Pool Filtration Cost Comparison
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Right now you filter your swimming pool for 8 hours every day. In this article we will look at how to calculate both your costs as well as your total filtration volume during this eight hour window. This will give you a much better idea how much it costs to filter your pool, and just how much value you are getting for your dollar. Next this 8 hour filtration schedule will be compared to a 24 hour variable speed pump filtration schedule to show you how you can filter exactly the same amount that you are filtering now, but pay much less for it.
When talking about variable speed pool pumps there are two ways to approach explaining their value. The first is to explain what you should be doing with your pool water, which is to say filtering the entire volume of your pool at least three times every day in order to achieve at least 95% of all the water in the pool being filtered at least one time daily. Some pool owners appreciate this information and some do not. Some pool owners counter this information by saying that they filter their pool less than three times every day and they never have a problem with their water. In this case I would attempt to educate the pool owner that there is a distinct difference between never having a problem, and having the optimal chemical maintenance and filtration schedule. In some cases I can convince a pool owner why more filtration actually results in less overall cost (and care) due to the reduced chemical dosing the pool will need with more adequate water filtration. In some cases the pool owner does not see value in changing from what they currently are doing with success. In this article we will be looking at the latter situation.
I want to convince you that filtering your pool volume three times every 24 hours is the minimum value that you should aim for with a residential pool. In the cases where I can not convince you this is a worthwhile effort then I still want to address the importance of upgrading your filtration pump to variable speed. In spring of 2021 all filtration pumps will be required to meet an efficiency standard that variable speed pumps can achieve but only the smallest and most efficient single speed pumps can achieve. This will change the residential pump market to be almost entirely variable speed for new pump sales and service to existing pumps. This article will show you that this is actually going to save you a lot of money. In this example we will be comparing an existing filtration schedule of 8 hours daily with both a single speed pump and a new variable speed pump.
Pool size: 16 x 32'
Average depth: 5'
Volume: 19,200 Gallons
The first consideration we will look at is the 8 hour filtration window that this pool currently uses. From this information we can find out the total volume of filtered water that we can achieve as well as the total power consumption for this filtered water. This establishes a baseline with which to compare a variable speed pump based on filtering the same amount of water that you do now with an 8 hour filtration schedule.
Single speed pump size: 1.5 HP
Power consumption: 1500 Wh (1.5 kWh)
Flow rate: 80 GPM
The totals for flow volume and electrical usage are easy to make with a variable speed pump. In this case the pump uses 1500 Watts per hour and the pump is running for eight hours total. That is 12,000 Watts total, or 12 kWh which is more useful for finding out your cost since you pay for your power consumption by the kilowatt hour. The nationwide average of $0.13 per kWh reveals the potential cost at $1.56 daily. The flow rate of 80 GPM achieved with this pump amounts to 4800 gallons per hour, or 38,400 gallons after the 8 hour filtration schedule. This is exactly two times the pool volume which means that the pool has turned over two times during this period of filtration. This results in 86% of the water in the pool being filtered at least one time and each turnover costs you approximately $0.78.
Variable speed pump size: 1.5 HP (2.2 THP)
Power consumption 750 RPM: 102 Wh (0.102 kWh)
Power consumption 1500 RPM: 266 Wh (0.266 kWh)
Power consumption 2500 RPM: 915 Wh (0.915 kWh)
Flow rate @ 750 RPM: 17 GPM
Flow rate @ 1500 RPM: 34 GPM
Flow rate @ 2500 RPM: 58 GPM
In this example we are aiming to match the existing filtration volume of 38,400 gallons daily which represents two turnovers of the pool volume every 24 hours. The exact amount of time that each pool needs at low speed, medium speed and high speed pump operation will be unique to each pool, as will the exact RPM values and the associated amounts of flow. Each pool system is uniquely built and installed so these figures can only represent one pool, not all pools. For this example we will be using 16 hours at low RPM followed by 4 hours at mid RPM and 4 hours at high RPM.
16 hours x 17 GPM (1020 GPH) = 16,320 Gallons
4 hours x 34 GPM (2040 GPH) = 8160 Gallons
4 hours x 58 GPM (3480 GPH) = 13,920 Gallons
Total volume filtered: 38,400 Gallons
So from this 24 hour filtration schedule we are able to match more or less the exact volume of water being filtered by running a single speed pump for 8 hours every day. The next thing to look at is the amount of power being consumed during this process. The single speed pump consumed 12 kWh of power in order to operate for 8 hours and filter 38,400 gallons of water, so now take a look at the energy consumption for a variable speed pump filtering the same volume of water every day:
16 hours x 102 Watts = 1632 Watts
4 hours x 266 Watts = 1064 Watts
4 hours x 915 Watts = 3660 Watts
Total electrical consumption: 6356 Watts (6.36 kWh)
Even when running a reduced filtration schedule where the pump only runs 8 hours per day the single speed pump consumes much more power than the variable speed pump running for 24 hours. In this specific case the single speed pump used 12 kWh and the variable speed only 6.36 kWh for the exact same volume of filtered water. That is a 47% reduction in energy use. Further, this does not represent the most optimal variable speed schedule, but just an easy adaptation to a 24 hour cycle utilizing long hours of relatively low speed operation. Further dialing in of the exact optimal filtration speeds and times could likely see the difference between the single speed pump and variable speed pump operating cost widen even further.
Pool pumps are a massive energy hog in your home and a variable speed pump will easily cut your energy use in half if you replace your older single speed pump. Of course nothing is that cut and dry in the real world and there are other considerations like the size of the pool, and the size of the plumbing, as these will both affect how much benefit you can derive from a variable speed pump. Technology tends to catch on slowly and surely some pool owners will be sore about being forced into purchasing a more expensive variable speed pump the next time they are pump shopping, but this genuinely is a good thing for pool owners and you are upgrading easily one of the worst offenders for wasteful energy use in your home when you eliminate single speed pumps from your pool system.
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Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool and spa specialist from Ontario Canada. With over 10,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the 2018 Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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