Got a good deal on a Pentair Intelliflo 011018

[jeffblue]

My local power company offers a $350 rebate but the pump must be 'professionally installed.' Most places around me seem to insist on you buying the pump from them (for way more than it costs on the internet) in order to offer you a nicely inflated 'installed' price of around 1600 dollars.

I purchased mine from VMinnovations for 850 no tax, free shipping + 5% off coupon and it came to 807 shipped. found a local pool service who will come and check my work for the price of an $85 service call. so net it all comes out to $542. My current hayward 2hp pump costs about 100 dollars per month (2.25kw @ 8hrs x 30 days @.19c/kwh) to run in peak summer (i need 8 hours of SWG chlorination to maintain my chlorine levels even with 70-80 CYA). i'm looking forward to the savings. seems like it should pay for itself with in about 2 seasons.

 

[gary300]

Congrats on getting a VS pump. I traded my 2 hp fixed speed pump for a Pentair 011018 VS pump about 2 years ago and couldn't be happier. Huge difference in my power bill, it is way quieter, easier on my filter grids (I run it for 6 hrs a day 1500 RPM) and controlled with ScreenLogic is super flexible. You will not be sorry you got this.

 

[chiefwej]

I recommend surge protection. When I put in my VS pump, I actually installed two "whole house" type surge protectors. I put a larger one (Eaton Ultra) at my main service panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AQAKRSS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Installed a smaller Square D unit directly on my pump panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052DMIUK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I happened to have an open breaker in my main panel, so there was no additional cost for that. My total cost for both was less than $125 and a couple hours of my time for the install.

A VS pump is, in reality, a computer directly connected to, and controlling a high powered electrical motor, placed outdoors and powered through a long feed line. Gee, what could go wrong there? Almost every VS pump failure we have seen was caused by "failure of the control/drive unit". In other words a power surge.

 

[chiefwej]

With a SWG and a VS pump you need to keep the SWG on a timer and set it so that it will only be powered when the pump is set to run. Do NOT depend on the flow switch alone to control the SWG. To do so is a safety hazard and can lead to an explosion. The flow switch is only there as a safety backup. This safety warning can be found in the SWG installation manual.

BTW Good to see you got a deal on the 011018 pump. That's a real steal. Mine cost me close to $1000 all totaled

 

[gary300]

Yep, forgot to mention the surge protector. I installed one protector in my main panel, and an other one right at my pool panel. Protects my EasyTouch, VS Pump and Heater electronics. Simple to do, and could save you a bunch of bucks. I do not live in a lightning prone area, but just feel better with the protection.

 

[jeffblue]

Congrats on getting a VS pump. I traded my 2 hp fixed speed pump for a Pentair 011018 VS pump about 2 years ago and couldn't be happier. Huge difference in my power bill, it is way quieter, easier on my filter grids (I run it for 6 hrs a day 1500 RPM) and controlled with ScreenLogic is super flexible. You will not be sorry you got this.

Thanks, yea i just plumbed and set it up yesterday myself. im pretty happy i was able to get all the pvc to basically 'remake' the existing piping without having to go back to the store once. I can't believe how quiet it is.

Also, i noticed how big your pool is. i am pleasantly surprised to see that it can circulate 38k gallons in 6 hours. right now i have it set at 1000 rpm for 7 hours and 1 hour at 1500rpm, but its literally the first day i'm running it. i'd appreciate to any suggestions/advice you may have on timing it so i'm not pumping unnecessarily long but also guranteeing at least one full circulation per day.

I recommend surge protection. When I put in my VS pump, I actually installed two "whole house" type surge protectors. I put a larger one (Eaton Ultra) at my main service panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AQAKRSS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Installed a smaller Square D unit directly on my pump panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052DMIUK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I happened to have an open breaker in my main panel, so there was no additional cost for that. My total cost for both was less than $125 and a couple hours of my time for the install.

A VS pump is, in reality, a computer directly connected to, and controlling a high powered electrical motor, placed outdoors and powered through a long feed line. Gee, what could go wrong there? Almost every VS pump failure we have seen was caused by "failure of the control/drive unit". In other words a power surge.

Great points and thanks for the link. i will order one of those immediately.

Yep, forgot to mention the surge protector. I installed one protector in my main panel, and an other one right at my pool panel. Protects my EasyTouch, VS Pump and Heater electronics. Simple to do, and could save you a bunch of bucks. I do not live in a lightning prone area, but just feel better with the protection.

Thanks both of you for the surge protection advice. i will definitely get one at least for the pool equipment panel for starters. i need to reconfigure my wiring out there now anyway because the pool pump and SWG were on the same run from the timer. i now need the SWG on the timer and to be able to get the pump to run independently.

- - - Updated - - -

With a SWG and a VS pump you need to keep the SWG on a timer and set it so that it will only be powered when the pump is set to run. Do NOT depend on the flow switch alone to control the SWG. To do so is a safety hazard and can lead to an explosion. The flow switch is only there as a safety backup. This safety warning can be found in the SWG installation manual.

BTW Good to see you got a deal on the 011018 pump. That's a real steal. Mine cost me close to $1000 all totaled

Thanks! i'm excited about it. wow i did not realize that was a safety hazard. even on this site there seems to be conflicting information about it. I will address this as soon as possible and turn on/off the SWG manually until then.

 

[Protlost]

I'm interested to see the cost savings over your old pump. I have a 2hp single speed Century pump that I run 4 hours a day and would like to upgrade to a 011018. Partly to save some power but also to connect Timmy solar controller and reduce the noise. Currently I think I'm at about 8kw going to my pump per day so it costs me about $40 a month to run the pump which isn't too bad really.

 

[chiefwej]

All I did as far as wiring was to move the pump feed from the switched side of the timer, to the hot side. The SWG was left on the switched side. This puts power to the pump at all times, and leaves the SWG controlled by the timer. Now just set the SWG timer to turn on during a time the pump is programmed to run. Problem solved!

 

[jeffblue]

i will gladly post updates, although there isn't too much pool season left for this year. supposedly my 2hp hawyward was using 18kwh per day (2.25kw, 8 hrs (needed 8hrs in peak summer for proper SWG chlorination). my power is .19 per kwh. so 3.42 a day. so about 100 a month. supposedly these intelliflos end up costing about 10-15 per month so the savings should be substantial enough to pay for itself relatively quickly.

- - - Updated - - -

All I did as far as wiring was to move the pump feed from the switched side of the timer, to the hot side. The SWG was left on the switched side. This puts power to the pump at all times, and leaves the SWG controlled by the timer. Now just set the SWG timer to turn on during a time the pump is programmed to run. Problem solved!

wow that's simple, i'll take care of that this week. Thanks!