Filter pressure and pump sizing for efficiency question

[Cloudy R718]

I've got an above ground fiberglass pool it's about 7863 gallons. And the pump is a jacuzzi J-P150 1.5 hp pump and the filter is a Hayward S210T.
The guage pressure at the filter head is 23 psi when the filter is clean.

My question is basically what can I do to decrease the power consumption? Would it be much cheaper running if I replace the pump with the 1/2 hp pump suggested in the pump sizing sticky threads on here? Or is there a way to lower the capacity of the pump by replacing the impeller with a smaller one or installing a slower motor or something like that without adversely affecting the hydraulic efficiency of the pump?
I've even thought about spending the almost $700 and buying a variable speed motor for this pump or just buying a variable speed pump outright. But really the whole goal here is to save some money so buying an expensive pump has got to be able to provide enough energy savings to pay off for it to be worth doing.

 

[DavidArmenB]

Buying a smaller pump will not save you as much money as buying a large variable speed pump and running it at very low speeds as VSPs consume very little power at low speeds.
For example, my Pentair Intelliflo consumes less than 100 Watts running my default speed of 1200rpm.

 

[Cloudy R718]

Buying a smaller pump will not save you as much money as buying a large variable speed pump and running it at very low speeds as VSPs consume very little power at low speeds.
For example, my Pentair Intelliflo consumes less than 100 Watts running my default speed of 1200rpm.

Okay that makes sense I'm familiar with the extreme efficiency of variable speed motors so that does seem logical.
I guess I need to look closer at the variable speed 1.5 horsepower pumps.
Any recommendations on a particular model?

 

[Cloudy R718]

A local pool company which is a friend of mine recommended the black and decker variable speed pump.

 

[Newdude]

A local pool company which is a friend of mine recommended the black and decker variable speed pump.

The Calimar sister pump is a skootch under half the price. The B&D has a better warranty but the original and a replacement would both have to fail in the time that the B&D has longer coverage, in order to come out ahead with the B&D. If you only had to replace the Calimar once in that window, it would still be cheaper. Statistically speaking, it wouldn't even need replacing once.

 

[Cloudy R718]

The Calimar sister pump is a skootch under half the price. The B&D has a better warranty but the original and a replacement would both have to fail in the time that the B&D has longer coverage, in order to come out ahead with the B&D. If you only had to replace the Calimar once in that window, it would still be cheaper. Statistically speaking, it wouldn't even need replacing once.

Oh wow that's way better and it looks like the same pump!

 

[Newdude]

and it looks like the same pump!

Rumor has it the B&D has an adjustable base and otherwise is the same.

 

[Cloudy R718]

Rumor has it the B&D has an adjustable base and otherwise is the same.

Nice I think I'll go ahead and do that.

By the way this site is amazing! I found it last year or the year before but I wasn't able to really start following the methods until this year when I finally got the proper test kit and I now have the clearest pool water I've ever seen and I'm using less chlorine than ever before.