How Much Does It Cost to Run a Pool Pump in Arizona? (2026 APS & SRP Rates)
If you own a pool in Arizona, your pump is probably costing you $600 to $1,500 per year — and most homeowners have no idea. The exact number depends on your pump type, runtime, and utility. Here's the full breakdown with current APS and SRP rates.
The short answer
- Single-speed 1.5 HP pump, 10 hrs/day summer + 6 hrs/day winter: Roughly $80-$110/month in summer and $35-$50/month in winter. Annual cost: $700-$1,000.
- Variable-speed pump running 24/7 at low speed: Roughly $15-$25/month year-round. Annual cost: $180-$300.
- The gap: Arizona homeowners on single-speed pumps typically spend $400-$800/year more than they need to.
Want your exact numbers? Use our pump calculator — enter your pump wattage, runtime, and utility to see your real cost.
How pool pump cost is calculated
The math is simple: watts × hours × days ÷ 1000 × rate per kWh. The tricky part is that electricity rates change throughout the day under time-of-use (TOU) plans, so your pool pump cost depends heavily on when it runs.
For APS Saver Choice Plus:
- Peak (4-7pm weekdays): $0.3439/kWh summer, $0.2145/kWh winter
- Off-peak: $0.1235/kWh summer, $0.1035/kWh winter
- Super off-peak (10am-3pm): $0.0935/kWh year-round
For SRP E-27:
- Peak (2-8pm weekdays): $0.11/kWh summer, $0.08/kWh winter
- Off-peak: $0.07/kWh summer, $0.06/kWh winter
- Plus demand charges: SRP bills you extra for your highest peak-hour kW, which can add $10-20/month if your pump runs during peak
Single-speed pump costs (real numbers)
A typical single-speed 1.5 HP pool pump draws about 1,900 watts at full load. Running 10 hours a day in summer means:
- 1.9 kW × 10 hrs = 19 kWh/day
- × 30 days = 570 kWh/month
- × blended rate of ~$0.16/kWh (APS summer with daytime schedule) = ~$91/month
Winter drops to 6 hours/day runtime with cheaper rates, landing around $40/month. Annual total: about $780.
Move to a 2 HP pump (2,500W) and summer costs jump to $120/month. Run it 12 hours/day and you're at $145/month. Plenty of Arizona homes are spending over $1,500/year just on their pump.
Variable-speed pump costs
Variable-speed pumps (VS pumps) are the game-changer. They run mostly at very low speed (200-600 watts) for 18-24 hours a day, then ramp up to full power only during short cleaning cycles.
Average effective wattage: about 450 watts. Running 24 hours a day:
- 0.45 kW × 24 hrs = 10.8 kWh/day
- × 30 days = 324 kWh/month
- × $0.13/kWh (blended) = ~$42/month summer, $25/month winter
Annual total: about $400. That's roughly $400 in savings per year compared to a single-speed pump — and the quality-of-life benefits are significant too.
Why variable-speed pumps use so much less energy
Pool pumps follow the cube law of fluid dynamics: halving the speed reduces energy consumption by 87.5% (1/8th). A single-speed pump always runs at 100% speed, wasting massive amounts of energy on flow rates you don't need.
A variable-speed pump runs at 30-40% speed for normal filtration (using just a few hundred watts) and only ramps to full speed for backwashing or running a pool cleaner. The average energy use is a small fraction of a single-speed pump.
SRP demand charges: an extra gotcha
If you're on SRP and your single-speed pump runs during the 2-8pm peak window, it adds to your peak demand reading — which SRP bills separately. A 1,900W pump running during peak could add $20-30/month in demand charges on top of the energy charges.
Easy fix: Schedule your single-speed pump to run before 2pm or after 8pm. Or switch to a variable-speed pump, which pulls so little power that it barely registers as demand.
How to cut your pool pump cost today
- Know your numbers first. Run our pump calculator with your actual wattage and runtime.
- Shift runtime to off-peak hours. Run your pump before 2pm (SRP) or before 4pm/after 7pm (APS) to hit the cheapest rates.
- Reduce runtime if safe. Most Arizona pools only need 8-10 hours/day of single-speed runtime, not 12+. Check with your pool service first.
- Switch to variable-speed. The typical ROI on a VS pump in Arizona is 1-3 years, and you get a quieter, longer-lasting system.
- Consider solar. Your pool pump uses 3,000-8,000 kWh/year. Solar panels can offset that entirely. See our sister site, AZ Energy Hub, for the math.
The bottom line
Arizona's high electricity rates make pool pumps one of the biggest hidden costs of homeownership here. A single-speed pump on APS or SRP easily costs $700-$1,500 per year. A variable-speed pump cuts that by 50-70%, pays for itself in 1-3 years, and runs quieter.
If you haven't looked at your actual pump cost in a while, start with the pump calculator — the number might surprise you.