How a Robotic Pool Cleaner can Maximize your Pool's Energy Savings

In this article I go over the most energy efficient way to operate your pool and at the same time keeping it sparkling clean. If you want an energy efficient pool system it starts with a Variable Speed Pump. Adding a Robotic Pool Cleaner like the Polaris 9450 Sport just enhances your savings. Running a Variable Speed pump at a lower RPM and using a Robotic Cleaner to clean and circulate the pool water is the most energy efficient set-up for you pool.

The idea for this video came from someone at Jandy who suggested I make a video showing how a robotic cleaner is the most inexpensive cleaner type to operate. So as a tip of my hat to Jandy, Polaris, Zodiac – whatever the company want to be known as – I filled this video chalk full of their products. I have plenty of them on my pool route so it was not a stretch.

The numbers I state in the video are based on the rates that we pay here in Southern California – which I think are some of the highest in the Nation. We are on a Tiered billing system so the price per kWh starts at .15 cents and can go as high as .31 cents per kWh. So the savings of $1,500 a year I put in the last slide in the video is very accurate for California residents. Rates may be lower in your area and the HP rating also can determine how many watts the pump puts out each hour.

¾ HP = 1.26 kWh
1 HP = 1.72 kWh
1-½ HP = 2.14 kWh
2 HP = 2.25 kWh
2-½ HP = 2.62 kWh
3 HP = 3.17 kWh

This calculation does not include running the pump shorter in the Winter time or closing down the pool – which we don't do here in California. But it gives you a good idea of how truly expensive it is to run your pool pump. Even if you ran a 1 hp pump an average of 4 hours a day, accounting for less time in the Winter months it would still cost you $778.00 per year to run it in California. Compare that to a Variable speed pump running for 8 hours per day at 1500 RPM at a cost of $295.00 per year.

No matter how you look at it running a regular pool pump is costing you a lot of money. I wouldn't say rush out a get a Variable Speed pump installed if you have a perfectly functioning pump now. But when the motor goes out or the pump starts to give you problems it would make sense to get a variable speed pump installed.

I break things down even more in a Blog article including Gallons Per Minute, what a Variable Speed Pump RPM means, the amount of Watts a VSP generates vs a standard one speed pump, and much more since I am constrained here in the Video Description box. Click here to read more:

Variable Speed Pumps save you money by allowing you to run them at different RPM, lower or higher based on the need. a single speed pump with its 1 to 2 horsepower motor runs ceaselessly with no reduction in revolutions per minute (rpm) so the 1.5 HP pump example I use in the video runs at 2100 watts with no way to lower the wattage output. Contrast that with a Variable Speed Pump running at 1500 Rpm (26 gallons per minute) which runs at only 275 watts. A pretty significant difference. I will go over the gallons per minute later in this article.

The downside of running a Variable Speed pump on low RPM all day is that the pool will not look clean. It just doesn't push the water through the skimmer at a suitable pace. So even with a Variable Speed Pump you will need to run it on a higher speed for 2-3 hours per day. So running it at 2800 or 3100 RPM will short circuit your savings. Unless of course you drop a Robotic Pool Cleaner in.

A Robotic Pool Cleaner like the Polaris 9450 in this video will circulate and filter the water while it is running. The Polaris pumps about 70 gallons per minute so it acts as a miniature filtration system. It will also clean the pool floor, walls and waterline – leaving your pool sparkling clean. So with a Robotic Cleaner running 2-3 hours in the pool each day, you can leave the Variable Speed Pump on a low speed all day long. Note that if you have a salt water system you will have to run it on a little higher speed to get it to generate chlorine for a few hours each day. There is no way around that unfortunately. You will also need to run the pump on a higher speed to heat the pool and to run the attached spa if you have one.

So augmenting your Variable Speed Pump with a Robotic Cleaner is truly the most energy efficient combo. Dropping a $1,000 on a robotic pool cleaner isn't so painful when you realize that after the first year you will save enough on your electricity bill to pay for it. And it cost about .05 cents per hour to run the Robotic Cleaner as it converts 120 volts down to 12 volts.

Another note about running the filter long enough at a lower RPM to get one cycle of water through the pool filter each day. A 1.5 HP single speed pump will pump about 75 gallons per minute. So if you run it for 6 hours it will pump 27,000 gallons – so if your pool is 25,000 gallons that would equal one cycle through the filter. One cycle means all of the pool water passing through the pool filtration system. You would need to run your Variable Speed pump for 16 hours a day at 1500 RPM to get 25,000 gallons through the filter. At 275 watts per hour it would be a total of 4,400 watts per day or 2 hours of run time for your 1.5 HP single speed pump. If you off set this with a robotic cleaner like the Polaris 9450 Sport that pumps 70 gallons per minute for 2.5 hours or 10,500 gallons you can actually lower your Variable Speed Pump run time down accordingly.

I would highly suggest the FlowVis Flow Meter to get an exact gauge on the GPM at different pump speeds (RPM). This will completely maximize your energy savings if you know your exact flow. For instance if your pool is 20,000 gallons and you want to get one cycle of water through knowing the exact GPM flowing at different RPM settings will allow you to set your pool run time for the exact amount verses guessing or ball parking it.

FlowVis® Flow Meter - H2flow Review & Overview: http://youtu.be/8WFXje-NWBY

FlowVis Flow Meter to Set Your Pool Pump Run Time: http://youtu.be/aE1Pc6GisUw

So if you already have a Variable Speed Pump and you are in the market for a cleaner, I highly suggest you invest in a robotic pool cleaner to maximize your energy savings.

Related Videos:

Polaris 9550/955 Robotic Pool Cleaner Review & Field Test: http://youtu.be/DpTvayZtXf4

Polaris 9450 Sport Robotic Pool Cleaner – Review: https://youtu.be/-omfZaoCx-E

To order a Polaris robotic cleaner: http://www.swimmingpoollearning.com/#!polaris-robotic-cleaners/tu6go