Savings from Variable Speed Pump

[RHanna]

The only way I would pause and think about purchasing a VSP would be if I planned on selling my home in the next year.

 

[DavidArmenB]

I had applied that rule and was at 800 or 900 I think, but some of the guides said don’t go below 1000 for the intelliflo3 so i bumped it up a bit.

The efficiency reasoning is due to the fact that the Intelliflo draws more power at the lowest speed of 450rpm, then draws less and less power as you increase the speed, until you reach a sweet-spot rpm which draws the least amount of power and then draws more and more power as rpm’s are raised past that sweet-spot all the way to max speed.

For my specific Intelliflo, the pump draws about 120W at 450rpm, then it draws less and less power with increase in rpm’s, until it reaches the lowest draw of 38W for 700rpm, and then rising again all the way to about 2kW at max speed of 3450rpm. So my sweet spot is 700rpm. But I run it at 1100rpm (77W) to 1400rpm (150W) to get a bit more flow for my skimmer.

 

[Jimrahbe]

but some of the guides said don’t go below 1000 for the intelliflo3 so i bumped it up a bit.

BDY,

I think the thought is that when you go below 1000 RPM, you don't really save much per month and skimming might not be effective. This is not a hard and fast rule, it is more of a guideline. As newer pumps get more and more efficient, it may no longer apply.

The key is that it is your pool and you should adjust the equipment to meet your needs. To turn on the SWCG and skim well, your pool might only need 700 RPM or it might need 1700 RPM. The only way to tell is experiment and see what speeds work best for you.

Thanks,

Jim R.