RPM can drop that to well under $20 a month. The calculator estimates your daily, monthly, and season-long cost above.
How many gallons (or liters) your pool holds — any shape, sloped depths, spas included. The number you need before dosing anything.
Open toolHow much liquid chlorine, bleach, or shock to add to hit your target free chlorine.
Open toolExactly how much shock to add to clear algae or chloramines — CYA-aware shock levels, any pool size.
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