“My pool pump is working fine, I will replace it when it dies”
We hear this phrase from customers often in the pool business. It is very hard to convince someone to replace their pool pump with an energy efficient one when they are dead set on running the current pump into the ground. Eventually that pump will die and it usually happens the Friday before Memorial Day weekend when a party of 50 is planned for Saturday. We enjoy taking care of those individuals so their party can go off without a hitch, but often ask why wait to replace your pump in the future when it turns into an emergency? Who wants that type of stress in their life especially when planning a party. Making an investment on your pool equipment when you currently have a perfectly good working pump might seem like a bad idea. Or that spending 3 times the amount of money on a new energy efficient pump might seem outrageous. But do you really know how much money you are going to save in the long run?
When thinking about upgrading your pump to an energy efficient model you have to consider a few questions.
- Am I ready to make the investment in a new pump?
- How long am I planning on living in my current home?
- Will I get the return on investment in time that the pump will need service or to be replaced?
- How much am I currently paying per month in energy for my current 1 speed pump?
- What are the other benefits of variable speed pumps?
These are all great questions to consider when thinking about making a large investment. Everyone’s pool situation is different from energy rates, current power set up, and daily usage of current pump. To simplify how much money people are currently paying for a regular one speed pool pump versus a variable speed energy saving pump we’ve broken down the numbers on an easy to understand calculation below. We used a 24 hour run time (common for our area), $0.15 KW per hour (WE Energies average for Waukesha/Milwaukee county area), average of 30.42 days a month (365 days per year/12 months).
1 Speed Pump = 2.0 KW power consumption when running
Variable Speed Pump = 0.25KW power consumption when running
Pump Cost
1 Speed Pump = 2.0KW x 24hrs/day x $0.15KWH / Variable Speed Pump = 0.25KW x 24hrs/day x $0.15KWH
$7.20 per day / $0.90 per day
$219.02 per month / $27.38 per month
$1,095.10 (5 month pool season) / $136.90 (5 month pool season)
$1,314.12 (6 month pool season) / $164.28 (6 month pool season)
$2,628.24 (12 month season) / $328.56 (12 month pool season)
Looking at the above numbers it is a no brainer to think about investing in this option simply for the return on investment. Taking these calculations into account if you have a 6 month pool season you are going to save $1,149.84 on energy costs alone! That means you are halfway of the cost of the pump and installation! Not only that, but if we install your pump for you we include a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty on the work.
The last benefit of the pump that we want to highlight is the benefit of noise reduction. A regular one speed pool pump generates 67 decibels of noise pollution. A Variable Speed Pump generates 45 decibels of noise. To give you a comparison, a library generates 30 decibels of noise. I don’t know about you but sometimes we get a headache when we’re around pool equipment too long and cannot hear ourselves think. So why deal with that sound in your backyard paradise when you do not have to?
***Decibel information source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, OSHA***
So as you prepare for this seasons fun in the sun and all the fun and activities you are planning to have in your backyard think about how much money and noise you could save. Did we mention that we do free energy audits and quotes? If you want more information on variable speed pumps we would love to answer any questions you may have. Otherwise soak up the sun and enjoy your backyard!
Justin Lex – Service Manager, Pool Enthusiast, Summer Fanatic