Replace Single Speed Pump to Save Energy?

10 years ago

Hi,

I'm trying to wrap my head around what I should do with my pool pump configuration on would appreciate any input. Here are the details:

50K gallon pool w/ integrated spa in Northern VA
Polaris 280 pool cleaner
Hydramatic pool cover that we keep closed whenever the pool is not in use
Autopilot SWG
Pool will be open from April through October

Current pumps:
Pentair 011018 IntelliFlo 3HP (we set this at 2100RPM to run the waterfall/stream feature when people are in the pool, that is currently its only use)
Pentair WFE-6 Whisperflo 1.5HP (this is currently our primary pool filter pump, it is one speed and is set to run from 5am-11pm every day)

We have energy monitoring on all circuits in our house. The pool house subpanel is currently using about 41kWh per day of electricity, which is a substantial portion of our total electric usage. I believe almost all of this usage is driven by the filter pump. Our electric cost is $0.12/kWh.

This is a brand new pool, so all of the equipment is at the beginning of its service life.

What is the best / most cost effective way to improve the energy efficiency of this setup? Some options I was considering were swapping out the motor on the WFE-6 for a two speed or swapping the InteliFlo in as the primary pool pump and trying to find a single speed pump that will generate the right flow rate for the stream / waterfall feature to replace it.

I would appreciate any input.

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Comments (2)

PRO
www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com
10 years ago
The majority of your cost is coming from that 1.5hp whisperflo. You already have the Cadillac of variable speed pump technology, the Intelliflo, so why are you using it to only run the waterfall? That is kind of like owning a Lamborghini but only using it to drive to the mailbox at the end of your driveway.

Why not switch those two pumps with each other, or potentially replumb the system so the waterfall has a bypass so it can run off of the filtration pump also? Using just the Intelliflo should save quite a bit on power usage, depending on what you program it to run at.
MongoCT
10 years ago
If the Whisperflo will create too much flow for the waterfall, and if it's not practical to plumb the Intelliflo with a valves so that it can do both tasks?

I'd recommend you get a second Intelliflo.

Yes it's expensive. But with the pumps pretty much being interchangeable plumbing-wise, you can easily do the swap out yourself.

When I replaced my Whisperflo with an Intelliflo, I was shocked by the reduction in energy used. My Intelliflo schedule is for it to run at a low RPM for most of its ON-cycle and then at a higher rpm for a 90-minute cleaning cycle.

I went from over 30kWh/day to less than 5kWh/day with no loss of water quality. With my electric rates and an April-to-November season, my pump paid for itself in the first year.
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