Our pool is a 30 foot round above ground pool dished out to approximately 6 feet deep. It is roughly 24,000 gallons. We have solar heating panels on the roof of our garage which goes up to about 20 feet high and we pump the water up to the panels (6 2' x 20' panels) through underground piping which is approximately 50 feet from the pool to the base of the garage. We were told we would need a 1.5 hp pump for this but I am wondering if we could use a lower hp 2 speed pump instead. We have a Hayward Pro Matrix pump and a Hayward DE filter. Can we do this? I just found out that we can get a $150 rebate from our electric company for using a high efficiency pump. They were also showing how much electric we could save. I am all for that right now. Thanks for any help!
Questions on two speed pumps
- Thread starter Wiggledog
- Start date
I use a Hayward Matrix 2-speed 1 hp pump to run my solar panels (6 2X20 plumbed in parallel) on my one story garage that start at about 10.5 feet above my pump and go up to about 17.5 feet. I know my pump has plenty of head to go higher than that (from playing around with it and an extended pipe). By the way, with a clean filter, I am also able to prime my panels on low, but since they are more efficient on high that is the speed I typically prime/run them.
Is 20 feet the top of the panels, or where they start?
Is 20 feet the top of the panels, or where they start?
20 feet is the at the top of our panels. maybe a foot or so less. How long do you run your pump each day? I am new to this but our power company estimated a decent savings and I remember other posts stating that it was a good idea. Did you always have this pump or did you replace a one speed with this ?
Except for a month or two, this is the pump I have had since I put this pool in (~4 years ago). When I am not running the panels, then I run on low speed...In my yard because of the trees, I usually only run the panels 5 hours/day (when I need the heat). I also have a swg, so that is typically what actually determines my pump on time.
2-speed pumps are a great idea, since most pools only need a little circulation for a fairly short period on low speed to keep the chemicals mixed and the water clear. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time
What all qualifies for the rebate? Would replacing your existing motor with a 2-speed motor qualify?
2-speed pumps are a great idea, since most pools only need a little circulation for a fairly short period on low speed to keep the chemicals mixed and the water clear. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/152-determine-pump-run-time
What all qualifies for the rebate? Would replacing your existing motor with a 2-speed motor qualify?
it appears that the purchase of a high efficiency two speed pump is all that is needed to qualify for the $150 rebate. That along with the energy savings will more than pay for the new pump. Thanks for your help.
I'm going to upgrade my pump to a 2 speed this year. I ran my Hayward about 4 hours a day last summer and never backwashed my filter from July til the time I closed in mid September. We had minimal debris accumulate in the pool and on the surface. Upgrading to the 2 speed would be a HUGE plus for us!
My concern would be the back pressure from the DE filter, I have a Hayward EC75 DE filter, along with a 2 speed 1.5 HP pump and solar panels and it seems the perflex style DE filters cause much more back pressure than other filter designs. In my case it can't provide enough pressure to prime my solar panels on low, and the highest point on my panels is at less than 20 feet above ground level.
Thanks for the info. We have a Hayward Perflex and I am a little afraid to make a change without being certain that it will circulate the water correctly. Our pool is at least 50 feet from the garage and is slightly down hill from the garage. The top of the solar panels is at least 20 feet above the filter and I assume all of that requires a fairly strong pump. I want to run the filter during the day to circulate the warm water. It really would not make sense to switch pumps if most of the day I would have to run at high power.
I run mostly on high in the spring and fall for solar. In the summer the water is warm enough and solar is not needed, so run mostly low. In the winter, solar will not warm the pool enough, so I do not run it and keep the pump mostly low.
My automation will automatically switch to high if solar is needed and back to low when solar not needed.
So a 2 speed can still make sense.
My automation will automatically switch to high if solar is needed and back to low when solar not needed.
So a 2 speed can still make sense.