Quote Originally Posted by gpnyv View Post
Shouldn't they be selling pumps based on how much they will cost to operate - IE - consumption in KW/h?
Until recently, that hasn't been a priority. The California Energy Commission now requires manufactures that sell pumps in California to measure their pumps and they now publish a database located here. The database has the flow rate and energy use for many pumps on three different plumbing systems.

The three plumbing conditions included in the database are:
  • Curve-A which represents fairly restrictive plumbing typical of an AG pool or an IG pool with 1.5" pipe size.
  • Curve-B which represents extremely high head loss conditions. Not many pools would fall in this category.
  • Curve-C which represents less restrictive plumbing typical of pools using 2" pipe size.

So if you are so inclined, you can download the database in spreadsheet form and see what each of the pumps draw in terms of energy. But keep in mind, that a pump on your pool plumbing may draw more or less than that shown in the table.

However, if you are just interested in getting the most energy efficient pump, I can certainly help in that area. Generally, speaking, the smaller the pump, the less energy it will consume so just sticking with that will save energy. Second, a two speed or variable speed pump will reduce energy even further. But which is more cost effective depends on three primary factors:

Size of the pool
Run time of the pump (i.e. # turnovers per day, should be no more than 1/day)
Cost of electricity

Your plumbing setup has some influence as well such as pipe size and distance from the pool but these are secondary factors.

So if I can get some details on your setup and what you pay for electricity, I can help further.