JasonLion said:
As a general rule, you don't want to replace a working pump with a more efficient pump to save money unless your electric rates are extremely high or something is wrong/broken/needs changing anyway with your current setup. Your rates appear to be about average, so the payback on replacing the pump is going to be very long, if it ever pays back.
The Pentair pump savings calculator is wildly optimistic. Most people purchasing a variable speed pump see a savings of around 50% of what they are spending with a fixed speed pump. Savings as high as Pentair estimates are possible, but they are rare.
One good alternative to replacing the pump is making sure you are using your existing pump as efficiently as possible. Many people find that they can shorten their pump runtime without any problems, and save money that way.
Glad to see this again. I've been tickled with thoughts about replacing my working 1.5 hp, 1.5 SF, working pump, for something more efficient, this summer. If I could scrape up the monies and it really would be worth it I would think about it more seriously.
I have to run the Polaris or Tracker 4X about 10 hours a day minimum, and two PoolSkims running, due to all the fine (and other) debris from dogs and blown in. My current rate of electricity is $0.124; about the best I can get choosing partial wind. I was on 100% wind at $0.164 but needed to get my bill down some. I'm hoping the SolarBreeze will help to reduce my cleaner/skimmer time by getting a lot of stuff before it sinks. Only use of it will tell. We do a lot to keep the bill down but pool, spa, gobs of outside night lighting do use a lot. (We hardly cool or heat the whole upstairs, keep downstairs at 80-85 F, in summer, with spot cooling in living area, 64 F in winter, with some spot heating, all for DH, night cooling only in bedroom, lots of ceiling fans, virtually all CFs and LEDs inside, and partially changed over to LEDs outside lighting (Outside LEDs have a way to go, as of now). As of last year hardly cool the converted garage; doggie, storage, work room.) A $500 bill any time of year is a "good" bill. I'm guessing that the pool, during summer, uses between $150 - $200 per month. I'm just guessing on that by looking at a couple of bills when pool was totally shut down, summer 2008. Since I have to use the "full speed" for pump so much should I even consider a variable pump?
On a side note, one year I had a bill not much over $400. The electric company came out to check if the meter was functioning properly. :lol:
gg=alice