In early December I had my pool pump replaced. The new one is supposed to be similar to the last, it is a Jandy Flopro 1.5 single speed pump. I had a huge electric bill recently and the next one is gonna be as bad, I have been going nuts over all my other usage, which is quite frugal, when I remembered something the pump installer did/told me. He tested my freeze protection by placing the wire/lead (I'm sorry IDK what it's called) in ice water. My wire is contained within the metal unit, not external to the air, if that makes sense. He said because of this I need to have my temp set higher, which does make some sense, but he set it at 40! So even tho the winter has so far been mild here in N Texas I am sure that there were nights my pump was running all night when it didn't need to. The best I can figure is my pump uses about 1.84kwh. My electricity was running about 12 cents an hour, I just got a better plan so it will be better but...! I went out and reset it to 36 but I thought I'd ask you all what you do. Of course I don't want the pump to not kick in during a freeze but I cannot afford these bills. FYI I am also running it for 4 hours a day right now. Thanks for any advice!
Thoughts logical on high electric bill??
- Thread starter cbaird99
- Start date
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
Have you checked you electric usage with the pump off and with the pump running? Just to be sure that you don't have something else causing this?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 66,235
- Pool Size
- 35000
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- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You can safely lower your freeze protection to 33 or 34F. Things do not immediately freeze when the temperature hits 32F.
To understand when you need to worry about the pool or equipment freezing read The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection.
To understand when you need to worry about the pool or equipment freezing read The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 66,235
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
They did after July 2021. Seems like vendors are unloading inventory to unsuspecting buyers prior to the regulation effective date.
99,
You definingly picked the wrong pump.. I have a 3 HP VS IntelliFlo pump that runs 24/7 for less then $20 bucks a month..
Set your freeze control to 32 or 33 degrees..
Even if your single speed pump ran for a day or so, I can't see that by itself causing your electrical bill to be "huge"...
We are missing something....
Thanks,
Jim R.
You definingly picked the wrong pump.. I have a 3 HP VS IntelliFlo pump that runs 24/7 for less then $20 bucks a month..
Set your freeze control to 32 or 33 degrees..
Even if your single speed pump ran for a day or so, I can't see that by itself causing your electrical bill to be "huge"...
We are missing something....
Thanks,
Jim R.
I have found that in the lower South, unless the temperature is forecast to be below 25 for several hours, pipe freezing is not an issue. There is usually enough heat in the ground for protection above that. I should add that my equipment is under a roof so there is minimal heat loss due to radiation.
I have a VS Pump and didn't buy the extra module so I could change freeze protection so it runs around 40 also
My solution is I just turn the pump off, my water temp is below 50 and will stay clear all winter with no chemicals.
My solution is I just turn the pump off, my water temp is below 50 and will stay clear all winter with no chemicals.
Thanks everyone for your help! As for the pump, it was the most I could afford to do, variable speed were out of my price range, and was told that to go over 1.5 hp would put too much pressure on all the existing plumbing. IDK if that's true, it's quite old so it made sense. Re my usage, I am looking at other things but what I noticed was that my usage jumped up right after this was done, and also looking at my usage by the hour it was jumping up in the middle of the night on colder nights, when the only thing running were my heater and the pump. I keep my house temp at 67, quite low for me and that did not change, so I am working on the pump end as well as getting my ac unit checked.
Can someone also help me do the math on the cost? If I am doing it right my pump uses about 1.9 kwh, so if it was set too high and ran all night, call that 8 hours, that's almost $2 a night which adds 60 a month? Plus what its already running during the day, even in the winter here its full sun and often in the 60s and 70s so it seems to me I need to run it, I am still having to add chemicals altho less.
Can someone also help me do the math on the cost? If I am doing it right my pump uses about 1.9 kwh, so if it was set too high and ran all night, call that 8 hours, that's almost $2 a night which adds 60 a month? Plus what its already running during the day, even in the winter here its full sun and often in the 60s and 70s so it seems to me I need to run it, I am still having to add chemicals altho less.
As you're finding out, the cost is more than the initial cost.
A variable speed pump can be run at low speed 24/7 for about $20.00 per month.
Also, there are rebates available for some people. Example:
Austin Energy offers a $300 rebate per unit to customers who install qualified variable-speed pool pumps.
Pool Pumps
savings.austinenergy.com
- Apr 10, 2018
- 6,510
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- 18375
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- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Unless you get a lot of debris in the pool during the day, you don't really need to run it the pump during the day. Since I'm on a time of use power plan, I run my pump about 6 hours at night during winter. I add chemicals in the early morning while the pump is running.
- Jan 7, 2012
- 2,142
- Pool Size
- 21000
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- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The energy savings of a VSP will very quickly make up for the upfront cost. I run my IntelliFlo 24/7 at 1000 rpm (75 watts). This costs me around $5 a month in electricity.
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,688
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- 12300
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Mike beat me to it. In addition to possible lower energy costs, if you schedule your filter run during the coldest part of the night, then you will save some money. You have to run your pump for X hours in a 24 hour period to provide filtering, right? If that schedule occurs when the pump is running for freeze protection, then you're not doubling your efforts (and costs). Instead of the pump running freeze protection and then later running for additional time for filtering, those can happen at the same time.
Here's a frostline map. Any pipes below the frost line where you live aren't going to freeze. Protect pipes above ground with insulation. That will make adjusting your freeze protection setting closer to 32° less risky. PS: adding the city in which you live to your profile will help us help you. This discussion is a good example of that. You should update your signature with the new pump at the same time.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,688
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
You might try appealing to the installer, offering to buy a better pump if he takes this one back. He sort of screwed you over, IMO, especially the part about:
If you want some tips about how to get rough with him, I can offer them. But for now, it can't hurt to ask. You claim you couldn't afford a VS pump. We know that when it comes to replacing a single-speed pump, a VS pump will end up costing less over time...
* Copyright 2021 RahbeCorp, Inc. All rights reserved.
A VS pump is adjustable! You can dial them down to near nothing. As Jim sometimes says, they really should be called "Variable Horsepower*" pumps. There is a startup sequence that pumps a lot of water for the first few moments, but that too can be adjusted down. Your installer knows that (or certainly should have). As mentioned, I think he saw a way to unload a single-speed pump he had in stock, because he knows later this year he won't be able to sell it at all.
If you want some tips about how to get rough with him, I can offer them. But for now, it can't hurt to ask. You claim you couldn't afford a VS pump. We know that when it comes to replacing a single-speed pump, a VS pump will end up costing less over time...
* Copyright 2021 RahbeCorp, Inc. All rights reserved.
Why anyone would put in a 1.5hp pump to filter a pool in today's era is a mystery. A quick solution would be to change the impeller. I believe the smallest rating is a .75hp for that pump. Thirty years ago Sta-Rite was having us do that for our customers. I would regularly see a reduction of 40% in power usage by going from 1.5hp to .75. It also improve the hydraulics of the entire system.