Am I making the right selection for new pump and filter?

[ibwhite]

Hi All,
I have a 15,000 gallon pool and looking to upgrade to a variable speed pump to save on our power bill. Cost per Kwh is about $0.24 for PG&E in the California East Bay, and running the 1.5 hp Hayward TriStar pump for 4 hours a day is costing us about $60 per month. Here is a photo of our current pad:

Photo: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e4ficmyeipgl7 ... ium%29.jpg

Pretty basic; one skimmer, one floor drain that goes up to the skimmer and does not have a separate pipe, two returns. Polaris 380 sweep with a separate booster. No heater. The filter is a Hayward C17502S Star-Clear Plus Cartridge 175 sq. ft. which I understand is way to small. I have to clean it at least every three months.

Are these shut off valves in the3 photo wrong? They are hard to turn enough to actually seal. Anything else you see that I should consider changing out?

I am thinking of going with the Pentair 011012 IntelliFlo VF, instead of the VS because it will be a bit easier to set up and no immediate plans for solar heater or anything that we trigger the pressure shutoff. For the filter, I prefer cartridge and have a line on a used Pentair Clean and Clear Plus 420 sq. ft., but think that may be overkill. What would you all recommend? The 320, or something else?

 

[jblizzle]

For your size pool we would say 225+ sqft cartridge. So your current one is not WAY too small, but you can certainly go bigger to reduce the cleaning frequency out you get a lot of dirt.

I did not really see anything warranting the large VS pumps .... high flow rates, Etc. There are some new smaller VS pumps on the market like the Hayward Super Pump VS that you may consider.

You are close to the electric cost where a small 1 hp 2 speed could recoup most of the savings.

I can not see you pictures on my phone, so can not help with the valves.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: To start, your current pump is w-a-a-ay too much pump for your pool and filter. Secondly, a 2 speed 1HP pump would probably cut your electric bill in half and not cost as much as the VS.

Those ball valves are notorious for becoming impossible to turn. I would replace them with Jandy type valves which will last for many, many years.

It is not clear to me why you are replacing the filter.

 

[ibwhite]

Thank you for the warm welcome and needed advice. I will do a bit more research before I make my decision. Sounds like the filter I have is OK, at least for now? I can live with cleaning it more frequently as long as it is sufficient for the pump I end up with. I was told that the filter was far to small (for a spa) for my pool by a repair salesman that was over giving me a quote on a crack repair... I should have known.

I will look at the trade offs of the VS versus the 1hp 2 speed to see what makes the most sense and replace the valves if I end up reworking the plumbing. Thanks again!

 

[ibwhite]

So, I am leaning toward the Hayward Super Pump VS. I do have 1.5 inch pipe FWIW, and that is a value proposition of this pump. I keep getting lost in all of the information on gauging the pumps and the trade offs of each. I could go cheap and just get a 2 speed motor to swap in but my current TriStar has been run without water a few times. It seems to work fine right now but I don't know if I would also need to poke around and replace other components on the wet side. Then I have to read up on impellers and matching things up... I do understand that I really only need the two speeds now which is great to know.

I am having a hard time sorting out how to use all the info in the "Hydraulics 101 - Have you lost your head?" post. Great stuff there for background, but not sure it really narrows things down. I used the formulas in the Variable Speed Pumps section to see that the VS pumps would roughly cut and additional $8-$12 off my monthly bill over a 2 speed - which could be worth the cost.

I also looked at the California Energy Commission info on pumps. I sorted out that the higher the energy factor, the better efficiency you end up with. I am on "Curve-A" so roughly 13 GPM for the super pump vs. That puts me at about 20 hours to turn over the 15k gallon pool. Is that accurate? Is that good, or optimal? Is there a 2 speed motor that would be close - motor swap or full pump? Is there an easy way to use this chart to determine the cost or trade off in comparing pumps?

I feel like I am making this harder than it is. Another nudge in the right director to make a decision would be great. Appreciate all the advice.