Suggestions on Power Savings and Balancing Costs vs Electric Demand with your SWG

[OfficeReefer]

Hello, TFP!

Here in North Texas (as in other places), it's been a brutal heatwave of over 100+ degree days for weeks now with some towards 107in the week ahead. With the temps high and electric warnings, this has caused me to evaluate better usage of electricity and running the SWG differently vs potential other options that would work if the pool is minimally used. I'd like to explore some suggestions of options for saving electric cost and demand for those with SWG and discuss how better usage of features, including if dosing could be useful this summer.

My pool in question is a 11250g with built-in spa and single upward jet in the walk-in area as a fountain. I have an IAqualink controller for the pool/spa with a Jandy E Pump 2.0, AquaPure PureLink with PLC1400 SWG, a Polaris 240VAC Cleaning Sweeper with Pump and Polaris OT 1.5 HP Blower. Typically, I try to keep my ph balanced around 7.6 but running the filter pump, unfortunately runs the fountain and creates extra pH creep towards 8 quite regularly in the summer. My current settings have the filter pump running about six (6) hours each day, with four in the morning and two in the evening at 70% for pool and separate spa. I also run the cleaner for four hours twice on the weekend during the late morning and ensured CYA is 60 or so. I do believe I may need to increase that with the constant evaporation and need for more regular top off.

While I don't know using power earlier makes much difference for where I am and the rates I have, I does appear to make a slight difference in power draw (5-10%) according to the Sense power monitor in my home. I've started to scale the filter pump settings back to five (5) hours now, starting at 4am and set the Aquapure to 80%. I presuming this will create 3-4 FC if calculated correctly. Another observation, is I notice when turning the spa option, this stops the filter pump fountain and seems to reduce power draw of the pool equipment by 30% or so. Is it possible to run the cycle this lean with higher CYA of 80-90 and would supplments of chlorine dosing on heavy usage days be more practical than longer run times? Lastly, could using other options like the spa instead of just the filter pump permit for SWG generation and water turnover to still occur but without as much pH rise and therefore maybe lower demand?

All comments and discussions welcome and please share your tips in the thread for others too, thank you!

 

[reggiehammond]

I run my intelliflo vsf at 1400 rpm 24/7. It only uses 146 watts at that speed.
RJ60+ runs 40% setting those same 24/7. Don’t know it’s exact draw, but know from meter that it doesn’t use much.

To me, having the convenience and guarantee of 24/7 chlorine production is well worth any savings, given the full sun and heat.
I think you’re risking not making enough FC to make it through the day, for very little gain. A SLAM cost in LC is likely a worse financial outcome.

 

[BowserB]

Tate, I'm not familiar with your pump. Is that a variable speed pump? If so, note what Reggie said. Power draw is not linear with speed. Pentair says of their VS pumps that 1/2 speed uses only 1/8 as much power. There is your potential power savings. I run mine at 1600 RPM for 12 hours 8a to 8p, and the SWG the same time although my IC40 is currently at 41% so it's not actually "on" producing chlorine for 12 hours. I've read the miracle of the SWG is that it constantly produces chlorine so the water passing through it gets superchlorinated briefly. That may or may not be true, but the power savings from slower pump speed definitely is true.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Just as the others have said, find the lowest your pump can go and still produce chlorine. Run it at 24/7 at this speed, with of course maybe a few times during the day at a higher speed to your liking.

Mine at low speeds uses as much electricity as a ceiling fan and frankly I do not even notice the pool in my electric bill.

 

[mknauss]

o the water passing through it gets superchlorinated briefly. That may or may not be true,

Its not true.

 

[ajw22]

This is typical energy usage of a VS pump…

My VS pump runs 24/7 at 1500 rpm with a few hours at higher speeds for cleaning and heating.

 

[OfficeReefer]

@BowserB This would explain what is occurring. It's not on at the moment and I'm pretty sure when it was on, it was using close to 1800w ratings. I found another thread here on adjusting the speeds.

