Urban Myth
“Running the Pool Filter at night saves on electricity cost - because “electricity is cheaper at night!"
Debunking:
This myth has been circulating for decades, prior to the advent of “**smart meters”.
It’s based on an incorrect understanding about off peak electricity.
If you are running your pool filter at night under the assumption that you are saving on the cost of the electricity, not only have you been misled, but quite possibly the noise of your pool filter equipment at night may be unnecessarily annoying the neighbours.
If your home does NOT have an electric “off peak” hot water service, then your meter box will contain ONLY ONE electricity meter, which records the electricity used at the general household rate* 24/7/365. Every electrical appliance in your household is connected via this meter – stove, lights, air conditioner, heaters, all power points, hot water heaters – and pool filters!!
general household rate is a flat rate that does not change with respect to time of day.
If your home has an “off peak electric hot water service”, then your meter box will have a second electricity meter as well as a “ripple control receiver” switch.
The off peak electric hot water service is the only appliance connected via this meter.
The ripple control receiver switch is operated remotely by the electricity company, to turn hot water heaters on during times of low electricity demand, such as late at night.
The electricity used via the off peak meter is charged at a cheaper rate than the household general rate, and the ON/OFF times are controlled remotely by the electricity company.
You CANNOT connect your swimming pool filter to this off peak electricity meter. It is reserved solely for off peak hot water heaters.
So, YES, electricity is cheaper at night.
But only for off peak hot water heaters – not pool filters.
Myth Busted!
** If your home is fitted with a “smart meter” which records the electricity used with respect to time of day, then by setting your swimming pool filter to operate when the electricity is charged at a cheaper rate, you can save money. Your electricity company will be able to give you details about electricity prices with respect to times of day.
BB
20 Jan 2022
That’s a new one! Certainly one to avoid.
We’ve had 3 pools over 50 years. The last up to 2015. Does the type of filtration and water treatment make any difference? It was never the advice we received.
We have had two of the pools on cheaper controlled load supplies, but they still ran during daylight hours. Off during the evening peak. Good point re the noise nuisance. Plunge pools and outdoor spar pumps are equally annoying. More so if one is early to bed with a 4am start to the working day.
In 2021-22 that is misinformation. Many electricity plans, especially most solar plans, have ‘off peak’ rates between 11PM-7AM, and one I am aware of has off-peak from 9PM to 3PM. That is for 100% of usage, not just a controlled load.
There are even more complex plans with ‘shoulder rates’. Depending on locality and supplier one’s plan may vary. Maybe controlled loads can be even cheaper than ‘off peak’, but ‘off peak’ still justifies running it over night as compared to during a not-so-sunny day (assuming a PV system or just a peak-off peak plan).
It isn’t a myth and depends on which state one resides and the electricity charging structure in place.
Even with smart meters, it could be a time usage based pricing, where electricity is cheapest during night hours.
Some consumers also have time based tariffs where there are peak, off peak and shoulder usage rates. Off peak rates occur at night (usually after 9/10pm to around 6pm) and some states also around lunchtime hours. The off peak rates for any electricity used will be cheaper (could be 50% less than peak rates).
If one is on the contestable energy market, these rates are based on spot electricity pool prices. Historically the cheapest electricity pool price occurs during the night when there is less network demand.
Some states also have special night/off-peak tariffs for use by high domestic loads, such as pool pumps. These tariffs are different to those for hot water storage systems.
While the myth might be busted for your own circumstances, it is still a reality for many other Australians that it is cheaper to use high load household equipment like pool pumps during the night. Noise can be an issue, but can usually be resolve though attenuation.
Speaking to former colleagues still in the industry, the current situation may become a myth in the future as Australia moves towards 100% renewable electricity and if the costs of storage are passed onto consumers at times they use stored electricity. In such case, it is highly possible electricity will be cheaper during the day, next cheapest at night and most expensive at peak usage times (currently breakfast time and late afternoon to dinner time).
Noise is an issue, for most local authorities. How practical attenuation is and what level of noise is permitted will vary. Off peak or controlled load tariffs or solar PV all offer opportunities to reduce pool running costs.
One example of regulation which may prove very difficult to achieve in a quieter urban street.
Ok thank you.
Obviously I need educating here.
I excluded “smart meter” systems from my myth write up, as I’m aware of them.
So, since ordinary electricity meters only measure electricity consumed without any reference to time of day, what systems are being used to bill customers for various tariffs at various times of the day?
How does the electricity company measure this issue?
