Help and advice for new pool pump

[beachinmoney]

Hi, our power bill is so high... My father has told me that he will help us get a pump if it will really save us a lot of money. I am wondering there seems to be some new Hayward pumps out there that are VS right now. My confusion is getting one that has the same pipe size of what I currently have and is something that we could install our self's. The pump I have now is a Hayward 1040NS 1hp pump, I think, it might be a 1.5.

I want something that is going to knock my bill down by a lot. I think this is costing about $100 a month and I was told that with an Eco Star that it would be more like $40 a month. The price got on that, from Cactus pools, installed was $999 I think. I have a friend who is in the business though and she is telling me $799. I really would like to find something a little less. I am a big bargain hunter and will eBay or whatever but I'm not sure which one to start looking for...

I should say also, we have a really bad tree that forces me to have to run during the day and also bugs fall in from the tree and they love to bite me. I am suffering right now with about 6 bites, have been running a fever and itching. Not only that but I am constantly patrolling the water with my net instead of enjoying myself because of the bugs... Having a VS pump that I could run all the time would sure help this... Thanks for any direction and or help

 

[Bama Rambler]

Tell us more about your pool.
Besides the A&A system do you have wall returns and skimmers?

The issue is that the A&A system requires a certain amount of pressure and on very low speed they won't work. If you have standard skimmer and wall returns it'll be fine. It may even work some with the floor returns, they just won't pop up.
Since you have a Hayward pump now you may want to look at the Max-Flo VS.

 

[beachinmoney]

I have a standard skimmer and one wall return. I would want something that I could set the timer to have the pop ups come on in the evening. Keep the lower speed most of the time. It's normal size, not small or anything.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Can you post a pic of the equipment pad, including the A&A distributor?

It sounds like you could have the pump run on low for the greatest part of the day and then have it switch to a higher speed for a couple of hours to run the floor cleaners.

 

[beachinmoney]

Tell us more about your pool.
Besides the A&A system do you have wall returns and skimmers?

The issue is that the A&A system requires a certain amount of pressure and on very low speed they won't work. If you have standard skimmer and wall returns it'll be fine. It may even work some with the floor returns, they just won't pop up.
Since you have a Hayward pump now you may want to look at the Max-Flo VS.

Is the VS going to be as efficient as the Eco Star?

 

[Bama Rambler]

They are real close to each other. The Max-Flo VS is designed for the smaller piping of most pools, whereas the Eco-Star is designed for larger piping and more water features.

 

[beachinmoney]

Okay, so with the price difference it seems that the Max-Flo is the one to go with. Now I am trying to figure out how much my electricity here is... It's confusing. According to the Hayward site it says that my electricity is .23 per kWh. I am on a plan where from 7pm to 12pm it is cheaper. I have been using like 3200 kWh, or at least last month. What I don't understand is the demand charge. It was 6.90 totally about $62??? Do they confuse you on purpose???

The rental I was in had much higher roofs then this house so I figured that would offset the cost of the pool pump. But that hasn't worked. My bills here are running about $100 more a month then they did in the house with higher ceilings. Maybe because my husband hasn't been working so he just keeps the TV on 24/7!!! But since our washing machine is broken we aren't doing much in terms of that kind of electricity... :?:

 

[Bama Rambler]

Since you're on a tiered plan the VS pump will save you some money. You can program it to run on high during the peak times and run on low the rest of the time. With the VS pump you can also fine tune the speeds to be the most energy efficient.

 

[beachinmoney]

Well, I'm gonna look into that. It looks like it is stupid not to try and get it as soon as possible. I figure every month I don't have it I am throwing $70 away that I could be paying off my initial investment with this instead. Thanks for the help. I was kind of leaning towards that one but it sure is nice to have someone else give their opinion and insite. You know, one more thing. Is there anything else that I would need to do the install or that I should consider???

 

[Bama Rambler]

You may have to do a little plumbing, but that should be easy. You also need to know if you're current pump is wired for 120 volts or 240 volts. Most inground pumps are 240 so you're probably ok. However, there are a few 120 volt models out there. If it is 120 volts you'll have to do a bit of rewiring.