Pentair whisperflo vs ?

[Rangeball]

I was wondering if there were a higher flow, more energy efficient pump/motor combo than the pentair whisperflo in 3/4 hp 2 speed?

Or is the gold standard

What other pumps are comparable?

 

[mas985]

If you rate pumps by GPM/kwh, then the lower HP pumps (and flow) will usually win out. The lower the better which is why the Intelliflo has one of the best GPM/kwh ratings but only at the lower RPM settings. The optimum RPM setting by my calculations is around 1000 RPM.

Excluding the Intelliflo, the Northstar pump has slightly (~4%) better efficiency than the Whisperflo but that assumes both pumps draw the same current (i.e. head curve comparison). Without actual energy measurements, I would assume that they are the same.

 

[Rangeball]

Thanks Mark.

Actually the northstar was one I was looking at today. They have a .5 hp full rated, but I don't think they have it in two speed.

 

[Guest]

Hayward has had a lot of problems with the Northstar (skimmer basket lid mostly) and I have heard that they might be discontinuing it. Right now this is an unconfirmed rumor from a reliable source.

 

[Rangeball]

Replacing it with a new and improved Southstar?

Thanks

 

[mas985]

Hayward has had a lot of problems with the Northstar (skimmer basket lid mostly) and I have heard that they might be discontinuing it. Right now this is an unconfirmed rumor from a reliable source.

Sometimes mine is a bit hard to get off so I loosen it with the pump on. It seems a little extreme to discontinue it for that reason.

 

[Rangeball]

I just noticed something with the whisperflo. The 3/4 HP full rated high efficiency single speed has a full amp load of 11.2. The standard motor single speed is 14.6.

The two speed is also 14.6 at high speed. Why don't they offer high efficiency 2 speed pumps? AO White not make them yet?

 

[JasonLion]

It is not an efficiency issue. It has to do with how they list the HP: full rated, max rated, and up rated. The 14 Amp motors are larger motors than the 11 Amp motor, even though they are all called 3/4 HP. Sometimes a 3/4 HP full rated, 1 HP max rated, and 1 1/2 HP up rated motor will all actually be the same motor. The labeling approach varies a little from manufacturer to manufacturer, so the ratios I just gave aren't nessessarily representative.

What you should really be looking at is the brake HP, which is the listed HP times the service factor.

What they don't offer is a dual speed version of the smaller motor. Historically you only got a two speed motor when you were getting a really large motor. The manufacturers have started to shift this down so that smaller motors are now offered in two speed but many of the dealers only carry the larger two speeds. Even so the smallest motors don't yet seem to be available in two speed.

 

[Rangeball]

Jason, I'm pretty sure the standard single speed 3/4 hp, the energy efficient 3/4 hp and the dual speed 3/4 hp all have the same service factor, which is 1.67. Per their website, anyway.

All are full rated as well.

 

[JasonLion]

Alright, I see what you mean. What I said is also happening, but with a different set of models. Curious.

 

[mas985]

The design of the two speed is different than a single speed and it requires a second set of windings which lowers the efficiency somewhat due to higher ohmic losses. So the high speed of a two speed pump tends to be slightly lower efficiency than a single speed pump.

 

[Rangeball]

Darn, I thought maybe I was onto what would be the next big thing in 2 speeds for '08...

Thanks Mark