All About Your Pool Pump
It can be frustrating, expensive and confusing to purchase a pool pump. You don’t want a pump that’s larger than what’s actually needed for your size pool. If it’s too big, this can damage the filter and other components. Plus, it can consume a lot of energy and translate to high energy bills.
Let’s say you have a 2 HP pump that only produces 15 percent more flow rate than a 1 HP pump. But it consumes twice the energy for your plumbing system. You will be shelling out a lot more money each month with little return.
Pool pumps have two ratings: full rated and up-rated (or max rated). The difference between these types is the way in which the pumps are labeled in horse power (HP). Manufacturers often sell identical pumps in both versions, one with a lower HP but a larger service factor (SF), and other with a higher HP and a lower SF.
Most modern pool pumps are full load, also called braking HP, service factor HP, or operating HP. You can calculate this by multiplying the labeled HP by the service factor. This means a full rated 1 HP pump with a service factor of 1.5 has a braking HP of 1.5 – same as an up-rated 1.5 HP with a service factor of 1.
Both pumps have similar pumping capability and flow rates, which is why it’s so confusing for the average pool owner.
In addition to pump ratings, you can also buy pumps as single speed, two speed and variable speed. This is good if you have multiple flow rate requirements. You would need higher speeds for spa jets, water features, pool cleaners, faster filtering, and better skimming ability. Lower speeds are better for general filtering and circulation.
The good thing about multi-speed pumps is that they are less expensive to run at low speeds than high. For example, a two speed pump uses 1/3 of the energy on low speed vs. high speed. But in order to achieve the same filtering of water, you need to run the pump twice as long on low, yet you will save 33 percent in energy. Variable speed pumps translate to more savings at lower speeds.
While a single multi-speed pump can be good for pool filtering, spa jets and waterfalls, this isn’t always the case. If you just have one pump, you can’t get enough flow to operate many features at the same time. Additionally, the heated water in your spa should be kept separate from the rest of your pool.
You don’t want to introduce high flow rates through the filter, as this will detract from the lifespan of the filter and reduce efficiency. For optimal performance for spa jets and waterfalls, you need a high HP pump for each function. And when you have a separate pump for the spa jets, you can still achieve spa filtering and heating with the pool filter pump and right valve plumbing.
Spa jets have a higher pump HP requirement than pool filters do, requiring at least 15 GPM per jet or 1/3 HP per jet. For spas with several jets, you may not be able to get a pump with high enough horsepower. This is when multiple pumps separated by jet zones would be wise.
As far as circulation and filtering goes, large pools need larger HP pumps than small pools. For the average sized residential pool, these don’t usually require more than a 3/4 HP pump for good filtering. The below full rated pumps provide an eight-hour turnover for certain pool sizes and plumbing setups.
