How Less Is More With A Variable Speed Pump

From www.swimmingpo... - In this video, a comparison is made between a single speed pump running for 8 hours per day on a variable speed pump running for 24 hours per day on a 16'x32' pool moving about 57,000 gallons of water. This video is a follow up to • How To Filter Your Poo... where a direct comparison is made between a single speed pump and a variable speed pump both moving the same volume of water per day, 38,000 gallons. These examples show how variable speed pumps can provide more filtration for lower costs than single speed pumps.
#efficiency #poolpump #swimmingpoolsteve

[@Original_Rando]

Power (kW) x time (h) = Energy and is measured in kWh. Good job showing how a variable speed pump can be tuned to meet filtration/flow and energy consumption goals.

[@Swimmingpoolsteve]

Thank you. For yourself or any others reading your comment in the future here is another video and article that walks through this process in more details: www.swimmingpoolsteve.com/pages/compare-savings.html

[@Original_Rando]

@@Swimmingpoolsteve that one botches the units as well.

[@Swimmingpoolsteve]

@@Original_Rando Ah I understand your comment now. Yes you are correct and I will be sure to be more clear about explaining how to calculate kWh. Cheers

[@jeffcassar6036]

I finally found a video of yours that had TDH in the equation. Unless I'm deaf/blind lol. This is fantastic. I like all of your videos! Do all of your videos use the 40ft TDH setup, or? My pool has ~40ft of TDH, so it's nice to see something very close to my setup giving me a rough ballpark estimate. I just ordered a Pentair IntelliFlo3 VSF 1.5hp model. Found it for $1300 on a website. My current setup is a typical Centurian 1HP single speed motor. 1HP single speeds are ~3500 RPM. Which i run about 12 hours a day. That cost me roughly ~$80/mo in electricity. Having watched several of your videos, I am really glad I went with the pump I did. 27GPM @ 173wH is absolutely insane. That's sipping power. I know my numbers will not be exactly yours, but it should be pretty close, and I can tune from there. As far as your three times turnover rate, my pool is ~35,000 gallons. I have 1 1/2 PVC coming from my skinner and main drain, so that's a maximum potential flow rate of 70GPM. I do not get that, but assuming I had adequate suction and a 2'' T instead of a 1-1/2'' T at the pad, I could achieve that. It would take 25 hours to turn my pool over three times. Based on the performance curve for the pump, I would need to run it at 90% power for 25 hours(only 24 hours in a day though). To be honest, I do not want to do that. I bought the pump due to the power consumption at such a low rpm and running it a longer period of the day, or just 24/7. Thank you for all of your videos. The internet is such a blessing and a curse.

[@ryancharles9252]

Hey...thank u for ur very informative videos...plz keep it up....!!!

[@richp5064]

Hey Steve just curious, you never touch on this. When planning a schedule how does a heat pump change things...they normally have min flow rate and I'm assuming this would make you have to run your pump run higher than needed to keep the heat pump working.

[@bradmorris5483]

So I’ve adopted your 12,8,4hr methodology, Do you recommend certain time frames? I currently do low from 6pm-6am mid 6am-2pm and high 2pm-6pm. I’m keeping motor noise and neighbors in mind here. Thoughts?

[@Swimmingpoolsteve]

Are you on variable power rates? If so you want to run your higher speed operations during the time when the price per kWh is cheapest. Power rates vary everywhere now so best to just look up your schedule and get the high RPM running at the lowest price per kWh and make sure the low RPM running happens during peak electricity rates. This will maximize your overall savings.

[@TastyBudsForYou]

Hi Steve, I’m a new pool owner and have been watching and learning so much. Can you tell me if when using a schedule with a variable speed pump, what time of day is it best to run the pump at the highest speed shortest time and the slowest speed for the longest time? Does it matter by season? I’m in south Florida. TIA

[@dwolent2329]

Looking to add a digital flow meter and noticed your now using blue-white f-2000. I saw previously the flowvis. Do you have a preference on either? I can only seem to find the f-2000 for sale online vs needing a dealer for the flowvis.

[@Swimmingpoolsteve]

I actually have both the Blue-White model digital flowmeters as well as the FlowVis digital flow meters. Honestly they are both really good and the best one for you will probably come down to price and availability. What are you able to find and what is the price - not all that many places carry digital flow meters. It is something we are going to see more of in the residential pool market moving forward, but something usually reserved for super high end pools and commercial pools. If I had my arm twisted and I had to mention a specific advantage from each, I like the FlowVis digital readout for being larger and backlit as this makes it easier to read. I like the F-2000 with the battery option especially as this means you can put it anywhere with no external power or wiring being needed. But comparing digital flow meters is like two rich people arguing about which color Ferrari is best...by the time you have a digital flow meter, ANY digital flow meter, you are light years ahead of the average pool owner.

[@dwolent2329]

@@Swimmingpoolsteve I found the FlowVis for 502.50 through RecSupply and the Blue-White for 374.99 at intheswim, both 2". I went with the FlowVis for the remote mount and display visibility. I also look at it as a check valve I can replace. I like the paddle wheel style of the Blue-White and believe it would have less interference against the water but again, I wanted the remote visibility.