Help figuring out the cost of running my pump

[beachinmoney]

Hi, I have APS, that being said I called them to help me figure out how much my kilowatt per hour is. What a joke. They purposely make it impossible. I am on the Combined Average Plan. I have a B128, a 1hp 1.4 service factor pump. It needs to be replaced and I am going to get a 2 speed pump. Right now I run it off peak at night for around 5 hours. In the summer it runs about 6 hours at night and maybe 2 during the day... Can anyone give me a clue how much I will save and also the figures that you use to determine this?

 

[jblizzle]

Why would you think you are going to save money by getting a bigger pump?

If you want to save money, get a similar sized or smaller 2-speed pump ... oh shoot, just saw you have a in-floor cleaner. Those require higher flow rates and thus larger more expensive pumps.

 

[mas985]

If you are going from a 1 HP to a 2 HP, you will be losing money, not saving. Also, in your signature, you have a 1040NS are you sure that isn't a 4010NS (Northstar). That pump uses close to 2 kw (~1800 watts).

 

[beachinmoney]

That was a typo, I meant to type in two speed pump not horse power. I do have the 4010NS but I have a different motor and was told it is the B128, a 1hp 1.4 service factor pump. But the question was how to figure out cost anyways saying it uses almost 1800 watts, close to 2 kw tells me something so thanks but how and where do I go from there. Is that pure hour it's run? So, lets say I run it for 6 hours a day currently x 30 days say 340 kw per month and if my electric is .60 per kw then it's running me only about 20.00 per month???

It seems like that can't be right. My house is only 1600 sq. ft. I just put in a brand new Heat Pump. It has been between 40-65 degree's lately. So running the heat some at night. I have two large screen TV's, the biggest, my husband leaves on all night even though I go out and shut it off 5-6 times. So, it's probably on for 10 hours a day. I do laundry once a week. Don't use the stove too much... I don't have vaulted ceilings and I have ceiling fans. My power bill is about $120. In the hot months, before the new Heat pump it was $360. It seems crazy. The rental had really high ceilings, no pool and in the summer the highest bill was maybe $270.00. So, I figured the low ceilings here and the pool would mean that the highest bill would be somewhere around the same....

 

[mas985]

I assume you mean $0.06 / kwh. If so, then yes, about $20/mo. A two speed uses about 1/4th the power on low speed as high speed. But since you have an in-floor system, that needs to run at high speed so I am not sure you would benefit much from a two speed. I would just the run the in-floor for as long as it needs to keep the bottom clean and no more. But why run the pump so long right now?

 

[beachinmoney]

Well, I was told that it needed to run that long... In terms of not saving, the problem I have in the summer is that during the day when I want to be in the pool I would like to get the bugs and things out of the water so I thought that running it in low speed during that time would save money that way. So, getting a variable speed pump is not doing my type of pool any good. I love the way people trying to sell these things don't tell you that. The thing is that I found this motor 2EZ Speed - 1.5HP C-Flange 2 Speed with Timer
Price: $349.00. To have it installed it's another $150 bringing my total to $500. But then I looked at this, Hayward Max-Flo XL 2.0 HP Dual Speed 230V 1.5" x 2" unions
Price: $460.35. If I got it installed for $150 and then got back $200 from APS then it seems it would make more sense to do that? Would this Hayward Max Flo be cheaper for me to run???

 

[mas985]

Running on low speed would take some time to skim the bugs off the pool. You might be better off just running the pump on high a few minutes before you get in the pool.

Also, most pools don't require more than about 3-4 hours of run time per day. I have a bigger pool and that is all I run my pump and 3 hours of that is on low speed.

Is there anything wrong with your current pump? For your setup, your payback on a two speed pump would probably be longer than the life of the pump.

 

[beachinmoney]

Yes, either the motor or the pump needs to be replaced. Running the pump for a little bit during the day to get rid of bugs doesn't get rid of them. I read somewhere that running it on a lower speed is actually better at getting rid of things like the bugs.... Also, due to being in AZ in the summer when it's so hot I was told to run it for longer because the water is so warm. So, in AZ even if I ran it for 3-4 hours, if I had a Two speed pump and ran it an hour on high and then 3 hours on low I would save money???

 

[dmpacey]

I'm not qualified to give advice on what kind of pump to buy, but check with APS that a two-speed pump qualifies for the rebate. It specifies that it must be a "variable speed pump."

http://www.aps.com/en/residential/savemoneyandenergy/poolspa/Pages/home.aspx?src=ql

 

[beachinmoney]

I read somewhere that running it on a lower speed is actually better at getting rid of things like the bugs.... The actual rebate I pulled up showed 2 speed motors too. Guess I'm not surprised that APS stopped that. They also don't give a rebate for Solar Shades anymore. Did I mention that I hate APS?

In the summer the rate is higher and there are times when the pump needs to run all day, if trying to get rid of Algae and doing a shock to the pool. That can increase the costs a ton. There are a ton of bugs in the summer here and I hate them so running the pump to get rid of them while in the pool is nice to do and not be on the single pump setting so that it isn't so expensive would be nice...

So then, I guess my question should be, for the cost of $349 on a two speed pump and then paying someone $150 to install it, is that worth it? He is going to be putting in new O rings, warranty his work for 1 year, free repairs of there is a problem... But, if I am just replacing my currently motor is is relatively simply to install one of these pumps?