Need Help with hayward filter settings

[jimbayca]

Hi

New to this forum and trying to figure stuff out for myself. I had new pool equipment installed a year ago and the settings that the installer used are costing me a fortune in electricity bills and i want to know what settings i should be using to run the equipment for the right amount of time at the right speed.

here is what i know my setup is

Hayward ecostar pool pump
hayward ecommand 4 control box
Approx 25,000 gallon pool

Right now its set to run for 8 hours a day in winter at full speed which looks to be about 3105 RPM which based on the website basically says that is 90% or about 144 GPM (equipment is about 30ft from pool)

Reading the manuals it seems to imply that the pool should run a mixture of high and low speed. I've contacted the installer who basically told me that i should just reduce the pump speed, but he didn't give me a real high level of comfort that it was right. So any help would be very much appreciated. I've attached some pics of the set up.

 

[duraleigh]

There is no magic formula for exactly the right amount of run time. However, you are running yours w-a-a-ay too much.

I would set the speed around 1500 rpm (others with more knowledge may tweak that number a bit) and probably only run the pump about 4 hours daily. You have to determine the runtime. All that's required is enough run time to keep your pool clean.......in the winter, that should be enough or close to it.

In the swim season, you will run it longer and probably a little faster, depending on how much "load" (swimmers, dirt, etc.) you put on it.

Again, the final determination is yours. Run it enough to keep it clean but no more.

 

[jimbayca]

There is no magic formula for exactly the right amount of run time. However, you are running yours w-a-a-ay too much.

I would set the speed around 1500 rpm (others with more knowledge may tweak that number a bit) and probably only run the pump about 4 hours daily. You have to determine the runtime. All that's required is enough run time to keep your pool clean.......in the winter, that should be enough or close to it.

In the swim season, you will run it longer and probably a little faster, depending on how much "load" (swimmers, dirt, etc.) you put on it.

Again, the final determination is yours. Run it enough to keep it clean but no more.

Thanks, is there anything special i should be doing with my pump given that its a variable speed pump vs fixed. Their website seems to imply it runs for longer period of times but uses a lot less electricity.

 

[jimbayca]

i also just got an email from the manufacturer that says i should run the pump for 16 hours a day at 600-800 rpm's

 

[chiefwej]

600-800 May be a bit too low. Just to give you an idea of the kind of savings lowering the speed will achieve, my 3 hp Pentair pump draws over 2,500 watts at max speed, but at 1,000 rpm it uses about the same power as a single 100 watt light bulb.

 

[mas985]

For the EcoStar maximum efficiency measured by Gallons per Watt is around 800-900 RPM. But that may or may not be fast enough for certain things like skimming and cleaners but I wouldn't go below 800 RPM because efficiency starts to drop again.

 

[pooldv]

I have run my pentair 3hp variable speed pump at 1100 rpm 24x7 365 for over 3 years. It pulls about 150 watts at this rpm. This provides the 24 hour skimming action I need for all the trees. This also lets me set the swcg at 20-40% since it is always making chlorine. My Solar Touch turns the pump up to 1950 when the sun is out.

150 watts times 24 hours is 3.6kWh per day x 10 cents per kWh is 36 cents per day. 30 days is about $11 per month.

You should move your time and speed way down and move it up as needed if the pool isn't staying clean.

 

[BuckeyeChris]

For the EcoStar maximum efficiency measured by Gallons per Watt is around 800-900 RPM. But that may or may not be fast enough for certain things like skimming and cleaners but I wouldn't go below 800 RPM because efficiency starts to drop again.

where do you get the "best rpm for efficiency" rating? Is that like a graph somewhere for each model?

 

[mas985]

It is based upon pump measurements. I have several spreadsheets (see sig) which use these measurements to calculate operating points for any type of plumbing.

 

[ssml11]

I have the same pump. 3000 rpm is overkill. I would only crank it up that higher if you a case of algae/dirt and need to shock pool quickly.

For everyday circulation I wouldn't get passed 1300 rpm. Just resign you your speed to that setting should represent substantial savings.

Just curious, since you are blaming the new pool for the increased electric bill, by how much did the monthly bill increase after pool?

 

[Geelow]

1500 rpm and 10 hours a day is what I'd start at and go to maybe 8 hours if you can for winter time

 

[Patrick_B]

As Dave suggested, you can likely get away with pretty short runs in winter.