How Much Does It Cost to Run a Variable-Speed Pool Pump?

Short answer: about $0.83 a day and $24.91 a month, or $0.069 for each hour it runs at full power, at the 2025 US average electricity rate. That is for a 400 W variable-speed pool pump running 12 hours a day with a 100% duty cycle. Change the state and hours below for your own number.

Updated Nov 8, 2026

Quick answer, US average (17.3 c/kWh)

About $24.91 a month

The same use costs $17.01 a month in North Dakota and $58.45 in Hawaii.

Per hour: $0.069; at 400 W
Per day: $0.83; 12 h, 4.80 kWh
Per month: $24.91; 30 days
Per year: $303.10; 365 days at the same use

Your state, your hours

State

Hours on per day

Days per month

days

Per hour

$0.069

Per day

$0.83

Per month

$24.91

Per year

$303.10

Variable-Speed Pool Pump at 400 W, 12 h a day, 30 days a month, 100% duty cycle: 144.0 kWh a month. Using the 2025 US average of 17.3 cents/kWh.

Want to change the watts or duty cycle too? Open the full calculator.

What decides the cost of running a variable-speed pool pump

A variable-speed pool pump costs far less to run than a single-speed one because of how pump power scales with speed. Under the pump affinity laws, flow rises with speed but power rises with the cube of speed, so running at half speed takes about an eighth of the power. Moving the same water slowly over more hours uses a fraction of the energy. The default here is 400 W at low speed for 12 hours, 4.8 kWh a day and about $25 a month at the national average rate. The 1 HP single-speed pump on the companion page uses 1,500 W for 8 hours, 12 kWh a day and about $62 a month.

Real schedules are rarely one speed all day. Many owners run a low speed of 100 to 400 W for most of the day and a short higher-speed window for the skimmers, a suction cleaner, a heater or a salt cell, which need more flow. At full speed a variable-speed pump draws about as much as the single-speed motor it replaced, 1,500 W or more. Two hours at 1,600 W adds 3.2 kWh a day, which can cost as much as the entire low-speed run.

So the savings depend on how low you can run and how short the high-speed window is. Many pools stay clear running 24 hours at very low speed, often under 200 W, which keeps water moving through the filter all day and still uses less than the default. A robotic cleaner with its own motor and filter removes the need for high-speed runs to power a suction or pressure cleaner.

Most variable-speed pumps show live watts on the control panel or app, which makes them easy to tune. Most are 230 V and hardwired, so a plug-in meter cannot measure one. Federal rules since 2021 effectively require new pumps of about 1 HP and up to be variable speed.

How to cut it

Run the lowest speed that keeps the water clear, often 1,000 to 1,500 RPM, for longer hours.
Keep high-speed windows short and only for equipment that needs the flow.
Use a robotic cleaner instead of a suction or booster-pump cleaner.
Clean the filter when pressure rises 8 to 10 psi. Higher head pressure costs watts at any speed.

Variable-Speed Pool Pump cost by state

Monthly cost for 400 W, 12 h a day, 100% duty cycle, 30 days, sorted cheapest to most expensive. Pick your state above to highlight it.

Rank	State	Cents/kWh	Per month
1	North Dakota	11.81	$17.01
2	Idaho	11.82	$17.02
3	Nebraska	12.34	$17.77
4	Louisiana	12.57	$18.10
5	Arkansas	12.84	$18.49
6	Montana	12.98	$18.69
7	Utah	13.07	$18.82
8	Washington	13.11	$18.88
9	Oklahoma	13.12	$18.89
10	Nevada	13.15	$18.94
11	Tennessee	13.18	$18.98
12	Kentucky	13.24	$19.07
13	South Dakota	13.38	$19.27
14	Wyoming	13.38	$19.27
15	Missouri	13.49	$19.43
16	Iowa	13.72	$19.76
17	North Carolina	14.02	$20.19
18	Mississippi	14.03	$20.20
19	Kansas	14.56	$20.97
20	Georgia	14.73	$21.21
21	South Carolina	14.96	$21.54
22	New Mexico	15.08	$21.72
23	Florida	15.24	$21.95
24	Virginia	15.28	$22.00
25	Arizona	15.32	$22.06
26	Oregon	15.37	$22.13
27	West Virginia	15.41	$22.19
28	Texas	15.47	$22.28
29	Minnesota	15.82	$22.78
30	Colorado	15.85	$22.82
31	Alabama	16.10	$23.18
32	Indiana	16.23	$23.37
33	Ohio	16.96	$24.42
34	Delaware	17.13	$24.67
35	Illinois	17.69	$25.47
36	Wisconsin	18.16	$26.15
37	Pennsylvania	19.30	$27.79
38	Maryland	19.48	$28.05
39	Michigan	20.01	$28.81
40	District of Columbia	21.94	$31.59
41	New Jersey	22.63	$32.59
42	Vermont	22.92	$33.00
43	New Hampshire	24.56	$35.37
44	Alaska	26.09	$37.57
45	New York	26.39	$38.00
46	Maine	27.78	$40.00
47	Connecticut	29.38	$42.31
48	Rhode Island	29.46	$42.42
49	Massachusetts	30.48	$43.89
50	California	32.54	$46.86
51	Hawaii	40.59	$58.45

