Changed my pump to variable speed pump. What is your thought

[Kevindong]

Changed to this Pentair intelliflo VST vatiable speed pump due to the previous single speed pump's dead.
spent $1340 on the pump and $100 on the labor to install. With the tax and everything I walked out of pool with $1500.
They told me that I am gonna save at least $50 on electricity.. That's the main reason to convince me to change to this pump.
Is it worth? I don't know. One thing I do know though. Hope it will save me $50 on eletricity. So I will get the money back in two years.
Pool equipment is quite a bit money though.
What is your thoughts on this ?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Kevin,

I have no idea if you will get your money back in two years or not, as I don't know your electrical rates or how you used to run your old pump..

What I do know is that I love mine!!! I believe that it is the "Gold Standard" of pool pumps.

I see what looks like an IC40.. For me, I have to run the pump at about 1,100 RPM to keep the flow light on. I set my low speed at 1,200. At that speed the pump uses only 175 Watts of electrical power. I ramp it up a few times a day to help with the skimming, but still not above 2,000 RPM. Running my pump 24/7 costs me less than $20 a month.

Another great thing is that at low speed, I swear you almost have to touch the pump to make sure it is running

Looking at the serial cable, i assume you also have an EasyTouch..

I also like the fact that they used pump unions to do the install. Shows they know how to do it correctly..

Thanks for posting and enjoy your new pump.

Jim R.

 

[mas985]

Don't forget about surge protection.

 

[Kevindong]

My old pump was 1.65 hp. And I ran it 7 hours per day. And my electricity rate was 0.13 per kw



What is the surge protection though?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Kevin,

Variable speed pumps, unlike regular single speed pumps, have a lot of electronics inside.. If they are subjected to a voltage surge or near-by lightning strike, the electronics can be damaged.

It is advisable to add some type of surge protector device to try and prevent that from happening. Normally you want the surge protector to be installed in your electrical panel, or in your case inside your EasyTouch.

Mine mounts in place of a circuit breaker and looks like this.. But there are many different types.

Jim R.

 

[vertcnc]

Florida Power and Light will put a whole house surge protector on. I believe they charge something like $9.00 per month and guarantee against surge. Covers pool pump. (just an option) I run mine at 1200 rpm for 8 hours a day and cost just under $1.00 per day.

 

[Kevindong]

Kevin,

Variable speed pumps, unlike regular single speed pumps, have a lot of electronics inside.. If they are subjected to a voltage surge or near-by lightning strike, the electronics can be damaged.

It is advisable to add some type of surge protector device to try and prevent that from happening. Normally you want the surge protector to be installed in your electrical panel, or in your case inside your EasyTouch.

Mine mounts in place of a circuit breaker and looks like this.. View attachment 57074 But there are many different types.

Jim R.

I will ask tomorrow. Thx

- - - Updated - - -

Florida Power and Light will put a whole house surge protector on. I believe they charge something like $9.00 per month and guarantee against surge. Covers pool pump. (just an option) I run mine at 1200 rpm for 8 hours a day and cost just under $1.00 per day.

They advise me to run 12-14 hours per day with the speed he set. And I don't know what speed was it. I will check tomorrow

 

[gwegan]

As a general rule you want to install the sure protection as close to the equipment protected as possible. So its better to have one in the panel next to the pump.

 

[Kevindong]

As a general rule you want to install the sure protection as close to the equipment protected as possible. So its better to have one in the panel next to the pump.

New to me. Is it something only Eletrician can Do? Or pool store? I have three year warranty on pump. Do I still need that?

 

[PrivatePilot]

I bought my VS pump refurbished for $500. The VS consumes about 300 watts running at a sufficient enough speed through the day to provide adequate flow through my rooftop solar, whereas my old pump consumed 1800 watts (single speed) to push water faster (and with more energy wasted via backpressure) than was needed to maintain a good delta-T.

In short, the variable speed paid for itself last summer alone, I saw a drastic drop in our electricity bills. Since we have the most expensive power in NA here in Ontario now, this was important. Hands down one of the best investments I ever made.