How Much Does a Pool Add to Your Electric Bill?

A pool commonly adds about 30 to 150 dollars a month to a home electric bill. Where you land inside that range depends mostly on three things: what kind of pump you have, how many hours a day it runs, and what your utility charges per kilowatt hour.

Add a heat pump or gas heater and the numbers change completely, because heating is usually the largest energy cost a pool can have. These are national ranges, so check your own rate to get a real figure.

The pump is almost the whole story

For a pool without a heater, circulation is the dominant load. A single speed pump runs at full power whenever it runs, and that is the expensive way to move water.

Variable speed pumps are dramatically cheaper to run because power draw drops much faster than flow when you slow the motor. Running longer at a low speed moves the same water for a fraction of the electricity. This is why variable speed pumps typically pay back their higher purchase price within a few years and why many jurisdictions now require them on new and replacement installs.

Run time matters just as much. Many pools are run far longer than they need. The goal is enough turnover to keep the water sanitized and filtered, not maximum hours.

Other loads worth knowing

• Heaters. Electric resistance heaters are very expensive to run. Heat pumps are far more efficient but still the biggest single load on most heated pools. Gas heaters move the cost to your gas bill instead.
• Salt chlorine generators. Modest power draw, but the cell only makes chlorine while the pump is running, which affects your run schedule.
• Cleaners. Pressure and suction cleaners add load indirectly through booster pumps. Robotic cleaners use very little power.
• Lights. LED conversion cuts pool lighting energy substantially and the bulbs last far longer.
• Water features. Waterfalls and fountains usually need high pump speed, which is why they cost real money to run continuously.

How to bring the number down

Move to a variable speed pump if you still have single speed. Then dial in the schedule: find the lowest speed and shortest run time that still keeps the water clear and sanitized, and adjust seasonally. Keep the filter clean, because a dirty filter makes the pump work harder for less flow. Keep baskets empty for the same reason. Use a cover if it suits your pool, which cuts both evaporation and heating load. Convert lights to LED.

If you use a heater, a cover is the single biggest saving available, because most heat loss is evaporation from the surface.

Pool energy costs in the Florida Keys

There is no off season here, so the pump runs 52 weeks a year. Mainland pools often get a low season where run times drop. Here they do not, so annual energy cost sits at the higher end of what a comparable pool would cost elsewhere.

Heating is a smaller factor for most Keys pools than it is up the state, because water stays warm most of the year. Circulation and filtration are the costs that matter.

The lack of screen cages on nearly every pool down here does push run times up. More debris means more filtering and more frequent filter cleaning, and a loaded filter costs energy every hour the pump runs. Salt air also works on motors and electrical connections at the pad, and a struggling, corroding motor draws more power than a healthy one.

If you want one change with the best return, look at your pump first, because pump type and run time account for most of what a pool adds to your bill.