Ideal equipment list?

[psychocabbage]

New here and dont want to ruffle feathers in case there are fanboys of any particular brand. But if you were to build your dream list of equipment for an inground pool thats say 25K gal or so with a hot tub.. Going with SWCG, what all would you want? Brands and models. I am researching all over and the names of these pumps are all so similar. after looking over how to do pool plumbing and realizing that its far from rocket science and very doable I am starting to lean towards tackling this on my own. Ive turned almost every free moment into Pool School 101 for myself.

Reason for starting to consider doing this myself - I have got 1 bid so far. I had 1 company have their rep called because I informed their owner that they never contacted me. After that initial call, nothing. And another company came out got information, left a binder with pics and said I would have designs to look over by last Wednesday. I am thinking the only way to do this and keep it on track with the level of communication we desire is to do it ourselves.

So seeing as how I will be ready for my slab for my pool house before the pool, I am thinking of buying all the pool equipment so i can properly space it, plumb it and then the slab can get poured once I have the plumping in place. With the plumbing all stubbed out then I can work on the pool knowing I can easily route the plumbing to where it needs to go.

 

[cowboycasey]

If you are going to have automation you need to stick with that equipment.. I did all Pentair because it lasts,, I knew before hand that the warranty was only 30 days because I self installed... You can not even buy Jandy so that is out.. Hayward is just below Pentair in quality but not by much..

Pentair..

IntelliCenter® and IntelliCenter Lite Pool Control Systems

The IntelliCenter Pool Automation system works with the IntelliCenter2 app to put total pool control right in the palm of your hand.

www.pentair.com

Intellicenter with salt water generator Pentair IntelliCenter i8PSIC60 Kit - Pool and Spa with Load Center and IC60

Filter:

Clean & Clear® Plus Cartridge Filters

The Clean & Clear Plus filter delivers commercial-grade performance that keeps pools clean and clear, day in and day out. Find out where to buy here.

www.pentair.com

CCP 520 sku-page

Clean & Clear Plus

Pump:

IntelliFlo® VSF Variable Speed and Flow Pool Pump

The IntelliFlo VSF pump is the first of its kind to respond to changes in your pool’s environment in order to maintain a preprogrammed flow rate. There’s no more guesswork—just set the desired flow rate and the pump will adjust as needed. It’s like cruise control for your pump. And, the...

www.pentair.com

IntelliFlo VS / VSF

Just RPM RPM or GPM
011018 or 011056

With all this said you are going to have a hard time finding the pump and filter right now as the southern US freeze killed thousands of pumps and they are almost all gone and backordered for months...

Hope this helps

 

[newdude]

New here and dont want to ruffle feathers in case there are fanboys of any particular brand

Anybody worth their salt (see what I did there ?) will tell you their favorite while pointing out that an equally large device of another brand will do just as well.

The key points are

the largest filter of any material will need cleaning less often

A 3HP VS pump can move the same water (flow) as a smaller pump with much less energy draw, effectively paying for the upgrade over time.

SWGs have a finite life due to runtime. A larger unit produces the same FC in less time, meaning it needs to run less and therefore last longer.

 

[psychocabbage]

Anybody worth their salt (see what I did there ?) will tell you their favorite while pointing out that an equally large device of another brand will do just as well.

The key points are

the largest filter of any material will need cleaning less often

A 3HP VS pump can move the same water (flow) as a smaller pump with much less energy draw, effectively paying for the upgrade over time.

SWGs have a finite life due to runtime. A larger unit produces the same FC in less time, meaning it needs to run less and therefore last longer.

So essentially you are saying - name brands are all very comparable. Maybe it comes down to features and implementation?
and get as big as you can afford and save over all. So IC60 instead of IC40 for SWCG for example since both do the same but the larger one will have longevity. Gotcha.
I normally do a breakdown of cost over time for equipment so its easy to see its actual cost and compare. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Flying Tivo]

The best recommendation is to stick to one brand, dont mix and match. I like pentair.

 

[newdude]

and get as big as you can afford and save over all. So IC60 instead of IC40 for SWCG for example since both do the same but the larger one will have longevity. Gotcha.

Exactly. But if it’s only a 12k gallon pool, The 40k rated IC40 is already plenty.

How big were you building ?

So essentially you are saying - name brands are all very comparable. Maybe it comes down to features and implementation?

exactly. Just make sure to compare apples to apples. If you’re looking at the features of one, make sure to compare it to the other brand with the same features. No kidding a loaded Ford is nicer than a base model Chevy with roll up windows. Other than that they all get you to the grocery store just fine.

 

[psychocabbage]

If you are going to have automation you need to stick with that equipment.. I did all Pentair because it lasts,, I knew before hand that the warranty was only 30 days because I self installed... You can not even buy Jandy so that is out.. Hayward is just below Pentair in quality but not by much..

Pentair..

IntelliCenter® and IntelliCenter Lite Pool Control Systems

The IntelliCenter Pool Automation system works with the IntelliCenter2 app to put total pool control right in the palm of your hand.

www.pentair.com

Intellicenter with salt water generator Pentair IntelliCenter i8PSIC60 Kit - Pool and Spa with Load Center and IC60

Filter:

Clean & Clear® Plus Cartridge Filters

The Clean & Clear Plus filter delivers commercial-grade performance that keeps pools clean and clear, day in and day out. Find out where to buy here.

www.pentair.com

CCP 520 sku-page

Clean & Clear Plus

Pump:

IntelliFlo® VSF Variable Speed and Flow Pool Pump

The IntelliFlo VSF pump is the first of its kind to respond to changes in your pool’s environment in order to maintain a preprogrammed flow rate. There’s no more guesswork—just set the desired flow rate and the pump will adjust as needed. It’s like cruise control for your pump. And, the...

www.pentair.com

IntelliFlo VS / VSF

Just RPM RPM or GPM
011018 or 011056

With all this said you are going to have a hard time finding the pump and filter right now as the southern US freeze killed thousands of pumps and they are almost all gone and backordered for months...

Hope this helps

Helps tons! Im building my shopping cart already!

011056 is in stock.. how does that compare to the EC-011057?

Warranties are great and all but at the end of the day, they will only be as good as the dealer supporting and out here I am far from impressed with any of our pool builders out here so that means less than stellar warranty support.

 

[newdude]

011056 is in stock.. how does that compare to the EC-011057

The 057 has SVRS which detects blockages in the flow and kills power as a safety mechanism. With multiple drains/skimmers to VGBA act code it is redundant and will trip anytime the neighbor passes gas. Stay away. Stay very far away !!!

The 056 has variable flow also on top of variable speed. 99%+ of owners will never need the flow control. If it’s the only one available then it won’t hurt, but just the other day it was $300 more than the 028. You have to call the suppliers directly many of the websites cannot keep up with the current fiasco. I even had 2 orders verified by a human that STILL got flagged 30 mins later as out of stock / back ordered. Best of luck to you !!

Warranties are great and all but at the end of the day, they will only be as good as the dealer supporting

#truth. And if it costs $1000 more each device to purchase loacally...... if *they* can even get it..... you’ll have a lot more money left over to fund a replacement if you save big elsewhere.