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The Thinking Man's Pool

Option #1 - The Two Speed Pump

As a pool man of 20 years, people often e-mail or call me asking for advice on pool equipment.  While there is no one set of equipment that fits every single pool, there are some options that every pool owner should consider. 

These are options that pay for themselves over and over again in terms of pool operation and maintenance expense.  They also provide the pool owner with excellent water quality with minimal hassle.

FIRST OPTION:  TWO SPEED PUMP

The benefits of a two speed pump have to be seen to be believed.  Most pool guys will never even think to recommend this, but it just makes way too much sense to be ignored.

Think about it . . . the two-speed pump addresses the biggest concerns that pool owners have about their pumps, that being cost of operation and quietness of operation .

Concern #1 - Cost of Operation

Energy efficiency is a big issue with consumers and with power companies these days, although many pool guys still don't think much about it. 

Consider the following real-life comparison:

Pool #1 - The Traditional Approach Cost: $51.90 per month

This 25,000 gallon pool has a normal 1.5 HP pool pump.  It runs 8 hours per day.  It pumps abo ut 80 gallons per minute, which means that it circulates 38,400 gallons each day.  The pump draws 9.0 amps at 240 volts.  At a cost of 10 cents per kilowatt hour, that translates to a cost of $1.73 per day or $51.90 per month to operate the pool. 

Pool #2 - The 2 Speed Approach Cost: 19.50 per month

This 25,000 gallon pool has a two speed 1.5 HP pool pump.  It runs 12 hours per day in low speed. In low speed it pumps about 40 gallons per minute which means that it circulates 28,800 gallons each day.  (Remember that the pool only needs to turn the water over once each day). The pump draws 2.25 amps at 240 volts in low speed.  At a cost of 10 cents per kilowatt hour, that translates to a cost of $0.65 per day or $19.50 per month to operate the pool. 

Take a look at the chart to see how this works out:

In this example you are moving less water, but the reality is that most pumps are oversized and as a result the pools are over-circulated. The 2 Speed pump provides just the circulation that your pool needs at a fraction of the cost.

Keeping the pool circulating a longer period of time each day has a couple of advantages:

• The longer periods of circulation will help to reduce the occurrence of algae.
• If you have a salt system, you can run the system many more hours per day and get increased chlorine production if needed.

WHAT ABOUT SOLAR SYSTEMS? When a pool has a solar system mounted on the roof, a two speed pump may not be the answer.  This is because the rise to the roof creates 10 ft or more of static lift, and that number does not change when you put a pump in low speed and reduce the flow through the system.  With a solar system, it is often better to use a smaller single speed pump, such as a 3/4 HP pump that will give you adequate lift at all times.