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The truth about Pools and Electricity Costs

By
Real Estate Agent with DeLex Realty

I had someone tell me that a new pool motor was going to save them $150 per month in electricity.I hate breaking peoples high hopes about saving money with electricity but the fact is, you can't beat physics. While I am a proponent of high efficiency, I believe strongly in the use of VFD (variable frequency drives) to limit costs (basically what is installed on your variable speed motor to make it more efficient for pools), it is almost impossible to save that kind of money on an average pool.  

 

Electricity is billed by the KWH (Kilowatt Hour)

On average in the United States, residential electricity is billed at the rate of 12 cents per KWH. This means that a 100 watt light bulb, burning for 10 hours will cost you 12 cents. (100 Watts X 10 Hours = 1,000 Watts / 1,000 (Kilo) = 1 Kilowatt Hour)

The average pool has a 1 Horsepower motor

Knowing the average pool runs on a 1 horsepower motor and runs 8 hours per day, we can simply do the math. I will help you cheat a little and tell you that 1 horsepower converts to about 1,000 watts of electricity, thus a 1 horsepower motor runs on average at 1 kilowatt hour, per hour. This means our average pool motor burns 8 Kilowatts of electricity per day. 8 Kilowatts of electricity on the national average cost of 12 cents per KWH = 96 cents per day x 365 days per year = $350.40 per year or $29.20 per month.

So know the math

Know the math when making these choices on how to save electricity. Overall, despite what people want to believe, unless you have a large pool with a big motor and you run it 24 hours per day, it is not likely the cause of your high power bill.

Posted by

James (Jim) Lord

jim@jimlordregroup.com

www.jimlordregroup.com

480-648-3378

Comments (1)

Mick Michaud
Distinctly Texas Lifestyle Properties, LLC Office:682/498-3107 - Granbury, TX
Your Texas Lifestyle is Here!

Jim, Jim, Jim.

But you don't understand!  The marketing materials and sales rep said it is a "high" efficiency motor! 

 

:)

Great educational post.

Mar 28, 2017 12:30 PM