I have a 22kw generator and it won’t run pool and my heater in house at the same time. How would you go about running pool on a separate portable generator only when power goes out.
Can you run a pump off a generator?
- Thread starter cdoyle
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,686
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Welcome to TFP.
What model pump and heater are you trying to run?
What model generator?
What model pump and heater are you trying to run?
What model generator?
InyoRich
In The Industry
- Oct 18, 2023
- 73
- Pool Size
- 9000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 40,000
You would need to add a switch similar to what you have on the whole house generator to the pool pump/equipment to isolate it from the house and the power company. There are manual and automatic options (as you are probably aware).
I'm not sure the juice (like electricity - get it? Sorry for the pun!) would be worth the squeeze here unless you regularly lose power. I would just be sure the heat is off on the house for a few hours while I ran the pool pump. Option B might be to get a variable-speed motor for your pool pump. It will save you on your electric bill on a daily basis and it might not use enough power to interfere with your heat.
I'm not sure the juice (like electricity - get it? Sorry for the pun!) would be worth the squeeze here unless you regularly lose power. I would just be sure the heat is off on the house for a few hours while I ran the pool pump. Option B might be to get a variable-speed motor for your pool pump. It will save you on your electric bill on a daily basis and it might not use enough power to interfere with your heat.
What pump do you have ? What other relevant equipment ? Please take a moment and thoroughly fill out your signature. It really helps us not have to ask questions about your questions as none of us have been to your house before.
If you have a VS pump you can isolate it to prime and once it does, sip electricity while also running everything else again.
In theory, you should be able to run the Pool and Home Heater off of 22KW Gen.
I have a 24KW Natural Gas Generac Gen at my house. My house is Natural gas-heated. So the question is, "Is your house electric or gas heated?". If Gas, make sure you have a large enough gas line to supply both the generator and your heater, your installer should have sized it properly. According to the spec sheet is a 306 (ft^3/hr) consumption rate under full load then add on your house heater and Water heater gas rate and verify that your gas supply is adequate. The pool equipment should not be pulling more than 4800W (assuming a normal-sized pool) continuously, but probably around 2,000W (or less nominally). That leaves 17,200 Watts (full load) for the house. If you are electric-heated and have an electric water heater, then yeah, I could see 17,200 would be close. But if it is natural gas, then you should have plenty of power left to run a heater. Natural Gas Heaters have a low relative current load, just minimal electronics, and a blower fan, typically less than 600W.
I have a 24KW Natural Gas Generac Gen at my house. My house is Natural gas-heated. So the question is, "Is your house electric or gas heated?". If Gas, make sure you have a large enough gas line to supply both the generator and your heater, your installer should have sized it properly. According to the spec sheet is a 306 (ft^3/hr) consumption rate under full load then add on your house heater and Water heater gas rate and verify that your gas supply is adequate. The pool equipment should not be pulling more than 4800W (assuming a normal-sized pool) continuously, but probably around 2,000W (or less nominally). That leaves 17,200 Watts (full load) for the house. If you are electric-heated and have an electric water heater, then yeah, I could see 17,200 would be close. But if it is natural gas, then you should have plenty of power left to run a heater. Natural Gas Heaters have a low relative current load, just minimal electronics, and a blower fan, typically less than 600W.
FWIW, I have a Westinghouse 9500df generator converted to run on natural gas (so NG-derated running watts are approximately 7500 watts).
It could run my old 1.5 hp pool pump with no issue, as long as I did a bit of load management w/r/t items running in the house (all gas). Running the pool pump + one 3-ton AC was pretty close to maxing the generator out.
I now have a Calimar 3 hp VS pump. The generator basically doesn't notice it running, especially on low speed (~150 watts).
As was mentioned - the only way I could see maxing out a 22kw generator with the house and pool pump is if you're trying to run a heat strip furnace and/or a lot of high-draw electric appliances at once. If you have heat pump heaters, you may want to check into disabling your heat strips while running on the generator. Some thermostats let you do this.
It could run my old 1.5 hp pool pump with no issue, as long as I did a bit of load management w/r/t items running in the house (all gas). Running the pool pump + one 3-ton AC was pretty close to maxing the generator out.
I now have a Calimar 3 hp VS pump. The generator basically doesn't notice it running, especially on low speed (~150 watts).
As was mentioned - the only way I could see maxing out a 22kw generator with the house and pool pump is if you're trying to run a heat strip furnace and/or a lot of high-draw electric appliances at once. If you have heat pump heaters, you may want to check into disabling your heat strips while running on the generator. Some thermostats let you do this.
I have a 22kW unit de-rated to 19 kW because it's running off natual gas, and it has no problem running the entire household, including heat-pump heat/air conditioning and the pool pumps. It shares a 2" gas line with the pool heater and both happily run at the same time. I would have to try really hard to overload it (such as turn on both electric ovens while the heat pumps are running and the pull equipment is going full tilt).
The one "gotcha" for generators is older heat pumps and air-conditioners and their very large startup surge often 4-5 times the normal running amperage. My heat-pumps are the modern "inverter driven" variable speed compressor units which start gently and don't have that issue. A single-speed pool pump also has a similar heavier startup draw, but I doubt it would be an issue for a 22kW machine.
The one "gotcha" for generators is older heat pumps and air-conditioners and their very large startup surge often 4-5 times the normal running amperage. My heat-pumps are the modern "inverter driven" variable speed compressor units which start gently and don't have that issue. A single-speed pool pump also has a similar heavier startup draw, but I doubt it would be an issue for a 22kW machine.
Similar threads
