Programming Variable Speed Pump

[slush1422]

Hello!

As part of an energy upgrade, our pool pump was replaced to a variable speed pump. The installers configured it to the utility company's recommendation, but I don't have confidence that is what it should be. From what I can tell, it turns on at full speed at about 10am for two hours.

Then again at 7pm at a very low speed (after priming). Its still on 12 hours later. This seems like overkill to me. I started reading about head loss and fluid dynamics and such on this site and my head started to quickly spin. Hoping someone can help or point me in the right direction with something to read and start trying.

I love this community which helped me a ton with my last pool home. We moved recently and inherited this pool which was built in the 80s at some point. Got some work to do on it, but one step at a time.

 

[bdavis466]

Do you have a salt water generator?

If you are manually chlorinating then you only need to run the pump long enough to filter your water to your liking. This time of year, 4-6 hours at a low speed is sufficient. During the winter you can go much shorter if you so choose.

You are correct, your pump is running way longer and at a higher speed than necessary.

 

[slush1422]

No Salt Water Generator. Thanks for the reply Brian.

Would I increase as the temperature increase outside? What would I see in testing changes that might key me into needing to increase pump run time?

 

[bdavis466]

Really the only reason to run the pump longer is if it seems like the water isn't being filtered enough. The runtime I mentioned above should be just fine.

I run my pump at 1200 RPM for 5 hours per day this time of year and my pool is double the volume of yours; no high speed at all. Of anything, you could cut even more time off the run schedule. My runtime increases in the summer but that is for chlorine production, not filtration.

I'm in Riverside so the climate is nearly identical.