Rates: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, annual average residential price, 2025 (eia.gov). Full list on the electricity rates by state page.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a variable-speed pool pump per month?+

About $25 a month at low speed. 400 W for 12 hours is 4.8 kWh a day, 144 kWh over 30 days, and 144 x $0.173 is about $24.91. A schedule with 2 hours a day at high speed can add about $17 more.

How much does it cost to run a variable-speed pool pump per year?+

About $150 for a 180 day swimming season and about $303 year-round. 4.8 kWh a day is 864 kWh over 180 days and 1,752 kWh over a full year at 17.3 cents per kWh.

How much does a variable-speed pool pump cost per hour?+

About 7 cents an hour at 400 W, since 0.4 kWh x $0.173 is $0.069. At full speed, around 1,500 W, it is about 26 cents an hour, the same as a single-speed pump.

How many watts does a variable-speed pool pump use?+

About 100 to 400 W at low speed and 1,500 to 2,000 W or more at full speed. Halving the speed cuts power to roughly an eighth, which is why low and slow saves so much.

Variable-speed vs single-speed pool pump: how much do you save?+

About $37 a month on this site's defaults. A 1 HP single-speed pump at 8 hours uses 12 kWh a day, about $62 a month, and a variable-speed pump at 400 W for 12 hours uses 4.8 kWh, about $25. Over a 180 day season that is about 1,296 kWh, roughly $224.

How much does it cost to run a pool pump 24 hours a day?+

About $1.66 a day at 400 W, or under $1 a day at a very low speed. 0.4 kW x 24 hours = 9.6 kWh, and 9.6 x $0.173 is $1.66. At 150 W, 24 hours uses 3.6 kWh, about 62 cents.

Does a variable-speed pool pump use a lot of electricity?+

Much less than a single-speed pump, though it is still one of the larger loads in a home with a pool. At 4.8 kWh a day it uses about four times what a refrigerator does.

Is a variable-speed pool pump worth it?+

Almost always. On this site's defaults it saves about 7.2 kWh a day over a 1 HP single-speed pump, about $1.25 a day. Many utilities offer rebates, and federal rules effectively require variable speed on new pumps of about 1 HP and up.

How many hours should a variable-speed pool pump run?+

Usually 8 to 24 hours at low speed, enough to turn the water over at least once a day. Longer at a lower speed is typically cheaper than shorter at a higher speed, because power falls with the cube of speed.

Can a power station or generator run a variable-speed pool pump?+

At low speed, yes. A 400 W draw with a soft start around 800 W fits many power stations, and a 1,000 Wh unit gives about 2 hours (850 / 400). Most pumps are 230 V, though, so check the voltage first.

Marcus Reed

Founder and Editor, CrunchYourDollars

Marcus Reed builds the sizing tools on CrunchYourDollars. He is a software engineer with a long-running PC hardware and power supply habit, which is where the watts, watt-hours and surge math on this site comes from. Product specs are pulled from manufacturer data sheets, electricity rates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and water chemistry rules from the Water Quality Association. He is not a licensed electrician or plumber: the tools show the math and the matching models so you can make the call, and anything involving your electrical panel should be checked by a licensed pro.

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