Optimal pump run time?

[Hurricane Gio]

We we installed our pool, the PB sales person said our VS pump should raise our bill by only $20-35 a month.

Well our bill is $80-100 more a month. So I have thinking about bringing down the pump run time.

The pump runs 20hrs a day. 5 1/2hrs on high and the rest on low speed. The pool is 8k gallons and we have a pentane pump.

Could/should I bring down the pump time?

Thanks

 

[ROB N]

Yes, a run time that produces one complete turnover of the entire 8000 gal will be Suficient.

 

[woodyp]

Another rule of thumb is 1 hour run time per 10 degrees of water temp. Mine gets about 10 hours of run time in heat of the summer. I use a timer to split the run times up. Experiment and go with whatever keeps YOUR water clear.

 

[lightingguy]

I run my pump on low for 6 hours a day. It gives me about a 1/2 turn on a 16K gal pool and I'm more than happy with the quality of the water, etc.

I'm in So. California - so we have more favorable weather than you do (not a drop of rain over 65*) - so you want to experiment a bit slowly but I can't see why you shouldn't run your pump for say 1hr on high and 6 to 8 hrs on low.

Any idea as to your GPM on high vs low?

 

[susa]

>> pump runs 20hrs a day. 5 1/2hrs on high and the rest on low speed.

I run 3 days a week at 24 hours/day (11 GPM) and the other days 10 hours/day (21 GPM and 15 GPM). House is cooled to 21 C always and FPL bill hovers @ $100 each month, am located 200 km south of you.

 

[Hurricane Gio]

>> pump runs 20hrs a day. 5 1/2hrs on high and the rest on low speed.

I run 3 days a week at 24 hours/day (11 GPM) and the other days 10 hours/day (21 GPM and 15 GPM). House is cooled to 21 C always and FPL bill hovers @ $100 each month, am located 200 km south of you.

Holy cow! We are at $300 a month. I do use our HE washer almost daily.

 

[Hurricane Gio]

Yes, a run time that produces one complete turnover of the entire 8000 gal will be Suficient.

How do I figure that out?

 

[Hurricane Gio]

Any idea as to your GPM on high vs low?

How do I read this chart?
[attachment=0:2ys64039]whisperflo-datasheet.jpg[/attachment:2ys64039]

 

[lightingguy]

To read that chart you would need to have 1 of the pumps listed and know what your head is.

What kind of RPM is your VS running on low? EDIT - never mind. I missed your SIG - it's a 2 speed not VS. /Edit

Honestly it kinda doesn't matter much. The 5 hrs on high is where all the money is going.

Keep the chems in line and cut the pump by 50% to start. If your water is still great in a month reduce it further.

I'd guess that 6 hrs on a low setting is probably 8K gallons - but that's total speculation based on my own pool.

 

[JasonLion]

There is no question that you can cut your pump run time drastically. I guess that you only need four to six hours on low and that is it. The best way to find out is to experiment. When the chemistry is balanced and the water looks good, try cutting back to eight hours on low for a week and see what happens. If the water still looks great at the end of the week, try cutting back further.

 

[Hurricane Gio]

Run overnight, day time, when we are active in the pool, etc?

Thanks guys! Man, I love this site.

 

[susa]

>> We are at $300 a month. I do use our HE washer almost daily.

All my cooling and heating systems are inverters (compressors and blowers are all inverter controlled) and SEER 25 or higher & totally silent operation just like the IntelliFlow VF. One remaining large power consuming system is a 1.5 HP well sprinkler pump which I plan to replace. Also run our HE washer & dryer almost daily.