Pump Schedule with Time of Use EV Electrical Plan

[TonyR68]

Hi,

I have an EV electrical rate plan with different rates being charged based on time of use. 11pm-7am ~2c/kWh daily, June-Sep 2pm-7pm ~25c/kWh and ~8c/kWh for all other times.

Currently, I run the main pump at night 11pm -7am daily (4 hours for skimmers, 4 hours for main drains), I “refresh” the spa for 30 minutes twice a day at 6am and again at 1:30pm. The Polaris runs for 3 hours nightly.

As the temperatures are now increasing, I will start using the IntelliChlor again, adjusting the percentages for chlorine generation as needed.

I’ve read numerous recommendations to run the pump 24/7 at a lower speed. I’m running the pump at night. Does the approach I’m taking raise any concerns (including the hot summer days in the 90Fs)? Any adjustments to the above scheduling I should consider?

Best regards

Tony

 

[Bperry]

Hi,

I have an EV electrical rate plan with different rates being charged based on time of use. 11pm-7am ~2c/kWh daily, June-Sep 2pm-7pm ~25c/kWh and ~8c/kWh for all other times.

Currently, I run the main pump at night 11pm -7am daily (4 hours for skimmers, 4 hours for main drains), I “refresh” the spa for 30 minutes twice a day at 6am and again at 1:30pm. The Polaris runs for 3 hours nightly.

As the temperatures are now increasing, I will start using the IntelliChlor again, adjusting the percentages for chlorine generation as needed.

I’ve read numerous recommendations to run the pump 24/7 at a lower speed. I’m running the pump at night. Does the approach I’m taking raise any concerns (including the hot summer days in the 90Fs)? Any adjustments to the above scheduling I should consider?

Best regards

Tony

If making chlorine for 8 hours is enough in the summer your current schedule should be ok.

Side note that running a VS pump at slower speed uses much much less power than high speed (its not linear so its waaay less). If yours is running really fast theres a good chance you can slow it down and save quite a bit of money.

I run mine 24x7 to keep skimming a little so the pool stays cleaner and the filters tend to work better at lower pressure.

 

[Newdude]

I run 24/7 so crud that blows in the pool doesn't have 12+ hours to get waterlogged and sink.

Well. There's several reasons but that's a big one. It only costs about $10 more a month without PV solar to offset it.

There us nothing wrong with running a schedule, but factor *when* your FC is being produced. If it has all day to drift down, you'll swing FC like a liquid chlorine pool. 5 ppm is fine in the evening if you're replenishing it at night, but not enough in the morning with up to 4 ppm daily loss expected.

 

[KevMo]

The Polaris runs for 3 hours nightly.

Unless you have a lot of debris landing in your pool, I suspect you can run your Polaris for half or less than that time. I have a similar size pool in an area surrounded by large trees. I run my Polaris for 90 minutes and it easily gets everything. I could probably run it less.

 

[1poolman1]

Unless you have a lot of debris landing in your pool, I suspect you can run your Polaris for half or less than that time. I have a similar size pool in an area surrounded by large trees. I run my Polaris for 90 minutes and it easily gets everything. I could probably run it less.

+1
Polaris knew that running the cleaner 3 hours/day would completely clean just about every "normal" pool, so that was the recommendation 30+ years ago.
When we had to start running pools at lower flow rates with 2-speed, then variable-speed, pumps, it was found that the way pools were plumbed didn't always keep the booster pump full at the lower speeds and they were being damaged. So, to keep the Polaris running for 3 hours meant the filter pump had to run longer at higher speeds, reducing the energy savings the lower speeds made possible.
So, you start playing with shorter Polaris run times. I found that, in the pools I serviced, 90 minutes was enough. That was even in my pool, slightly larger than average, which is in a beautiful yard for everything except a pool. Evergreen doesn't mean they don't lose there foliage, it means they continuously do. Came with the house.

 

[TonyR68]

Hi All,

Thank you for your feedback. I’ll adjust the Polaris down to 90 minutes and will play around with the schedule to increase run time at lower rpm’s monitoring energy usage and FC.

Much appreciated

Tony