It's number crunching time.

23,000 gallons of water on a 8 hour turnover would require 50 gpm.

23,000/8/60

Now a 1.5hp mag force pump puts out a measly 65gpm@ 60' of head. A 3/4hp whisperflo will match that and then some.

The nice thing about the intelliflo is that you will only need one pump to run everything. A pool spa combination is the perfect environment for the variable speed pumps.

You can have a mode that will run 50gpm for 8 hours a day for basic pool filtering, and to run the heater. You could even run it at a lower speed and extend the run time. Then when you change to the spa mode it will return the water through the jets, and then you can bump up the RPM to give the jets more strength. You have done all of this with one pump.

I do not know how many amps the jacuzzi 1.5hp takes to move that measly ammount of water so I cannot say how quickly you will get an ROI. If it were a new installation I would tell you that it woudl be foolish not to use an intelliflo, but at this point it may be something you are better off waiting for the old pump to croak before moving up to an intelliflo.

BTW the jacuzzi brand is not the same as the one that makes the hot tubs. I honestly never see their equipment so I cannot testify to it's quality.

QUOTE
"Though he said that the pump he installed is very good (and I have no reason to doubt the brand name"

That is hilarious. Jacuzzi has been bankrupt for years. Once bought by Cantar and then out again. It always was the biggest piece of junk out there. Especally the "TRI-CLOPS" filter. Try finding cartridges for those today. This pump will fail as most others do from the usual. A cracked housing that you will not be able to replace. due to its poor design flow, you are better to replace it the sooner , the better. Any other pump is better. Racket pretty much gave you the reasons.

adguy,

Don't know the specs on your equipment, but here's a ball park figure on savings:
- scale back current equipment to 1 turn per day (approx 8 hours)to get your electic bill down to $27-$33 per month
- if you then change to an intelliflo, you can approximate a 50% savings if you double the filter time... so an intellifo filtering for 16 hours per day (1 turn) will get your bill down to $14-$16 per month

-Gorilla

Im new to all of this but after reading alot on the different pumps, I would think you would save alot just by figuring the proper run time to get 1 turn per day with your current equipment. Its kind of pointless to replace perfectly good running equipment thats efficiency isnt far off base considering you run it 24/7. Also from digging around, I think your plumbing size (larger less resistence) has almost the same importance on energy savings as does your pump. So if you have smaller plumbing, say 1.5", you may be disappointed with the savings after changing the pump. As far as the spa, I would keep 2 pumps, look at the thread Intelliflo VF vs. VS Question, it will explain where and why the intelliflo is efficient at low speeds but very inefficient at high speeds. Therefore, just because the intelliflo will run the spa, doesnt mean it makes sense to use it to. Again, I dont know much about this so I may be wrong, but read the link below before you do anything.

Here is a link that might be useful: Intelliflo VF vs. VS Question

adguy,
It doesn't appear that your pool/spa is automated. Using a VS pump with a controller will allow you to operate your spa functions without going out to the equipment to turn valves. IMO, all pools should have time clocks.

"Also from digging around, I think your plumbing size (larger less resistence) has almost the same importance on energy savings as does your pump. So if you have smaller plumbing, say 1.5", you may be disappointed with the savings after changing the pump. As far as the spa, I would keep 2 pumps, look at the thread Intelliflo VF vs. VS Question, it will explain where and why the intelliflo is efficient at low speeds but very inefficient at high speeds."

There has been a huge movement going towards larger piping to increase efficiency, and this isn't always the case. With medium head self priming pumps they require a certain ammount of TDH to maintain their peak efficiency. Every pump has one, but the Intelliflo has thousands of peak efficiency points.

If you compare an intelliflo VS @ 3450 RPM vs. a whisperflo 3 hp you will find that the intelliflo VS draws slightly less power, Moving 150 GPM. Now if you compare it to Jandy's very questionable and, downright false IMO pump curves, it will be less efficient. I still question Jandy's ability to move over 180 gpm w/ a 3hp pump, and a self priming impeller. There is no government oversight on pump curve, so they can pretty much juke the figures as they please.

I understand that there is a point of diminishing returns as far as pipe size, I was just making a generalization. As far as the example, correct me if Im wrong, the data you cite is not real world but rather computer generated based on engineered models of the pumps in an ideal setting for each particular unit. So in a real world application, you may actually find the opposite power usage as you state above. Additionally, efficiency is a sum of the parts, not just efficiency at one given point. For the question at hand, the total # hours dedicated to each function i.e. filtering, cleaning etc should be figured and compared with a proper sized pump for the application, not the Intelliflo vs 3HP whisperflo. More along the lines of the Intelliflo vs 1.5HP pump, or 2 sp etc.

