Help me make sense of this flow chart

[EndlessSummerAZ]

I feel like the biggest idiot on this forum lately but here’s another question. I’ve looked at the pump run time article here.

Live in Phoenix. Pool is an in ground and 11,475 gallons, PebbleTec, liquid chlorine, no SWG, no heater, no spa, 3 2ft sheer decent water features, suction side robot with wall port, using a Betta robot for some surface skimming. Hayward VS950 pump and C4030 cartridge filter.

Can someone help me make sense of this flow chart from Hayward for my pump. I’m trying to determine best pump run time and speed to keep balance between having my water clean and costs low. Right now I’ve decided to try running 800rpm from 8am to 3:30pm for basic filtration and then 1500rpm from 3:30pm to 5pm while I add chemicals and brush. PSI is basically 0 here. I use the vacuum robot once a week at a higher speed around 2500-2700rpm and PSI goes to 8.

I was trying to calculate all the math to see what is best for my pool and TDH threw me for a loop. Pump to skimmer is probably 20 to 25ft apart. There are 8 maybe 9 elbows in the plumbing line. Plumbing is 2”.

Can someone explain this simply for me? If I look at this flow chart from Hayward it seems that 800rpm is probably too low and I should be between 2400 and 3000? That seems wrong to me and I feel like I’m missing something.

 

[proavia]

APS or SRP?

I run my 950 VSP 24/7 - 1200rpm for 20 hours and 2900rpm (for IFCS) for 4 hours.
Running the pump nmd SWG on this 24/7 schedule costs less than $20 per month.
SRP - no time of day plan.
My filter psi is less than 2 at 1200 rpm - totally normal.

Running below 1000rpm provides less return for the energy expended.

For your pool, without a SWG, maybe 7am to 11am and 3pm to 7pm at 1200 rpm (as long as you get some skimming action) should work. No need to increase RPM when adding chemicals - especially if you are brushimg after adding them anyway. In late fall thru early spring, you can probably reduce that runtime to 2 hours am amd 2 hours pm.

Skimming is the main reason you would be running your pump. Keeping the water mixed up in summer heat would be a second reason.

 

[1poolman1]

I feel like the biggest idiot on this forum lately but here’s another question. I’ve looked at the pump run time article here.

Live in Phoenix. Pool is an in ground and 11,475 gallons, PebbleTec, liquid chlorine, no SWG, no heater, no spa, 3 2ft sheer decent water features, suction side robot with wall port, using a Betta robot for some surface skimming. Hayward VS950 pump and C4030 cartridge filter.

Can someone help me make sense of this flow chart from Hayward for my pump. I’m trying to determine best pump run time and speed to keep balance between having my water clean and costs low. Right now I’ve decided to try running 800rpm from 8am to 3:30pm for basic filtration and then 1500rpm from 3:30pm to 5pm while I add chemicals and brush. PSI is basically 0 here. I use the vacuum robot once a week at a higher speed around 2500-2700rpm and PSI goes to 8.

I was trying to calculate all the math to see what is best for my pool and TDH threw me for a loop. Pump to skimmer is probably 20 to 25ft apart. There are 8 maybe 9 elbows in the plumbing line. Plumbing is 2”.

Can someone explain this simply for me? If I look at this flow chart from Hayward it seems that 800rpm is probably too low and I should be between 2400 and 3000? That seems wrong to me and I feel like I’m missing something.

Using the chart will make you crazy. It was developed by putting a pump on a tightly controlled test pool (there used to be one here in Sacramento) and running the pump at different speeds with very accurate flow meters. The real world is very different. You just find speeds that work for your pool. The actual head in the system is made up of all the plumbing components and the speed of the water. So it will change as the speeds do.

If it takes 2500 RPM to run your cleaner, then do that a couple of hours a day, every day, with the cleaner in the pool. What you want to do is keep the water filtered and the chemicals mixed well, and energy saved. Long, slower water speeds do that.

My EcoStar, same pump as yours only much older, runs at 2200 RPM for 2 hours, starting at 2:00AM, then 1500 RPM for the next 8 hours, then 1100 RPM for the next 4.5 hours, enough RPM to keep the SWG happy and just in time to turn off before the energy rates hit "peak" rates in my area. I have no idea what my GPM rates are and have never checked, but my water is always sparkling unless I let the chemicals get away from me, which has happened a few times in 35 years of ownership. I run higher RPM that I would like because I have a very "dirty" yard for pool purposes, a lot of foliage, so I need the skimmer a bit more. Cost is less than $30.00/month for electricity for the pool, a good trade off. My pool is also 22,000 gallons so, until you get a SWG (and you will want to at some point) you might be able to run yours less hours, or as long, at the low speeds your pump can give you to make your water sparkle.

 

[EndlessSummerAZ]

APS or SRP?

I run my 950 VSP 24/7 - 1200rpm for 20 hours and 2900rpm (for IFCS) for 4 hours.
Running the pump nmd SWG on this 24/7 schedule costs less than $20 per month.
SRP - no time of day plan.
My filter psi is less than 2 at 1200 rpm - totally normal.

Running below 1000rpm provides less return for the energy expended.

For your pool, without a SWG, maybe 7am to 11am and 3pm to 7pm at 1200 rpm (as long as you get some skimming action) should work. No need to increase RPM when adding chemicals - especially if you are brushimg after adding them anyway. In late fall thru early spring, you can probably reduce that runtime to 2 hours am amd 2 hours pm.

Skimming is the main reason you would be running your pump. Keeping the water mixed up in summer heat would be a second reason.

We’re in APS territory over here. No time of use plan so we’re at a flat $0.13/kWh. Good to know I don’t have to increase when adding chemicals.

Side note, since you’re in Phoenix metro, how much water are you losing each day/week with the heat and sun?

 

[1poolman1]

We’re in APS territory over here. No time of use plan so we’re at a flat $0.13/kWh. Good to know I don’t have to increase when adding chemicals.

Side note, since you’re in Phoenix metro, how much water are you losing each day/week with the heat and sun?

For $0.13/kWh I'd run mine 24/7 as well. Would still have to have a break to increase the speed for a bit of skimming, but that is an envious rate.

 

[proavia]

I think I am 10 or 11 cents per kWh - so pretty close.

I lose upwards of 1/2 to 3/4 inch daily in summer. My autofill runs almost constantly it seems.
I estimate the pool evaporates 1 to 1.5 times its volume years - and that's being conservative.