Our tub has a single 2-speed pump, I've been told that this is very energy inefficient. Is this true? if so, is it then a good idea to add a circulation pump in addition to the 2-speed pump? can this even be done?
Hi there, a dual speed pump on low speed will draw more current in general than a small circulation pump - but not that much more. "Very energy inefficient" is probably way too strong of a term for this - I dont think you would see anything signigicant in terms of savings moving to a dedicated circulation pump. Switching to an air source heat pump from and electric heater would produce significant savings - but there is at least 18 months before you see the savings surpass the outlay of the heat pump - Hope that helps - Andi
@@Buildahottub Hi Andy, thanks for the answer. The dual speed pump uses !400W at low speed and a Laing Universal E14 Fixed Speed Pump would use ˜110W so that would be another ˜300W savings for running the pump. I was thinking that If I have to do the pipework for a heatpump anyway, then why not also add a lower power draw circulation pump. Although it's not clear to me how the piping would have to change, and how to configure the SPA pack (.e.g does the circulation pump have ot run 24H a day etc.).
No problem, if my calculations are correct, 300W saving on average USA KWH costs (23 cents) is around a 7 cents per hour saving. When not heating, on an average hot tub the pump will run for about 45-60mins per day just filtering so you are looking at minimal savings here - 5-7 cents a day. If the new pump costs $250 it would take you a year before you made any savings excluding the costs of the other parts and half a day of your time to fit. Not sure I would go to the effort to change the pump and add new inward suction drains (about 40 bucks each) for that small leval of saving. Adding more insulation and a thicker cover would save you more in running costs in my opinion than the pump change would. Hope that helps - Andi
Our tub has a single 2-speed pump, I've been told that this is very energy inefficient. Is this true? if so, is it then a good idea to add a circulation pump in addition to the 2-speed pump? can this even be done?
Hi there, a dual speed pump on low speed will draw more current in general than a small circulation pump - but not that much more. "Very energy inefficient" is probably way too strong of a term for this - I dont think you would see anything signigicant in terms of savings moving to a dedicated circulation pump. Switching to an air source heat pump from and electric heater would produce significant savings - but there is at least 18 months before you see the savings surpass the outlay of the heat pump - Hope that helps - Andi
@@Buildahottub Hi Andy, thanks for the answer. The dual speed pump uses !400W at low speed and a Laing Universal E14 Fixed Speed Pump would use ˜110W so that would be another ˜300W savings for running the pump. I was thinking that If I have to do the pipework for a heatpump anyway, then why not also add a lower power draw circulation pump. Although it's not clear to me how the piping would have to change, and how to configure the SPA pack (.e.g does the circulation pump have ot run 24H a day etc.).
No problem, if my calculations are correct, 300W saving on average USA KWH costs (23 cents) is around a 7 cents per hour saving. When not heating, on an average hot tub the pump will run for about 45-60mins per day just filtering so you are looking at minimal savings here - 5-7 cents a day. If the new pump costs $250 it would take you a year before you made any savings excluding the costs of the other parts and half a day of your time to fit. Not sure I would go to the effort to change the pump and add new inward suction drains (about 40 bucks each) for that small leval of saving. Adding more insulation and a thicker cover would save you more in running costs in my opinion than the pump change would. Hope that helps - Andi