"For the question at hand, the total # hours dedicated to each function i.e. filtering, cleaning etc should be figured and compared with a proper sized pump for the application, not the Intelliflo vs 3HP whisperflo. More along the lines of the Intelliflo vs 1.5HP pump, or 2 sp etc."

I was responding specifically to this statement "it will explain where and why the intelliflo is efficient at low speeds but very inefficient at high speeds."

It's doesn't lose efficiency compared to a regular single speed pump at high speeds, it comes close to, or beats a single speed whisperflo in efficiencies. I dare you to find me a 2speed 3hp (true 3hp), or a pump that will work at 4 different speeds using the right amount of energy to get the job done, no more no less.

In the real world I have yet to see one of these pumps move less water moving more energy.

"More along the lines of the Intelliflo vs 1.5HP pump"

Still less power, at least in my testing. I have yet to deal with anyone who has put one of these pumps through its paces and pass a negative judgment on it.

"So in a real world application, you may actually find the opposite power usage as you state above. "

Where are you getting this from? I can sell any pump I want, and I am not married to Pentair, nor is Repairguy. We are real pool professionals that are in the upper echelon of our trade, yet people still don't believe what we have to say. I never believe brochures, and I am fortunate enough to be able to take the time to do field testing of products, and everything I have experienced has refuted most of the naysayers claims.

This pump is great, and other than extremely high flow low head applications, I have yet to deal with any other product that is as dynamic and well built, as this pump. In a high flow low head application( ponds waterfalls), you lose self priming ability, but can create greater efficiency, but no pool pumps currently being marketed can do this, you have to go elsewhere, but those products are not UL listed for swimming pool applications so its pretty much a moot point.

Sorry racket, I wasnt trying to discredit you in anyway. If I have offended you I apology, it wasnt my intention.

The intelliflo efficiency claims remind me of peoples claims on the mpg's their diesel pickups get. Most people you ask will tell you they get 18-20 mpg (some say even more) but they never actually calculate or monitor their fuel consumption. They have been continuously told thats what those trucks get and they just blindly believe it. The fact is, anyone who actually hand calculates their mileage under normal driving is only going to realize 12-14mpg, 15 if you drive like grandpa.

Im not saying the intelliflo is a bad pump at all, I really believe it is probably the best pump you can buy. I am just stating that noone has any real hard long term power consumption data to show it saves over other setups, maybe it does, maybe it doesnt. Even if you did, it would only be accurate on the particular pool it was in. Its not always a one size fits all. Same as highway mileage on the truck, flat land in florida at 60mph probably 16-17mpg, 75mph in the hills 11-13 mpg. A gas truck you would see the same as the diesel at 60mph flat land, in the mountains it would be more around 8mpg. The situational aspect dictates the efficiency and what truck to buy just like pump.

subl,

That's why those who install give the facts and let the owners decide. When I'm approached on a motor replacement or pump install, I give the options in single speed, 2 speed and variable. Any good technician in any trade should do that. The owner makes their choice based on budget and our experience and there we go. We know the facts. Personally any choice to not install a variable speed pump WHERE ONE IS WARRANTED, is a bad choice and I walk away from the completed job, whatever it is, with the feeling that the owner lost out on the chance to save big money. Every install is different but overall, the numbers add up. You can't argue a watt meter and what is says before and after at the same gpm.

adguy-

Good question related to replacing your existing pump with an Intelliflo. At $.06/KWH the return on investment of an Intelliflo over a timer will be a long time. Get a timer soon and start saving significant money month after month. The Intelliflo pump will not be that much more efficicient than your existing setup, especially if you plan to use it for high flow situations. I only mention this because it sounds like you may be thinking about using it for multi-tasking. The Intelliflo is not very efficient above 1800 rpm or 80-100 gpm so stay away from this pump if you want to run at high flows for more than a couple hours per day.

I'm with subl1002......variable speed pumps will save some power at low speed because the motor efficiency has a bigger affect on overall pump efficiency because the impeller is not doing much work. At high flow, the impeller is doing a lot of work and, if not designed properly, is very inefficient regardless of motor efficiency. This is the problem with any variable speed product....there are design tradeoffs that have to be made when trying to make the product perform well across the entire rpm range of the motor.

racket - you indicate you are not biased, but managed to bash Jandy in your post above, which indicates to me you are biased. I challenge you to provide data on the larger Jandy pumps to disprove their published gpm/watt efficiency before bashing them and promoting Intelliflo based on your opinions. Since there are no regulations in the pool industry....."in god we trust, all others bring data"