Are there multiple remote control switches (ripple control).
Are homes being connected with three phase where different phases connect to the pool etc and are charged at different tariff?
I’m only familiar with standard meter and off peak meter with ripple control relay.
Ok thank you.
Obviously I need educating here.
I excluded “smart meter” systems from my myth write up, as I’m aware of them.
So, since ordinary electricity meters only measure electricity consumed without any reference to time of day, what systems are being used to bill customers for various tariffs at various times of the day?
How does the electricity company measure this issue?
Are there multiple remote control switches (ripple control).
Are homes being connected with three phase where different phases connect to the pool etc and are charged at different tariff?
I’m only familiar with standard meter and off peak meter with ripple control relay.
Smart meters transmit use to Ausnet Services (eg the grid operator) in 30 minute intervals 24x7 who uses the data to bill the retailers, and on-forwards the data for the retailers to bill their customers.
I am not conversant with the plans or other questions so I’ll step back.
The options for metering and billing available vary between states and territories and even within each depending on the supply area (Eg regional vs major urban). There is the added benefit or otherwise of having solar PV to assess. Tariff reform is also part of the agenda with progress and options also varying depending on where you live.
With pool filtration and water treatment there are also choices to be made. Some experts advise to filter depending on treatment system at particular times of day or night.
If there are myths to bust here, is the starting point to look at each type of filtration system and water treatment option. Does time of operation during the daily cycle matter, and if so what is best? Our experience of North Qld may not be suited to how best to manage a heated and blanketed pool in Tasmania.
For the type of pool treatment and best operating cycle, what is the lowest cost of power for your circumstance? It will depend on where you live. Your options may be limited, especially if noise from the filter pump or skimmer box is going to be a concern.
The myth to bust might be those who don’t consider all the options are more likely to be paying more than they need to. A poorly managed pool will also cost more in chemicals and cleaning time.
Back in the Good Old Days when I was in the pool game we were well aware that electricity was fixed price all day. This was the 1970s, no smart meters then.
Most of us did, however, advise our clients to add chlorine after sundown and run the pump for about 3 hours coz the sun would not “burn out” the chlorine and plenty of volume through the filter aids mixing. I well remember the old “cal hypo” chlorine, alias calcium hypochlorite, and the various stabilisers, generally minimally effective and full of traps to mess up your chemical balance, such as sodium isocyanurate (I think). That was a tricky one but about the best of a bad lot. Good for a service call when they messed it up. We also pushed hard to sell them oversized filters coz that made pool management so much easier for the client.
I was often horrified at the liberties some people took with cal hypo. It is a very strong oxidising agent so if it comes into contact with hydrocarbons look out - a big fire very likely. People would leave the tub of chlorine in the shed next to the lawn mower fuel can. Brave, very brave!
Noise could be an issue and we took care to position the pump appropriately during the build. A small wooden “dog house” for the pump was generally adequate amelioration. The “thump, thump, thump” of the old crawler machines used to be very hard to reduce coz it’s low frequency and hence hard to attenuate.
Modern water treatment is so much better than those days and it’s much easier but I would still advise a long run overnight just to allow your cleaner time to get on with the job undisturbed by people making turbulence which can mess up the tracking of the machines.
As stated by Mark M, poor or careless management will definitely cost quite a bit extra for chemicals and waste plenty of your time while you get the balance back in order.
Interesting.
I can clearly remember the first time I heard this “myth” and it was in 1976.
We had just completed installation of our pool and the fellow from the pool shop was showing us how to run the filter etc.
His advice was very specific: “run the filter at night because electricity is cheaper at night”.
My father and I knew enough about what was in our electricity meter box to quickly realise this advice was misleading.
In the interim years I have heard this same advice, most frequently from pool owners who still insist on running the filter at night based on being given this advice at some stage along the way.
Whilst there may be other reasons to run the filter at night, such as you have mentioned associated with the pool chemicals and sunlight, every time I have heard this myth, the cost of the electricity is the deciding factor.
In summing up, if the pool filtration system is connected to a standard household GPO (general power outlet) and there is no smart meter in the meter box and no solar installation, then I would assume the myth stands.
Also, I too have witnessed blasé carelessness with pool chemicals and know of one horror story that resulted from such carelessness, causing a close shave with the grim reaper.
This statement would have been correct, but would have required a ripple control receiver/switch to be installed as well as a separate meter for the off peak or controlled supply tariff.
