variable speed pump, will it circulate water enough on low?

[xycron]

I replaced my dying 2 speed pump with a variable speed.

My pool only has a single intake at the top of the pool with a skimmer basket(unlike most of the other pools in my neighborhood, which also have an intake at the bottom of the deep end of the pool).

With this setup, if I leave my pump on the very lowest setting (for 18-22 hours a day), will it filter and circulate the water all properly? or am I just going to be filtering and mixing the water on the top of that half of the pool?

I would love to get as much energy savings as possible, and on low setting it uses a ton less energy than my 2 speed does(even running it the extra time to get the same turnover rate) but I just want to make sure I don't need some sort of minimum water movement with that to actually mix up and filter all of the water.

Thanks!

 

[pooldv]

No minimum flow or turnover required in a residential pool. Just need to keep chlorine at target and run the pump enough to keep the water clean and skimmed.

I run my variable speed pump at 1100 rpm for skimming and making chlorine with SWG. It draws 150 watts at 1100 rpm. We have a ton of trees so during fall and spring my pump runs 24x7 to keep tree stuff skimmed and off the bottom. When trees aren't dropping stuff it usually runs 12 hrs. At 10.25c/kWh it costs less than $12/mo to run my pump 24x7.

 

[Wildcat]

I have a VS but I also have popups,no vac. So I run a few hours at high speed,2500 RPM to have the popups work efficiently and then few hours at 1000 rpm to filter most effectively and save electricity. Brushing helps.

Even if I didn't have popups and no vac I would have to run at higher rpm to allow skimmer to work. The prevailing wind blows surface items to the far end of the pool away from the skimmer and at low rpm the circulation can't overcome the breeze

 

[Richard320]

Point the returns downward if you're worried about circulation. Regular brushing will also ensure the water gets mixed, as will swimmers. I discovered that 3/4" PVC pipe will friction-fit inside my return eyeballs. I cut some stubs and friction fit a 45 on it to enable better aiming.

 

[Yev]

A VS lolw settings biggest flaw is skimming. There is not a lot of suction, and if yoru skimmer is not down wind, then it will not really catch all that much, and you will be let with manual skimming

 

[xycron]

OK, so it sounds like I don't really have to be worried at all about water on the bottom of the pool getting circulation if I just leave it on the lowest setting?

 

[rmturner54]

I also have a vs pump. Run it 1200rpm 8 to 10 hours. 18 plus hours seems a awful lot.

 

[pooldv]

Not at my house. There are time when I have to empty skimmer baskets more than hourly. But, we love our trees. It just depends how much stuff falls in your pool.

 

[rmturner54]

I fully understand. Each house and pool is a different situation.

 

[EVChargeGuy]

With the VSP Im a 24/7 guy as i also have trees dropping stuff in the pool all the time. Of course no issue circulating enough water
I run the VSP @ 1420RPM/150w for 18hrs & 2240RPM/535w for 6 hrs- I also crank it up to 3000RPM for back washing the filter.

the low speed is just enough to keep the skimmer working and the higher speed is just fast enough to trigger the pressure switch on the heater.
My old 2hp single speed pump was just over 2000w
the VS running 24/7 uses about 35% of the power the single speed used for 8 hrs
Better yet, you cant hear it