Hello, everyone.
I've got a pool, and all the mechanicals are in good working order. Yay!
The pump and booster pump are both from the mid-1990s. They run at 3,300 watts each. Given the time we run them and the highish electric costs here, that's about $275 a month, just for the pumps. It's more than half our electric bill.
Our pool guy, a highly regarded local pool repair company, and local pool store all suggest a Pentair variable speed pump. I don't have as solid a set of numbers for this, but the estimates given to me by the pool repair guy (he had the best numbers) would be significantly lower, probably around a third of what we pay now. That would be a significant improvement!
However, I bumped into the Lorentz solar pumps on the 'net. They look great - almost too good to be true, which is what worries me.
With our current electric rates, a Lorentz pump will be paid for in 18 months. That's way better than a lot of the numbers others quote. If I adjust the electric rate in my spreadsheet to the $0.20/kwh others use to estimate, I get a similar five-year break even.
My next task, I guess, is to call the local Lorentz distributor - which I found, finally - and talk to them about costs and see if it really applies.
Have any of you used the Lorentz pumps? Any gotchas?
What do I about the booster pump? (One thought; Get rid of it. If the Polaris is too slow, replace it with an electric robot.)
Is this a crazy thing to do?
Thoughts, suggestions, gotchas?
I've got a pool, and all the mechanicals are in good working order. Yay!
The pump and booster pump are both from the mid-1990s. They run at 3,300 watts each. Given the time we run them and the highish electric costs here, that's about $275 a month, just for the pumps. It's more than half our electric bill.
Our pool guy, a highly regarded local pool repair company, and local pool store all suggest a Pentair variable speed pump. I don't have as solid a set of numbers for this, but the estimates given to me by the pool repair guy (he had the best numbers) would be significantly lower, probably around a third of what we pay now. That would be a significant improvement!
However, I bumped into the Lorentz solar pumps on the 'net. They look great - almost too good to be true, which is what worries me.
With our current electric rates, a Lorentz pump will be paid for in 18 months. That's way better than a lot of the numbers others quote. If I adjust the electric rate in my spreadsheet to the $0.20/kwh others use to estimate, I get a similar five-year break even.
My next task, I guess, is to call the local Lorentz distributor - which I found, finally - and talk to them about costs and see if it really applies.
Have any of you used the Lorentz pumps? Any gotchas?
What do I about the booster pump? (One thought; Get rid of it. If the Polaris is too slow, replace it with an electric robot.)
Is this a crazy thing to do?
Thoughts, suggestions, gotchas?