Help Me Choose A New Pump

[njmurvin]

My electric bill is getting ridiculous and the pool has to be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest culprit.

I have a 24 year old pool (depth 3'-5') with about 20,000 gallons (18x38x4). I currently have a relatively inefficient, single speed 2hp pump. It is a very simple pool: no heater, just two skimmers and a separate suction port for the Barracuda cleaner. I have a valve that lets me control the suction between the skimmers and the pool cleaner. I have very large DE filter.

I have been looking at variable speed pumps but am wondering if that's overkill for me. Can anyone make a recommendation for a good quality efficient pump that would work in my environment? Also, my pool guy is running the filter 5 hours per day. Can I reduce that? If so, by how much?

[jscribn1]

I'm in the same boat as you although my pool is not quit that old. I'm looking at a variable speed pump also as my electric bill is killing me!! From my research you will actaully want to run your pump longer but at a slower rpm so the water is turned over slower. I watched some youtube videos on the pumps and one of them said that if the rpm's are decreased by 1/2 the electrical usage is cut by 1/8! It almost sounds too good to be true. My problem is which brand to go with. I have all Pentair equipment now and their Intelliflow VS pump looks good but my local Leslies is really pushing the Hayward Eco Star. Both are the same price right now. I've posted a question on here to get some feedback on both so we'll see. Let me know what you end up doing and how it works for you. Good luck.