How long to run my automatic pool cleaner (daily or weekkly

[BallGiants]

Hi
I have a realatively new pool and want to know how long to have the automatic pool cleaner running during this time of the year. The manual suggested 4 to 5 hours during winter (which is now) but the hired pool cleaners is saying 8 to 10 hours daily. Are they taking me for a ride? The pool cleaner service the pool once a week. Also, the pool will not be used until Summer time. Can anyone recommend the cleaning time times and whether it should be on a daily or weekly basis and any other recommendation that is pertinent.
Thanks

[Larry]

In moderate climates 4-5 hours a day is enough. In cooler climates less, and warmer climates you may need longer.

If you have a pool cleaning service you may not even need to run the cleaner every day, though you should run the pump for a few hours nevertheless.

It sounds like your service guys are trying to save themselves some work. We service our customers' pools once a week in summer and once every 2 weeks in winter, but we are in a cold winter zone.

[Jason Lockwright]

If the pool is clean, i.e. free of leaves and dirt on the pool bottom, after an hour of running the pool cleaner, then the one hour is enough. I do brush my salt pool once per week. Watch out that your spa circulation does not depend on the higher pump speeds associated with running the pool cleaner, you could end up with algae growth if that is the case and you reduce the cleaner run time. I run my pool cleaner 40 minutes a day and the pool filter for 5 hours a day. That works for me as I don't have a lot of leaves flying into the pool.

[czechmate]

Average pool of 25-30000 gallons with main drain and correctly pointed fresh water inlets should not need more than 6 hours of filtering.
Provided of course, that the cycle is efficient, meaning that the backpressure is not more than 5 PSI above the clean filter pressure. I never let it rise to the area of 8-10PSI as some would. I consider the the small amount of the extra DE media a lot cheaper than electricity used in prolonged cleaning cycle.
( By" small amount" I mean maybe 2-3 coffee cans of DE that I add back into the system after a short bump of backwash.)
There is also other things to consider, such as pump motor wear in extreme hot summer and voltage drop in the house system that may have adverse effect on the A/C current draw and subsequent unnecessary wire warm -up. I also split the cleaning cycle in two. It has been said that 2 -2hour filter run is more efficient than 4 hour solid run. Pool sweep in well maintained pool will usually sufficiently clean in 2 hours. I view it as not necessarily single function "debris pick up" tool.
I consider it as high pressure chlorinated water loaded washer, replacing a needed wall brushing, that so many of us dread so much!

[Old Eagle]

I am in New England. Winters are cold. The pool freezes. Run an automatic pool cleaner in the winter? My pool is covered in the winter and it doesn't get any cleaning until it is completely thawed in the spring.

Does your pool freeze? If so, and you have pool service through the winter? Paying for what? Did the pool service personnel tell you that they are needed year round? Maybe you swim year round. If so, then pool service year round makes sense.

How long to run the automatic pool cleaner? Until the pool is clean! Not for a specific number of hours.

When to run the automatic pool cleaner? When the pool needs cleaning!

Take advice carefully. I don't know everything. I have only been running my in-ground pool for 24 years and now I am here because I need some help with a problem I never had before.

[Guest]

Hi. I am a saltwater pool owner from South Africa and I am running my pump for 1 hour per day during winter, 2 hours per day during autumn, 4 hours per day in spring and 6 hours a day in summer. This has drastically cut my electricity bill by at least 50 % since I first got the pool and it stays just as clean, actually less green in winter, as when it was new. I have no pool cleaning services and only brush it once every 2 months in winter and once a month in summer. I have found that the amount of time you need to run your pump depends on the climate in your area, and also mainly on the amount of trees/plants around the pool and the usage of the pool.

Hope this helps