Learning how to use my Jandy variable speed pump

I've been a pool owner for several years, but recently upgraded to a Jandy iAqualink with a variable speed pump. I programmed the daily operation to use a specific speed, but suspect I'm doing it wrong. My questions: 1. When I backwash the filter, how do I tell the pump to operate at a higher...

www.troublefreepool.com

Thank you, everyone. I had no idea this was there. The last question, is it possible to run this to the spa part of the time to ensure the pH doesn't rise from the constant fountain? In the same, shouldn't this be on generating some FC in that area of water or can the spa be just used when it is used?

 

[ajw22]

Thank you, everyone. I had no idea this was there. The last question, is it possible to run this to the spa part of the time to ensure the pH doesn't rise from the constant fountain? In the same, shouldn't this be on generating some FC in that area of water or can the spa be just used when it is used?

By fountain you mean your spa spillover?

Is your spa spillover running whenever your filter pump is running?

You need to enable spa spillover mode and then program the spillover on AUX3 to run once or twice a day for 15 to 30 minutes to freshen the water in your spa.

Jandy Aqualink RS - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

If you have a pool and spa you can enable the Spillover function with dip switch #3 on the main panel. When switch #3 is on then AUX3 becomes the spillover control. If you have any relay connected to AUX3 you need to move it to an available Aux position.

With Spillover turned on by AUX3 the POOL/SPA return valve will move to the SPA position. Water will be suctioned by the pool and returned to the spa.

The cam on the return actuator may need to be reset to fully close the spa return when in POOL mode.

 

[OfficeReefer]

I think the VSP is not adjusted. Here's what I saw this morning.

Filter Pump
Jandy ePUMP 1
RPM: 3450
Watts: 2451
AquaPure 80%
Salt 3100 PPM

 

[OfficeReefer]

By fountain you mean your spa spillover?

Is your spa spillover running whenever your filter pump is running?

You need to enable spa spillover mode and then program the spillover on AUX3 to run once or twice a day for 15 to 30 minutes to freshen the water in your spa.

Jandy Aqualink RS - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

If you have a pool and spa you can enable the Spillover function with dip switch #3 on the main panel. When switch #3 is on then AUX3 becomes the spillover control. If you have any relay connected to AUX3 you need to move it to an available Aux position.

With Spillover turned on by AUX3 the POOL/SPA return valve will move to the SPA position. Water will be suctioned by the pool and returned to the spa.

The cam on the return actuator may need to be reset to fully close the spa return when in POOL mode.

No, that hasn't worked well since I bought the place and the pool is about two years old. I think this comes on when one selects the quick option of night spa. I rarely see much spillover from the spa sadly.

What I am referring to is the 1ft upwards jet of water from the 6" depth where one steps into the pool. This did make a small fountain of sorts but doesn't now that I lowered it to 1250. It barely bubbles out now so I raised it to 1600 and will test that out. If I select cleaner, this appears to turn on another pump much like night spa with the jets and what not.

 

[H-12 1/2 Mike]

My filter pump runs 24/7 at 1300 rpm and uses 157 watts. We have CoServ as our utility supplier. My SWCG runs for 17 hours @ 40% to maintain FC @ 4.5ppm for a pool that is in direct sun all day.

 

[Bperry]

I think the VSP is not adjusted. Here's what I saw this morning.

Filter Pump
Jandy ePUMP 1
RPM: 3450
Watts: 2451
AquaPure 80%
Salt 3100 PPM

That pump is going very fast at 3450. You can save money by running it at that speed as little as possible. The only reason to run the pump is for skimming and to generate chlorine. It’s likely you only need to run the pump at 1200-1500 RPM 24/7 and use much less power, and get better filtering.

Find the lowest RPM that allows the SWG to operate and add a few hundred RPM to that. Then see how the surface skims debris. You can then adjust up from there for more skimming action if needed.

 

[proavia]

No, that hasn't worked well since I bought the place and the pool is about two years old. I think this comes on when one selects the quick option of night spa. I rarely see much spillover from the spa sadly.

