Filter Pump HIGH Energy Usage

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D

dielseman

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2017
216
GA
Pool Size
7200
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi there,

I've started running my filter pump and floor cleaners 12-hours everyday for an 8,000 gallon pool between 8 am - 8 pm. Since then, the electricity usage has increased $5-$6 per day! This is very high and the pool is now consuming more energy than anything else in the house.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to lower the energy usage?

Do I really need to run the filter pump and floor cleaner for 12 hours?

Would appreciate any help!
 
An in floor cleaner will cost a lot to run. A vs or two speed wont help much because you will need to run at full speed anyway for the cleaner.

However, if you want to continue to use your cleaner, just reduce the run time to a couple hours per day. You shouldn't need much more than that anyway.

Also, what pump (make/model) do you have?
 
D,

You only need to run your pump for a few hours a day from the sanitization point of view. You only need to run your in-floor cleaner as long as it takes to do the job.

If your in-floor system uses the skimmers than I would try only running it, and only for the least amount of time it takes to get the floor clean.

What you are finding is just one reason for not using a water powered cleaning system...

If this were my pool, I would abandon the in-floor system and go with a Robot and a variable speed pump, but it would take a long time to recoup the additional expense.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
Unless you have a 3HP pump running at full load and have 20 cents a KWH electric rate, the pump probably isn't responsible for all of that increase.

A more typical 1HP pump with 10 cent rates would add about $1.25 to your bill.

You may be seeing your seasonal rate adjustment or time of day adjustment hit the bill.

Tell us about your equipment and billing and maybe there is better advice to be had.
 
Hi all,

Thank you very much for the replies. KW cost $0.15.

I have te following equipment:

Filter Pump
Jandy PHPF 1.0

Floor Cleaner (which is connected to the chlorinator
Handy PHPF 1.0

Filter
STA RITE System 3 Filtration

The floor cleaners do not really clean that much. There is still a good amount of debris from the trees on a regular basis. The cleaners seem to just push the debris to the front of the pool near the steps. But it is very diffidicult to clean this up without a vacum or robot.

What do you guys suggest for time? Also, I believe energy is charged at a higher rate during the day time and hotter temps.

Thanks,
 
That pump uses about 1500 watts or around $0.23 per hr. I would say run the pump as little as possible to keep the pool clean. How are you chlorinating?

Long term you might want to retire the in-floor and just go with a robot so you can get a two speed or VS pump and run on low speed most of the time.

Do you use solar?
 
mas985 said:
That pump uses about 1500 watts or around $0.23 per hr. I would say run the pump as little as possible to keep the pool clean. How are you chlorinating?

Long term you might want to retire the in-floor and just go with a robot so you can get a two speed or VS pump and run on low speed most of the time.

Do you use solar?
Click to expand...
Do I need to run the pump for 12 hours? I reviewed the pool school help and it says a pump only 4 hours. (Next, studies have shown that a typical pool really only needs about 4 hours of run time for proper chlorination, circulation and cleaning.) Also, I know electricity is higher during the day. Do I need to run this pup during the day?

There is a chlorinator hooked up to the pump with the floor cleaner. I use tabs. I know they are not really popular on here.

The floor cleaner does not really clean that much debris as the skimmer is rarely full.


 
Do I need to run the pump for 12 hours? Do I need to run this pup during the day?
Click to expand...
No and no. Pool school is just a starting point. Most pools should not need more than 4 hours but they could need quite a bit less too. It depends on why you are running the pump. There are several reasons to run a pump.

1) Chlorine distribution - Very important but if you manually dose, this takes maybe 15 minutes for your size pool. An SWG will take much longer to generate chlorine so that needs to be take into consideration. However, this is truly the only reason you must run the pump. Everything else is optional.

2) Skimming - Removing surface debris should not take more than about an hour of run time. But this is optional run time. Not necessary but makes the pool look nice.

3) Floor Cleaners - In-Floor, suction side, pressure side all require the pump to run. How long depends on how much debris needs to be removed. But again, this is strictly optional and just to improve the pool's appearance.

4) Heaters - Solar, gas, electric, etc all require the pump run. How long depends on how hot you want the pool and the size of heater. Again, optional not mandatory.

#1 is the most important and only necessary run time.
 

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mas985 said:
No and no. Pool school is just a starting point. Most pools should not need more than 4 hours but they could need quite a bit less too. It depends on why you are running the pump. There are several reasons to run a pump.

