Anybody has experience with the variable speed IntelliFlo pump ?

[pauster]

All,

I have been searching for someone who owns a IntelliFlo pump (either the standard ot hte 4 x 160 model) - this being a new technology I am a bit concerned about durability. But it could end up saving me a ton of money (8-% to 90% obver my single speed pump - according to my own calculations with a lot of generous help from Mark "mas985"

I would appreciate any feedback

Thanks

Patrick

[dep78737]

I don't have this pump or a 2-speed. The concept of slow efficient circulation makes a lot of sense but I personally think the savings are sometimes overstated. Bigger pumps often run much longer than needed, so much of the "savings" come from getting the run time right (1 to 2 turns, depending on who you talk to). The upfront costs for the pump and installation are higher too. That being said, I would certainly put in a 2-speed pump if doing it again today. The variable speed sounds great but the price and newness would make me wait a little longer. Long term, I'll bet they become commonplace, as already happened with cleaners and is rapidly occurring with controllers and salt systems. Variable speed pumps sound promising and you may want to be an early adopter.

[cschmelz]

I don't have this pump or a 2-speed. The concept of slow efficient circulation makes a lot of sense but I personally think the savings are sometimes overstated. Bigger pumps often run much longer than needed, so much of the "savings" come from getting the run time right (1 to 2 turns, depending on who you talk to). The upfront costs for the pump and installation are higher too. That being said, I would certainly put in a 2-speed pump if doing it again today. The variable speed sounds great but the price and newness would make me wait a little longer. Long term, I'll bet they become commonplace, as already happened with cleaners and is rapidly occurring with controllers and salt systems. Variable speed pumps sound promising and you may want to be an early adopter.

I think the most troubling part about the variable speeds is controlling them. I went with a Polaris EOS for my controller (got it for a song on eBay) but I've yet to see a good (and reasonably priced) interface between the intelliflow and my controller..

I went with a 2 speed pump given the newness of the variables... My old 2hp pump drew 13amps..my new 1.5hp 2 speed (1/5hp low) flows close to 40gpm on LOW at 2.8amps.... My old flow rates at 13amps were unlikely to be above 100gpm...Do the math..

Plus my 2 speed is basically silent...

[Mountain_Man]

I think I can answer questions you might have about the variable speed IntelliFlo pump. I retrofitted one to our pool as part of a major equipment upgrade in April. To date I am very pleased with the product. I choose the variable speed pump as part of a plan to upgrade our existing pool with an integrated spa later this year and wanted the flexibility that the variable speed pump offers. I am able to work within the capabilities of my existing plumbing and now have the capacity to work with any future upgrades that will require higher flow.

Having said that, at present I run the pump at its lowest available flow rate (15 GPM) for my 10 hr filter cycle. I also run my suction side cleaner isolated from the returns for an additional hour on top of the filter cycle at a slightly higher flow rate. Yes, it is a small pool at only 10K Gal. Running at 15 GPM the pump consumes between 125-150 watts and it is virtually impossible to hear running at those flow rates. As a result of the long duration filter cycle I am able to run my SWG at 10% with low CYA levels (under 50 ppm) and also relatively low FC levels. I have seen about a 10% reduction in our overall electric bill but it is difficult to determine based on such a short period of use. It has to be lower as the prior pump even at ¾ hp consumed something on the order of 1+ kw to perform the same task over an admittedly much shorter duration.

The pump interfaces well to my IntelliTouch controller providing virtually all of the information in the house that is available on the pump at the equipment pad. There are some limitations in terms of the ability to run the various flow rate programs available from the pump PLC that are not available when integrated with the IntelliTouch controller but it isn’t a major loss to the overall functionality.

I don’t see anything about the pump that would suggest that it won’t have the longevity of existing equipment. The only item that gives me any concern are the electronics that control the pump motor. The pump is more or less built around a 3 hp WhisperFlo wet section which I believe to be fairly reliable. The motor is new design but is based on motor technology that is commonly used in other industries. It also has an integrated fan that helps to keep it cool. Since in my application the pump is only running at a fraction of its rated capabilities 99 % of the time I would expect that both mechanically and electrically the pump should last considerably longer than an equivalent pump running closer to rated capability. I also believe that Pentair trialed these pumps for a number of years in the Las Vegas market. If the electronics didn’t fail under that high temperature environment I would expect that they will work in almost any US application. We’ll see as I live in AZ and the pump is certainly subjected to very high daytime temperatures.

[pauster]

Mountain_Man,

thank you for your shedding light on these various important aspects of running the pump - I think I will go forward if I can obtain one at a decent price (can you recommend a dealer ?). My pool is a basic 20K gallon ingound - see this thread for my learning curve on how to size a pump - see http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=2171).

Yesterday I measured the actual consumption of my current 1HP (sf 1.0) Hayward SuperPump and is was constant at 1200W as expected. It is like running an electric kettle 10 hours a day ...

To turn over the pool once per day I would probably need around 1 kwh/day (even if I double that it still saves me $350 for every 5 month pool season)

A two-speed Pentair wfsd-3 - same specs as the wfsd-24 - would save about $200 of our $400 per season electric bill for the pool.

Thanks

Patrick

[Mountain_Man]

Since your pool is roughly double the size of mine and assuming approximately the same turn over period you will need to move something on the order of 20-30 GPM. As a data point my pump uses about 250 watts at 30 GPM and 140 watts or so at 15 GPM. The actual power consumption varies a little bit in operation. I find that it climbs a little as a function of air temperature. So I may start out the morning at 125 watts and climb to 155 by mid-day when the sun shines directly on the pump. By late afternoon the power consumption drops back to 140 or so.

I originally looked at 2 speed pumps and decided that the flexibility offered by the IntelliFlo was sufficient to offset the price difference. It makes sense to me that by moving the water as slowly as possible I get better filtration and the long duration filter cycle allows for continual mixing of the pool water during the course of the day. This seems to lower consumption of chlorine even here in AZ where the sun is very intense.

I purchased all of my equipment online (pump, heater, SWG, filter, and automation system) and had no problems. I have used all of the following vendors:

Paradise Pool
American Best Pool Supply
Online Pool Supply

I purchased the bulk of my equipment from Paradise. The pump at these vendors runs from $1250-1325.

When I installed the pump I upgraded to a 20 amp service and changed the plumbing to incorporate unions on either side of the pump. Other than those minor modifications the pump replacement is a fairly straight forward one for one.