When we bought our house the pool was already there, but the SuperPump (so old it wasnt even a SuperPump II) clearly needed to be replaced.

I originally bought a 1.5HP SuperPump II replacement (matched the HP of the existing pump). On the advice of a couple people here, I returned it for the .5HP (brand new at the time) Northstar. You can probably guess, it was a gigantic leap of faith to go from 1.5HP to .5HP, add in the fact that I had never run the pool before so I had no clue how much head was in the system, etc.

The Northstar was so powerful that even the liner installer said it might be too much. I told him its .5HP and they dont make smaller so I guess I have to live with it. 2.5 seasons later, I still cant hear the pump when its on (I let the grass behind the pump grow a little higher so I can see the grass moving from the air exiting the pump). Probably the second best investment I made in regards to the pool (1st being Bens test kit of course!)

I think the key is to do the research instead of just buying whats already there. Maybe pump technology hasnt changed much over the years, but the motors attached to them definitely have!

-Chris