Deciding between superflo and intelliflo

[CJadamec]

the lines on the curve are for nominal motor hp rating. The is 1/2hp low speed and 1/2 hp high speed. They simplified the low speed side of the chart because at low speed the other motors fall between the 1/2 hp motor and 2 hp motor curves. If all the curves were on there you wouldn't be able to read it.
As for why to get a dual speed or variable speed over single speed its pretty cut and dry. At 3250 rpm your 1hp motor is using roughly 750 watts per hour. If you are able to drop your rpm down to say 2900 with a VFD your motor will use about 375 watts. If you drop your motor to 1100 rpm with a VFD or dual speed switch your motor will use less than 100 watts per hour. SO based on 8 hours run time a day a single speed motor will cost about $18 a month to run. A dual speed motor will run you about $2.40 a month to run. I rounded you electric rate to $0.10 /Kwh to make the math easier. That's why the higher cost of a VS doesn't really pay out for you. For me however my cost per Kwh is $0.22. Your actual motor wattage may vary these are just basic numbers.

 

[mas985]

Thanks for the heads up. However I am not familiar with how to read the pumping curve. I know I'm limited to 60 gpm with 1.5" plumbing,

There is no limit to flow rate in plumbing only what can be produced by the pump.

If I'm looking at the graph correctly wouldn't the low speed for a 1 or 1.5 hp be .5 hp or graph A?

No it would not.

My SWG will generate chlorine at a min flow rate of 15 gpm. If I currently run my single speed 1hp for 8 hours a day at let's say a rate of 60 gpm, if I were to drop down to 20gpm per minute would I need to run the pump for at least 3 times the number of hours to generate the same amount of chlorine?

According to the pump affinity laws, flow rate is directly proportional to RPM. So if you have 60 GPM on full speed, then you will have 30 GPM on half speed. Power usage will be less than 1/4th of high speed too.

At 3250 rpm your 1hp motor is using roughly 750 watts per hour.

Not sure where you are getting your numbers but that is not even close to being correct. Did you simply convert 1 HP to 750 watts? First, 1 HP is the label HP and not the true running HP. To find the total HP of the motor, you must multiply the label HP by the service factor. But that is just the motor's maximum OUTPUT and does not reflect the energy required to run the motor. You need to also take into account the motor efficiency. So if the motor has a 1.6 SF (full rated) and has an efficiency of 75%, the input power required to run the motor at full load will be about 1600 watts.

Also, if you have a model # for the pump, you can sometimes look up the energy use at the Energy Star web site.

 

[CJadamec]

You are right I was just trying to use some basic numbers to illustrate the point of why a multispeed motor is an advantage. The wattage numbers weren't meant to be accurate. The wattage to rpm ratio isn't a linear relationship. You can get significant reduction in wattage by reducing the first few hundred rpm. Which is why a variable speed pump you can run at 2900rpm as opposed to 3250 can still save you quite a bit. The way I put it originally was a little unclear.

 

[Dustballs]

An update on my decision. I got misinformation on the energy cost, it's actually $0.11 per kWh so there will still be some savings.

The cost of the intelliflo is $200 more than the superflo vs and max-e-pro 2 speed pump. If I were to return the intelliflo it would be about $25 - $30 to ship back and only a net savings of $170 - $175. With that being said, I decided to just keep the intelliflo and program it to work based on my plumbing so I don't damage anything due to the 1.5" piping I have.

Thanks for everything. Will need additional help to dial in the appropriate settings in a few days.


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