Robot vs. Pressure Side

[benm2010]

Posting here to keep my build thread clean. If this question has been explicitly dealt with I apologize in advance and will be delighted to read said thread. I’m wondering about the operating costs of a robot vs a pressure cleaner (in my case a Polaris 9550 or 9650iQ vs a Polaris 3900 w/ booster pump)? Are the maintenance costs the same? Also, how much does running the booster pump cost (in my part of TX electricity is about 7-10 cents/kW hour)? Since the pool will have a SWG the main pump would probably not have to run longer. I know robots clean better and I know dolphin is the preferred robot brand, I’m strictly wondering about operating costs.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ben,

Robots cost next to nothing to run... They are powered by low voltage DC.. Here is one of many good threads... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiqkrexstTaAhUQXa0KHZT7BWAQFggnMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.troublefreepool.com%2Fthreads%2F120447-Doheny-s-Discovery-S200-Active20-Triton-owners-club&usg=AOvVaw35cFjdsfGNUS1pItB66-7m

In the upper right of your screen is a search box.. just enter Robots or Dolphin, etc..... and you'll get many more hits..

I get tickled about all the people that spend days agonizing over which color of plaster to use, or which sparkly tile will look best with which coping, etc.... Then these same people don't give five seconds of thought about plopping an ugly monster of a water powered cleaner in the middle of their beautiful new pool, and they just leave it there 24/7... Sigh!!!


Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[riley00dog]

I agree Jim.

Robots cost next to nothing to run and if you are only paying 7 cents per kw/h then I wouldn’t give a second thought to the cost. We pay about 26 cents per kw/h and it’s not on my radar. My heat pump on the other hand...

 

[benm2010]

I was mainly trying to help my mom feel better about spending the extra $$ on a robot as opposed to the pressure side cleaner by explaining that it will save her time by reducing (basically eliminating) her brushing and that it will save her money by not running a booster pump. She seems relatively convinced, I think we're going to end up with a Polaris 9550 or possibly the 9300 instead of the 3900 as originally planned.

 

[Melnic]

I pay 13cents/kWh and I have a Wattmeter on my booster pump (which is at least 6 years old).
It shows 1.6kW of power usage on the pump. That's about $50/year for 1hr/day 8 months. And your half of that.
I have a new Polaris booster pump going in this weekend.

I ordered the booster pump prior to even researching robots because I already had the Polaris 280.

From my research (people please correct any mistakes):

Although the instructions for the robots I researched say to take it out, I read that many people here leave the robot in the water. I don't know how often they are cleaning the filter. I only clean the filter out of my Polaris every couple days or so. It stays plugged in all year except for Parties. Then I remove it and hide it out of the way. When the kids swim, they just lift it and put on the side.
The main pump for a robot does not need to be on for the robot to work. For the pressure side cleaner, it needs to be run w/ the main pump on. or at least mine runs better. If my pump is not on, the Polaris is weak as a baby.
The pro for the pressure side pump is no electrical chord sitting in the pool

One thing if your doing a new pool build is that the cost of the pump, the installation of the pump and piping, plus cleaner, your pretty much at the cost of a robot I think. With a Robot, when it dies, if you want to replace it, you just buy one (Expect better technology in 5-10 more years too!). If your booster pump goes, will you be the one to replace it (are you handy?).

I recently had some DE filter material leak and now I have to clean it up, I purchased $100 in a manual vacuum to deal with it. Owners of robots say that if I had a robot, I would not have had to vacuum.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ben,

Tell your Mom she is wise beyond her years...

Sounds like a great plan to me...

Thanks for the feedback..

Jim R.

 

[ZcottD]

Then these same people don't give five seconds of thought about plopping an ugly monster of a water powered cleaner in the middle of their beautiful new pool, and they just leave it there 24/7... Sigh!!!

My barracuda is beautiful! How dare you! But ya I think robots are the best way to go, I must defend my cuda's good looks though. If you can afford to run a pool pump, the cost of a robot's electricity won't bother you.

 

[BPKlein]

Hello,

I am the oddball on this forum. I LOVE my Polaris 280.

It costs us about $11.00 a month to run our Polaris 280 3 hours a day. That’s about $132.00 a year. We have spent zero dollars in the last three years on maintenance. We will probably have to buy a replacement bag this year. My infant grandkids will be in high school before I could offset the expense of a robot.

If I’m away on a business trip, and nobody is here to put a robot in/out of the pool, I still come home to a clean pool.

If I were building new today, I would still at least consider plumbing the pool for a pressure cleaner.

Hope that helps,
Bryan

p.s. For full disclosure, we bought this home in 2015 with an existing pool. The 280 needed work at that time. We completely rebuilt the 280, bought a need feed hose, and replaced the backup valve that first summer. We also bought four new bags. Most are still intact.

 

[benm2010]

Hello,

I am the oddball on this forum. I LOVE my Polaris 280.

It costs us about $11.00 a month to run our Polaris 280 3 hours a day. That’s about $132.00 a year. We have spent zero dollars in the last three years on maintenance. We will probably have to buy a replacement bag this year. My infant grandkids will be in high school before I could offset the expense of a robot.

If I’m away on a business trip, and nobody is here to put a robot in/out of the pool, I still come home to a clean pool.

If I were building new today, I would still at least consider plumbing the pool for a pressure cleaner.

Hope that helps,
Bryan

p.s. For full disclosure, we bought this home in 2015 with an existing pool. The 280 needed work at that time. We completely rebuilt the 280, bought a need feed hose, and replaced the backup valve that first summer. We also bought four new bags. Most are still intact.

Bryan thanks for your input, I did decide to go with the robot since it's a new build and roughly the same price as buying the booster pump and cleaner. Your suggestion about the cleaning line is exactly what we did, the line will be capped at both pool and equipment pad side. It's good to see an electricity number from someone close by.

 

[bmoreswim]

And if you decide you want a little more return flow to the pool, you can up-cap the line, plumb it in and use it as a return. When I decommissioned my pressure cleaner, I just left the line active as a return. You could place a fitting on it to point downward and create a semi-bottom return to direct some heat that way.

 

[benm2010]

And if you decide you want a little more return flow to the pool, you can up-cap the line, plumb it in and use it as a return. When I decommissioned my pressure cleaner, I just left the line active as a return. You could place a fitting on it to point downward and create a semi-bottom return to direct some heat that way.

Hmmmm, interesting. I suggested using the line as a return, the PB said it would not work very well because the other return jets were all tied together for more even pressure.

 

[bmoreswim]

Hmmmm, interesting. I suggested using the line as a return, the PB said it would not work very well because the other return jets were all tied together for more even pressure.

Agreed. The three of my other returns are tied together. The extra one is just separate. It could be stronger or weaker than the other three, I don’t know, but it’s irrelevant.