Best time of day to run pump

I have a salt water pool with chlorinator. And I  have accidentally ended up with an oversize pool pump  (another story!) which turns over my entire pool volume in 3 hours. My question is if I can manage to keep the chemical levels correct can I simply run for just 3 hours? Chlorine seems to remain within a good range if I have it on max? Is there a best time to run the chlorinator? At night, in the morning? Once per day or break it up into two separate runs?

Hello Edward - A residential pool needs to turn over once a day. If it accomplishes that goal in 3 hours, that’s fine. As long as the salt system can keep up with the chlorine demand, I would say keep it as is. You may find that you need to run the pump/salt system longer during the warmest months.

Most pool professionals will recommend running it during the day because the chlorine demand is higher when the sun is out. Some people are on a tight budget and they decide to run the pump while off peak energy hours. They claim to not have any issues with keeping the pool clean. It’s really up to you how you run the pump. Again, as long as the pool has a good free chlorine level, you’ll be ok.

Thanks for your reply. I am trying to get my head around why best to run in the day. There are very mixed messages about it on the web. Some seem to say no point producing chlorine in the day as the sun uses it up and some say the opposite. Can you explain it any further why best to run in day? Just curious - I will of course take your advice and run in the day but I wanted to understand why.

UV from the sun can reduce the level of chlorine quickly. If the pump/salt system is not producing chlorine during the day, you’ll have a stagnant body of water during the time it needs movement and chlorine the most.

This is not taking into account people swimming in the pool during the day. Sweat, body oils, dirt and other contaminants will also use up chlorine.