Considering upgrading to VS pump

[Schulzie]

Well, my current single speed pump housing is cracked and leaking. The house it's twenty years old, and I believe the pump/motor is as well. We've only had the house one year. We installed a new Hayward SwimClear cartridge filter last year, and kept the leaking pump going for now.
Now it's time to look at replacing the pump assembly later this year. I would like to upgrade to a variable speed if it'll save money on electricity, since I'm replacing it anyways. I was looking at the Pentair IntelliFlow 3 hp variable speed, 011018, from pool supply world online. It says it'll work with an in floor choosing system. We have a caretaker system.
From reading up on it, I see that I'll have to program it to run at a high speed for 90-120 minutes to get the pressure for the system to clean. Then, it can throttle back to a low RPM for circulating.
We also have solar heat, mounted on the roof of the second story. Will the pump work at a lower speed, and still pump water through the solar? If I will have to run at a high speed, there's no sense in spending the money on the VS pump.

 

[Isaac-1]

You will likely need to run at fairly high speed for the solar heat depending of how many panels you have installed, most solar pool heaters get optimal heat transfer at around 4.0 - 4.5 GPM per 4x12 panel.

 

[chiefwej]

I have the intelliflo 011018 pump. I have in-floor cleaning, a SWG, and a solar heating system. My pump is programmed to run a 90 min cleaning cycle (2800 rpm) in the early morning. The pump then switches to 1400 rpm for the SWG to chlorinate the pool during mid day. It then shifts down to 1000 rpm just for extra filtration. Any time heat is called for and is available at my solar panels, the controller (Pentair SolarTouch) opens the valve and ramps up the pump speed to 2500 rpm to heat the pool.

As far as savings, even at the highest speed the new pump ever runs (2800 rpm) it is drawing 1300 watts vs my old pump's near 3,000 watts. At its lower speeds it draws 900 (solar), 200 (SWG) and 100 watts. Overall the new VS pump does a much better job while drawing less than 1/3 the power.

 

[Schulzie]

Thanks! That sounds better.
I don't have a controller for the solar, it's just manual valves. I looked into it, and it didn't look too expensive. Less than $500 maybe for the kit.

 

[chiefwej]

Thanks! That sounds better.
I don't have a controller for the solar, it's just manual valves. I looked into it, and it didn't look too expensive. Less than $500 maybe for the kit.

Actually you can find the kit for about half that. I paid $250 with free shipping. The kit comes with the controller, solar valve (you already have that), a valve actuator, and two temprature sensors. It was pretty simple to install and connected right up to the VS pump since they are both Pentair. Seemed like a real bargin to me. Even if you don't have a VS Pump it will still turn the solar system on and off based on your desired water temp and available solar heat. I installed that long before I added the VS pump.

 

[Schulzie]

Ok. So you use the same valve, and the actuator controls that valve?
Where do you mount the sensors? I'm not having much luck looking online.

 

[chiefwej]

One sensor is on the roof near the panels, the other is inserted in the plumbing between the pump and filter. The actuator will work with a standard Pentair, Hayward, or Jandy valve.

Installation instructions here: http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/solartouchOM.pdf