Pools that are larger than 650 square feet of surface area generally have two skimmers, using today's construction standards. Spas that spill in to the pool should be added in this total. Spas that are "stand alone" and a separate body of water are not. The spill over acts as the skimmer. In general, larger filters tend to work more effectively. This is because it helps to have the water passing as slow as possible through the media for improved filtration though there are some limits with DE filters. Charging a DE filter does require some velocity in the tank so that an even coating of media is obtained initially. With a cartridge filter, bigger is usually better and I have not found an exception there. Sand filters with 1.5" diameter plumbing inside don't cut it with today's in ground pools. They need 2" pipes. For example, a Hayward S244T with a two inch multiport will not make my list since it's internals are 1.5". The same for a Pentair Sand Dollar. I would urge up sizing. With today's modern variable speed pumps and larger plumbing, after the initial charging, they can be slowed for filtering purposes. This does present some additional issues however. The pressure in the tank is reduced so the normal 10 PSI change we used to see with older, single speed systems, is now also reduced to a few PSI change. Drains are more accurately described as submerged suction outlets. Think about it for a sec. What if they were on the side wall, 18" down from the surface. They MUST be split to conform to today's construction practices. It keeps you safer. Pumps in a spa are typically still using about a quarter HP per port plus a blower. If the equipment pad is some distance, instead of a 1.5 HP pump, a 2 HP might be used but this is not the norm though it is distance sensitive. Scott

"a little kindness towards others can go a long way". Yes it can! In all those backyards, for all those years, I can count on one hand the number of homeowners that even said hello, let alone get us a drink, or make us lunch. We usually finished their pools on time, or early. A freind of mine at the time installed alarm systems. He did one for Roger Staubach. He never saw Roger, but Mrs Staubach, made them sandwitches and lemonaid. He still tells the story and that was 30 years ago. Since we are totally off topic, I got this one second hand, but the guy that told me seems pretty straight up. A pool cleaner did Nolan Ryan's pool. He saw Mrs Ryan sometimes and Nolan maybe once in a year. He was a huge fan, but too shy to ask for a autograph. Someone told him to leave a baseball on the table by the pool and maybe he will sign it. He did just that. Next time he cleaned the pool, the ball was gone, nobody was home. The week after, still no ball. Then one afternoon he went to cleaning the pool and noticed a ball on the table. Signed by not only Nolan Ryan, but half the Texas Rangers baseball club! With a note, that read. Sorry it took so long, good job on the pool. I bet that was the cleanest pool in North Texas......lol

Peter- Thanks for the link to the Intelliflo technical discussion. Obviously this was an Intelliflo only discussion and only addressed low speed efficiency. Variable speed pumps with BPM motors will always use less power than a PSC motor at low speed. There is no argument here. However, variable speed at higher speeds suffers from large power consumption due to two primary power robbers 1) high current inversion of AC to DC power in the VFD, which is very inefficient and produces a lot of waste heat as a result 2) Compromised impeller design because the impeller can not operate at peak efficiency for a large gpm range so the engineers have to make a choice where they want to optimize the impeller and at the same time a choice at where the impeller will not be very efficient. In the case of Intelliflo, from their published power, TDH and gpm curves, they have optimized for low speed operation and rightly so, but this choice also causes the higher speed efficiency to be miserable. Also of note, while I agree with your warning of using FLA to estimate power consumption, I would also add that the Intelliflo curve is true power consumption in watts and not FLA. Using FLA to calculate 2 speed pump power is worst case and, to your point, will only be better in the real world which makes the 2 speed even more favorable over variable speed. Just wanted to offer a balanced view here. Variable speed has its own merits, mainly low speed efficiency and ability to tune flow to plumbing resistance for optimum performance. But, to suggest using a variable speed pump for multi-tasking, which requires higher speeds, is not doing the energy conscious homeowner any good. In the case of pools with multiple water features or in-floor cleaners which require higher flows, multiple 1 speed or 2 speed pumps that are tuned for the higher flows will always save energy over a variable speed that is trying to inefficiently cover a large operating range. jj- In your case with a floor cleaning system...the floor cleaner will have to run for about 2 hours a day to get full rotation of the heads and full cleaning. For other hours of the day, the pump can ran at low speed allowing the pump to operate easier against lower resistance providing turnover and filtering for your pool. A variable speed or a 2 speed will both provide energy efficient operation for your cleaning and filtering needs. Only you can make the decision if you want to spend the extra money for the variable speed. To help you justify the extra cost for variable speed over 2 speed, use 200 watts per hour savings over 2 speed at low speed and 1,000 watts per hour cost over 2 speed at high speed. Knowing how long you will run the pump at high and low speed will allow you to calculate how much money is saved per day with variable speed and 2 speed, helping to make your decision. Hope this helps!

mike- If you want to go the simple 2 speed approach to save money, I would recommend at least the 1.5HP 2 speed which will be 1/4 HP at low speed and will provide adequate turns on your pool daily for filtration and chlorination. The 1.0HP at low speed is 1/5 HP and will require much longer run times to circulate your pool. With the right valving, the 1.5HP at high speed will be enough for your spa and cleaner. Also, I have seen 1 story solar panels work fine with 2 speed pumps at low speed. I think mas985 was referring to 2 story solar panels and with these elevations, the vacuum levels can reach the design limit of the panels, but even then, there have been folks on this forum that have successfully used 2 speed pumps on low speed for 2 story panels. Like mas985 says, the vacuum breaker has to be positioned at lower elevations and you should consult your solar panel maker for exceptions to their normal application guidelines. Variable speed will also do the job, but as you said, it is more money to begin with and the payoff will depend largely on your local utility rate. If my utility rate was $.30/KWH, I would have chosen a variable speed pump, but at $.07/KWH, the payoff would be over 10 years. All the above assumes no problems with the 2 speed or variable speed over its life. If the variable speed fails, you are likely looking an expensive total pump replacement. From recent posts on this forum, it seems that at least one variable speed manufacturer will not provide separate replacement parts for their variable speed pumps. If the 2 speed fails, you can replace the parts and be back up and running with a nominal expense. Hope this helps!