At the time it would have involved contacting the local distribution network operator, advising of the new pool and requesting a switch/meter to be installed for the pool pump. From memory, the controlled supply tariff in some areas was different to that for hot water as hot water tariff generally operated from 18-20 hours per day, while the pool pump night tariff was set to night hours only (8-10 hours).
In our local area, it was possible to run the pool pump on the hot water tariff if a ripple switch has been already installed for hot water.
Not a myth, but required action by the pool owner to benefit from significantly cheaper off peak or controlled supply rates.
Thank you phb.
The website you quoted addresses and explains the very issue I’ve addressed, as well as seemingly confirming the existence of this urban myth.
So it is really up to the customer to make a few checks and work out for themselves whether or not they are able to save money by using the pool filter at a certain time of day, for their particular set up, rather than relying on hearsay.
I suspect that this might require some technical insight on the side of the customer to sort out fact from fiction. The matter is not as straightforward as I had initially thought.
Perhaps calling upon an electrician friend to check their installation may be the best way to go.
BB
Quoted from the website "Pool Pump Running Costs | Energy Costs - Canstar Blue
Is it cheaper to run a pool pump at night?
Running a pool pump at night will only be cheaper if you’re connected to a time of use tariff where off-peak rates are usually charged overnight. Most pool pumps will be connected to a controlled load tariff whereby it is metered separately (normally at a lower rate) to the rest of your property.
If your pool pump is on a single rate tariff it will be charged the same rate no matter what time of day it is. Depending on the state, there may be two types of controlled load tariffs. Your electricity distributor is responsible for choosing which hours power is supplied, which is typically around eight to 18 hours a day during non-peak energy demand periods.
It’s worth looking to your state/territory retailers for options.
Historically Queensland customers in the Ergon and Energex distribution areas have had access to off peak tariffs 31 and 33.
Tariff 31 (8hrs per day) was commonly referred to as off peak night rate and used mainly for storage hot water systems. Not suited to pools as you do need to run the pump during the day on occasion.
Tariff 33 provided a minimum of 18hrs per day with load being shed in the evening peak, and as needed the morning peak. It’s what we had our pool connected to for manual vacuum, filter backwash or cleaning, etc. The discount is less than tariff 31.
For both of these controlled loads in accordance with the supply agreement, the powered items need to be permanently wired to the supply. It’s not legal to disconnect the pool pump etc and connect it to another socket if the controlled supply is not available.
EG
For homes with smart meters the options may include tou tariffs (time of use) and off peak or controlled load tariffs.
Not all states are the same.
Edit note added:
CanStar Blue summary which tabulated the controlled load options neglected to consider that a pool pump connected to a night rate only supply is not able to be run at any other time for servicing and other needs.
Interesting point there Mark and one which needs to be taken into account by potential pool owners.
I’ve moved around quite a bit and with every move, one of my first checks is to find out what tarrif the off peak hot water service is connected to.
Inevitably, its been set at the default tarrif, and by considering the size of the HWS and the number of occupants in the house, I’ve always been quick to have the HWS adjusted to a cheaper tarrif.
I do wonder how well educated consumers are in these matters, of knowing what is available and how to save money.
Many are educated and know how to minimise pool pump running costs. If they have solar and on standard solar FITs, run the pool pump during the day to maximise solar use (and minimise mains electricity use) and during off peak electricity rates/night hours. If one doesn’t have solar or has a small system - and has a smart meter, run the pool when off peak rates apply - which is during night hours. If one doesn’t have a smart meter, look at the control supply option where usage rates are heavily discounted due to supply being provided in off peak times (generally at night, and possibly during middle of the day when demand on the distribution network is usually less than generation inputs into to network).
The same principles have applied for many decades, with possibly solar becoming more common in recent years.
With our Solar installation while we don’t have a pool we do have a HWS that we have placed on a timer that only allows power during the day. We are not using a controlled supply and the HWS only runs as needed during the hours allowed by the timer. If a consumer has a solar system then a timer may be a cheaper option than controlled supply considering that a Controlled Supply meter not only attracts usage charges but also a daily use charge, if there is enough solar generated power to meet the household demand this would also be of use for the pool pump, ie only running as needed during the day.
A standard pool filter/pump install includes a timer. There is no extra cost.
For pools connected to a controlled load/supply the timer needs to continue to keep time during the hours when the controlled supply is not available. For newer pool installs hopefully an electronic timer with rechargeable battery backup. Older pools will most likely have a basic mechanical timer that is unsuitable.