1) Chlorine distribution - Very important but if you manually dose, this takes maybe 15 minutes for your size pool. An SWG will take much longer to generate chlorine so that needs to be take into consideration. However, this is truly the only reason you must run the pump. Everything else is optional.

2) Skimming - Removing surface debris should not take more than about an hour of run time. But this is optional run time. Not necessary but makes the pool look nice.

3) Floor Cleaners - In-Floor, suction side, pressure side all require the pump to run. How long depends on how much debris needs to be removed. But again, this is strictly optional and just to improve the pool's appearance.

4) Heaters - Solar, gas, electric, etc all require the pump run. How long depends on how hot you want the pool and the size of heater. Again, optional not mandatory.

#1 is the most important and only necessary run time.
Click to expand...

Thanks! So why do folks say they run their filter pump all day? Seems like a bit over done.

Can this filter can turnover the 8,000 gallon pool twice in 4 hours?
 
Some people like to have a prestine pool pool 24/7 and that requires a run time the same. If you are ok with a little surface and floor debris that is cleaned up once a day, you can get by with much less run time.

Turnover is irrelevant. It is an outdated metric that has little bearing on water quality.
 
mas985 said:
Some people like to have a prestine pool pool 24/7 and that requires a run time the same. If you are ok with a little surface and floor debris that is cleaned up once a day, you can get by with much less run time.

Turnover is irrelevant. It is an outdated metric that has little bearing on water quality.
Click to expand...

How many hours do you run your filter per day?
 
I have solar so my run time is dictated by that. Usually 5 hours per day but that is all on low speed of a two speed pump.

Without solar, I run 1 to 2 hours per day depending on the leaf load.
 
JohnT said:
Unless you have a 3HP pump running at full load and have 20 cents a KWH electric rate, the pump probably isn't responsible for all of that increase.

A more typical 1HP pump with 10 cent rates would add about $1.25 to your bill.

You may be seeing your seasonal rate adjustment or time of day adjustment hit the bill.

Tell us about your equipment and billing and maybe there is better advice to be had.
Click to expand...
I have te following equipment:

Filter Pump
Jandy PHPF 1.0

Floor Cleaner (which is connected to the chlorinator
Handy PHPF 1.0

Filter
STA RITE System 3 Filtration

The floor cleaners do not really clean that much. There is still a good amount of debris from the trees on a regular basis. The cleaners seem to just push the debris to the front of the pool near the steps. But it is very diffidicult to clean this up without a vacum or robot.

What do you guys suggest for time? Also, I believe energy is charged at a higher rate during the day time and hotter temps.

Thanks,
 
What do you guys suggest for time?
Click to expand...
So didn't we just discuss this?


mas985 said:
No and no. Pool school is just a starting point. Most pools should not need more than 4 hours but they could need quite a bit less too. It depends on why you are running the pump. There are several reasons to run a pump.

1) Chlorine distribution - Very important but if you manually dose, this takes maybe 15 minutes for your size pool. An SWG will take much longer to generate chlorine so that needs to be take into consideration. However, this is truly the only reason you must run the pump. Everything else is optional.

2) Skimming - Removing surface debris should not take more than about an hour of run time. But this is optional run time. Not necessary but makes the pool look nice.

3) Floor Cleaners - In-Floor, suction side, pressure side all require the pump to run. How long depends on how much debris needs to be removed. But again, this is strictly optional and just to improve the pool's appearance.

4) Heaters - Solar, gas, electric, etc all require the pump run. How long depends on how hot you want the pool and the size of heater. Again, optional not mandatory.

#1 is the most important and only necessary run time.
Click to expand...


Start at 2 hours and see how it goes. Just make sure you compensate the chlorinator delivery rate. Long term you may want to eliminate that.
 
borjis said:
I chlorinate / add bleach manually and only run my pump for 2 hours a day.
Click to expand...
It's so interesting that some members on the forum are running their filter 24/7. While others only run it a limited time.

When your chlorinating you probably want to run the filter, right?
 
I run my pump 10 hours a day. Do I need to, no, but my wife likes to hear the running water. Yes, I have a VS pump so my power requirement is low.

You should really consider going to bleach, it makes things a whole lot simpler and reduces your pump run time. I also have a robot which also reduces my pump load. I think it cleans better too. My last pool had chlorine tabs and single speed pumps. Now I know better.
 

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