What I am referring to is the 1ft upwards jet of water from the 6" depth where one steps into the pool. This did make a small fountain of sorts but doesn't now that I lowered it to 1250. It barely bubbles out now so I raised it to 1600 and will test that out. If I select cleaner, this appears to turn on another pump much like night spa with the jets and what not.

Post specific info about your pump - including model number.

And consider making your signature more specific too. Jandy everything doesn't really mean much.

 

[OfficeReefer]

Post specific info about your pump - including model number.

And consider making your signature more specific too. Jandy everything doesn't really mean much.

Thanks. I adjusted my pump through Aqualink this morning and runs a cool 240w! It's not generating the same power and fountain level but that should keep the pH more stable as well. After topping the pool off, I believe it still has adequate skimming at 1600rpm.

I believe I listed all my hardware in the question itself. Thanks for the suggestion in the signature.

Here's what I found on the TFP forums which resolved my issues.

Learning how to use my Jandy variable speed pump

I've been a pool owner for several years, but recently upgraded to a Jandy iAqualink with a variable speed pump. I programmed the daily operation to use a specific speed, but suspect I'm doing it wrong. My questions: 1. When I backwash the filter, how do I tell the pump to operate at a higher...

www.troublefreepool.com

Jandy epump....what are your speed settings?

Hi all, I'm going to replace my single speed Jandy pump with a Jandy ePump this weekend. I'm curious.......what settings do you run for normal pool circulation, spa, etc? There are bunch of options/speeds in iAqualink....just trying to decide how to configure the pump. All ideas...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[proavia]

I believe I listed all my hardware in the question itself. Thanks for the suggestion in the signature.

That's the plus of including that info in your signature. It will be there the next time you have questions - you won't need to type it all out again.

 

[OfficeReefer]

So I read through several of the posts on TFP about using the VSP series pumps (this is 2.7hp VSP ePUMP) and I think I have mine set correctly, but the spa spillover does not work well for whatever reason. In fact, with this lower speed, I have less of a pool fountain and minimal spa spillover. I'd like to keep the fountain from the pool return to a minimum as it causes premature wear on some of the sandstone flagstone coping but seems problematic at the moment. I have the pool or speed 1 option set to 1600 rpm, which appears to provide a decent amount of movement for light skimming and a minimal amount of water over the spa spillover. To get the spillover to work, I have to crank the RPM up to 3000 or so, which doesn't seem practical but may be how this is designed.

Here's my equipment with the valves and actuators, etc. Any thoughts on what could be the issue here? Are some of these valves or JVA supposed to be in this state?

 

[mknauss]

Close off the Spa Fountain.
Set up the Aqualink to create the Spillover function -- Jandy Aqualink RS - Further Reading

Then schedule the Spillover twice a day for 20 minutes or so to flush/chlorinate the spa. Adjust the rpm needed for Spillover.

 

[Jimrahbe]

OR,

Do you really want your spa spillover to run all the time?

If not, you can set up your automation with the spillover mode which only runs when you schedule it to run or you manually turn it on.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[OfficeReefer]

Thank you for the quick reply! I was just reading that article and noticed this section. I'm not really sure what I have at the moment but I think Aux1 has the cleaner. I do need the cleaner to work as I get lots of oak leaves in the spring, fall and winter. From what I can tell, the spillover runs all the time. I'd like to have one or the other since that would be more efficient to the pump, I would think or no?

How do I change from the current settings?

 

[ajw22]

In the Aqualink CLEANER uses AUX1.

SPILLOVER uses AUX3.

Spillover Mode​

If you have a pool and spa you can enable the Spillover function with dip switch #3 on the main panel. When switch #3 is on then AUX3 becomes the spillover control. If you have any relay connected to AUX3 you need to move it to an available Aux position.

With Spillover turned on by AUX3 the POOL/SPA return valve will move to the SPA position. Water will be suctioned by the pool and returned to the spa.

The cam on the return actuator may need to be reset to fully close the spa return when in POOL mode.