Electric Bill HUGE - our pump is always on

[learthur]

hard to say without seeing your setup, but I bet that 2.5 HP pump is dual function and was originally intended to run spa jets. As for circulation for the pool, I agree with others that it is probably too large. A smaller pump would circulate almost as much water for less electric cost depending on pipe size.

Sounds like you have filter problems....

 

[crabboy]

I'll trade bills with you as well. June was about $460 for us. I run the pump less that 12 hours and the Polaris is on for about 3 hours.

 

[guamguy]

I'll trade bills, too. The June bill for us was $500.16 with a 2500 Sq Ft. home running split ductless AC. The main living area AC runs only while we are at home, at night, the bedroom AC's run, and the pool runs about 5-6 hours a day. Our rates are about $0.27/KWH

 

[rastoma]

We talked about your posts and he said maybe he's due to back flush the filter.

So he hasn't backwashed the filter since the pool has been open this season? Some people have claimed they only need to bw once or twice a swim season, but I think that's extremely rare. With the amount of pollen the whole country had this year and just typical dust, debris, and swim load, I have to bw once every two weeks. A sand filter has to be cleaned periodically just like every other type of filter.

We also run air-conditioning inside for most of the summer and our house is about 7000 sq ft.

$364 for a 7k sq ft house is CHEAP. The pump is probably 10% of that... IF that. You obviously have a very nice home. Got lights outside? Are they on at night? Lots of gadgets in the house. The pool pump is the last thing to look at to cut down on electricity use on such a big house.

 

[LoraMae]

Rastoma -- I'm delayed in responding to your comment, so I don't know how often you check back. It seems most people believe our electric bill is reasonable -- and I'm feeling better about this now. My husband said the pool people looked at our pool and suggested we back flush less often, so it's hard to know what is correct. So far, this summer has been the best summer for the clarity of our water. I'm glad I bought the online test kit and we use it regularly. We have exterior lights, but they're not on all night. We don't have a lot of gadgets other than computers. I feel silly for complaining, but I seriously thought our electric bill was high.
We recently discovered we need to replace our gas forced-air furnaces and air conditioning units at a cost that is not really feasible for us this year. We've tried to research geothermal heating/cooling to find out if it is a viable option for our situation. My husband thought it would be great if the geothermal (open system) could be used to help heat the pool. Is this ridiculous... ever heard of this?

 

[JasonLion]

Geothermal can be used to heat the pool. Just keep in mind that a pool needs huge amounts of heat, probably far more than your entire house, so it can get expensive to have a large enough system installed.

 

[luvmygbabies]

According to my electric bill, our cost per KWH is 7.92 cents. We have a 36,000 gal pool with 1 HP pump running 24/7 (because we lose the prime if we shut it off). No AC in home, just whole house fan that runs most of the time, but not at night usually. 1950 SF house built in 1971. Just 2 of us, we r energy conscious and waste as little electric as possible. My June electric bill was $85, July $220, Aug $280. Other than crying, any suggestions? I can't believe our pool pump and house fan have increased our bill almost $200! These are the only changes in consumption. All I can do is thank God I am not in Cali at 47 cents a KWH.

 

[douglee25]

According to my electric bill, our cost per KWH is 7.92 cents. We have a 36,000 gal pool with 1 HP pump running 24/7 (because we lose the prime if we shut it off). No AC in home, just whole house fan that runs most of the time, but not at night usually. 1950 SF house built in 1971. Just 2 of us, we r energy conscious and waste as little electric as possible. My June electric bill was $85, July $220, Aug $280. Other than crying, any suggestions? I can't believe our pool pump and house fan have increased our bill almost $200! These are the only changes in consumption. All I can do is thank God I am not in Cali at 47 cents a KWH.

My suggestion is figure out why you lose prime and then you can shut your pump off to save electricity. Maybe you have a leak on the suction side or your impeller/seals need replacing in the pump. I wouldn't accept that as 'normal'.

Doug

 

[Sportsman]

Yes, I too am stuck with CA rates. The problem is the tiers and NEVER know the cuts until the bill arrives. Sometimes they buy a little from other utility companies and sometimes a lot. We do everything possible to stay out of tier 4 which is .40 but in summer, Tier 4 comes quick.

For luvmygbabies, you don't say where you are but KW pricing can be misleading. I'm from Louisiana and the companies will keep the same KW/Hr pricing but add a demand surcharge than can double your bill in the summer with no increase in power usage.

 

[Brentr]

Ouch I think everyone needs to move to Florida :-D Our June electric bill was $249 cooling a 2000 sq ft house, keeping the pool using solar at 90 degrees. Of course the pump only runs for 2 hrs a day which equates to about $0.54 per day or $16.20 per mth. Yes we pay $0.12 per KWh

 

[heikejohn]

So he hasn't backwashed the filter since the pool has been open this season? Some people have claimed they only need to bw once or twice a swim season, but I think that's extremely rare. With the amount of pollen the whole country had this year and just typical dust, debris, and swim load, I have to bw once every two weeks. A sand filter has to be cleaned periodically just like every other type of filter.

I have not backwashed my filter on purpose this year at all. I did have to lower the water a couple of times due to rain & used the backwash cycle to do it. But my pressure was no different before or after.
My skimmer socks need to be cleaned every day or two. They are always filled with bugs, leaves, hair, pollen, dust.....
Since I stop everything before it gets into the filter, no backwashing needed!!
(I vacuum with my skimmer sock on, too)