Central A/C or Swimming Pool Pump the problem?

14 years ago

The past two years my summer electric bills have increased significantly. I keep track of all my utilities, and therefore, have my kWh usage for the past six summers.

2006 - 10,250

2007 - 10,700

2008 - 8,049

2009 - 9,545

2010 - 12,425

2011 - 13,356

Two things happened in 2010, that I am wondering might be part of the problem. My A/C unit failed, and the HVAC repair person made a temp fix and told me it would last one week. Another HVAC guy told me it could fail in one week or three years. It continued to work in 2010, and all of 2011.

I also had to replace my swimming pool pump, which I replaced with an exact duplicate, Hayward 1.5hp 2-speed. I purchased a Kill A Watt monitor, but it is a plug in type, and both the A/C & Pump are hard wired, so I can't use the it to test the draw.

The house was built in 1998, and the A/C unit is builder grade, along with the furnace which actually has a date of 2006 on it.

I really want to learn what is causing the problem and fix it or replace it. BTW, I also have a hot tub, which was not turned on last year solely because of the utility costs.

I would greatly appreciate anyone that can tell me where to begin.

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Comments (5)

fsq4cw
14 years ago
House, pool, hot tub; have you considered installing a triple function geothermal heat pump that can extract the heat from your house in A/C mode and dump it into either the pool or hot tub? That could really lower your energy costs!

High up front cost though...

SR
bjsbuds1
Original Author
14 years ago
I did receive a quote for a 5-ton geothermal heating & cooling system from WaterFurnace for $23,158, but it did not cover my swimming pool. They said to add an air source heat pump for the swimming pool heater which would run another $5,000. I didn't get the feeling this system would help my electrical costs for my swimming pool pump or hot tub. Am I wrong?

Also, since my hot water heater and fireplace run on propane, I would have to replace the water heater, and continue to run the fireplace on propane.
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heatseeker
14 years ago
Have you considered the fact that it might have been colder this year than previous ones? alsop asw equipment ages and gets dirty it tends to draw more amps. aRE you maintaining your equipment? dIRTY FILTERS, dirty motors etc. will contribute to higher bills.
weedmeister
14 years ago
You might want to look into something like TED: The Energy Detective. It normally installs in your power panel to monitor the whole house, but you could install it to monitor just your AC and pool.

With it I was able to determine my heat pump uses about 3kw when running.
fsq4cw
14 years ago
A single triple function geothermal HP unit would heat and cool your home with forced air, provide full capacity hot water for your pool and hot tub and preheat the water going into your propane DHW tank reducing your propane usage. You could continue to use your exiting propane DHW tank or instantaneous DHW heater.

SR