My pool isn't but about 2 years old, but I have been seeing a lot about variable speed and 2 speed pumps being much more energy efficient that it is making me wonder if it would be worth my while to replace my pump. The PB put in a 2HP Jandy Plus HP pump (i believe it's the up-rated version, if i'm not mistaken). In any event, my pool has 2 standard returns plus a 2ft sheer descent for the returns plus 2 skimmers & main drain. I also have a spa with six jets. All pluming is 2inch. I am not sure what flow the sheer descent needs in order to push the water a decent distance from the raised beam, and so, I am not sure if I could run a 2 speed pump at Low or an Intelliflo in a lower range and have things both look and perform well. Based on the calculator on pentair's site, I theoretically could save about $450/year....which would mean 2 years or less in payback time. Thoughts?
worth it to replace farily new pump?
- Thread starter smuggs
- Start date
The calculator at the Pentair web site tends to be overly optimistic.
The tradeoff really depends on your electric rates and how much you want to run the water features. If your electric rates are high (more than .20 Kwh) and you are willing to turn off the water features most of the day you can probably save enough to pay for the pump in a couple of years (or faster). If your electric rates are lower, or you really want the water features turned on all the time then you won't save as much by replacing your pump.
The tradeoff really depends on your electric rates and how much you want to run the water features. If your electric rates are high (more than .20 Kwh) and you are willing to turn off the water features most of the day you can probably save enough to pay for the pump in a couple of years (or faster). If your electric rates are lower, or you really want the water features turned on all the time then you won't save as much by replacing your pump.
so, I dug out electric bills from Jun 2007 (pre-pool) and Jun 2008 (post-pool). The difference in my daily KWH usage on this bill is 13.6. So, all else being about equal (average temp was same, no other known usage differences, etc), this represents my daily usage for the pool. Summer rates appear to net out at about $0.174/KWH while spring rates (May) are about $0.146/KWH including all cost components. So, assuming the higher rate for 170 days of usage (May - mid-Oct), I get a total cost of $402.23 (170 days * 13.6KWH/day * $0.174/KWH) to run the pump for my season, or ~ $2.37/day. The Pentair calculator at 10 hours/day runtime (my typical run-time, which gets me a 1.85 water turnover ratio) comes in at $4.04/day at $0.18/KWH....it says that it would cost $2.16/day for 1 turnover. It then says that it would cost me $0.59/day to run the pump at $0.18/KWH for 13 hours/day to get me 1 turnover...$100.30 per season. So, THEORETICALLY, it would save me about $300/year....meaning a little over 2 years of payback...not too bad, really OF COURSE, this is at the lowest speed. Could I really run the lowest speed based on my features? (The way my pool is plumbed, I really can't effectively turn off the sheer descent (I'd need to add an actuator, and I would probably have problems with the overall dispersion of water due to the placement of the other returns, I'm guessing)
I very much doubt that you would be happy with the lowest possible speed. To get the sheer descents to work right you will need to turn it up noticeably. Also, their turnover/pumps speed/power usage estimates are based on pools with very efficient plumbing, most real pools would need a higher speed and/or draw more power even without the sheer descents.
You will save some money, but I suspect it will be more like a 5 to 7 year payback.
You will save some money, but I suspect it will be more like a 5 to 7 year payback.
Jason - thanks. i'm probably better off putting those $$ toward a new AC unit or toward more energy efficient windows for the house.
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