One of the many benefits of FilterBalls is reduced resistance compared to sand resulting in less pressure, increased flow, and greatly reduced power requirements in your filter system.
If you are operating a typical single speed pump, you will experience the benefits of increased flow and less pressure as displayed on your filter’s pressure gauge. This will result in more circulation and lower your cost over every turn of your pool’s water volume. While improved flow is better, it is important to stay within the filter housing manufacturer’s flow specifications.
You can get unmatched savings on your electric power bill by using a two speed or variable speed pump. A less powerful, lower cost pump may also be an option for you.
Several energy savings measurements of customer above ground and inground pools were documented to measure actual energy savings from FilterBalls vs using sand.
Flow meters were used to measure the actual flow in gallons per minute (gpm). Also captured was the decrease in pressure as measured in pounds per square inch (psi). Better flow improves the number of times the pool water is turned over, lower pressure also reduces energy consumption. They also experienced reductions in backwashing cycles; saving water, chemicals, and time.
The resulting benchmarks illustrate the kind of power savings that can be realized by using a two-speed pump, variable speed pump, or using a timer to reduce the number of hours running your filter pump. In these illustrations, we show actual savings based on reduced pump wattage consumption while maintaining healthy water circulation standards set by federal regulators.
Over the life of your filter pump, FilterBalls can return 10 times your investment in a variable speed or two speed pump!
You can save money by using the low settings on your variable or two speed pump for filtration and only use the high settings for backwashing.
________________________________________________
CASE STUDY #1 – ENERGY SAVINGS
Above-ground Pool for less than $4 per month Running the pump 24/7 for cleanest, safest water
Sample Benchmark: FilterBalls Blü vs #20 filter sand with a two speed pump.
- 12,000 gallon above-ground pool
- Hayward S180; 150 pound sand filter, max flow 35 gpm
- Qty (3) 50 pound bags of sand
- Hayward Super Pump, 1 speed / 1.5HP pump, 115v
- Replaced the sand and the pump
- Replaced sand with Qty (4) lightweight bags of FilterBalls Minis
- Replaced pump with Hayward .85HP Variable Speed Super Pump, 115v
- Monthly Electric Bill = $ 3.67 when meeting the Department of Energy recommended turn over (TO) rate of 1 turn over per day.
This above ground pool ran at three turnovers per day cost $149/month with sand compared to $15/month with 3 turnovers per day on FilterBalls, that’s a $134 a month savings with even better circulation and reduced chemical use.
________________________________________________
CASE STUDY #2 – ENERGY SAVINGS
Above-ground Pool for less than $ 25 per month
Running the pump 24/7 for cleanest, safest water
- 19,000 gallon above-ground Pool
- AquaPro 024; 300 pound sand filter, max flow 65 gpm
- Qty (6) 50 pound bags of sand
- AquaPro 2HP, two speed, 115v
- High: 3,450rpms-10.5amps / Low: 1,750rpms – 3.5amps
- Source water is laden with iron sediment, keeping the filter system running above 33 gpm reduced the sediment load on the bottom of the pool.
- Replaced the filter sand and the pump
- Replaced with Qty (4) lightweight bags of FilterBalls Blü
- Replaced with Hayward .85HP Variable Speed Super Pump, 115v
- Monthly Electric Bill = $ 24.08 saved $140 per month on electric bill and increased turn over by 50% or from 2 to 3 times per day.
Summary: Changing from sand to FilterBalls media saved this customer $110 per month, without changing the pump.
Replacing their 2 speed pump with a variable speed increased those savings to $140+ per month.
At the same time as saving $140/ month the turn over increased from 2 to 3 turns per day.
________________________________________________
CASE STUDY #3 – ENERGY SAVINGS
In-ground Pool for under $16 per month
- FilterBalls running 24/7 at 1725 rpm, 32 gpm
- 8,000 gallon In-Ground pool
- Carvin L250; 350 pound sand filter
- Hayward 1.65HP, Variable Speed Super Pump, 230v, single phase
- 2.2 PSI with 32 gpm on just 147 watts of power
- Gas heater minimum flow requirement is 28 gpm
- Chlorinator minimum flow requirement is 26 gpm
- 46,000 gallons / day = to greater than 5 turns /day
- Monthly Electric Bill = $15.88!
Summary: Variable Speed pumps yield electric costs as low as $ 2.38 per month, and are unique in the ability to match flow with system demand (heaters, solar panels, water features, chlorinators, etc.)
________________________________________________
CASE STUDY #4 – ENERGY SAVINGS
Sample Benchmark: FilterBalls Blü vs #20 filter sand with a two speed pump.
- 29,000 gallon In-ground Pool
- Carvin L250; 350 pound sand filter.
- Qty (6) 50 pound bags of sand
- Replaced the filter sand and the pump
- Replaced pump with Waterway 2 speed / 1.5HP pump
- Replaced sand with Qty (3) lightweight bags of FilterBalls
- Monthly Electric Bill = $ 40.18!
^^ High setting: 12amps / Low setting: 3.1 amps / 24 Hour operations, 30 days per month
Electric rates used above are $0.15/kWh (not including customer charges, taxes etc.)
FilterBalls combined with a 2 speed pump will save pool owners $67-$115/month.
Moreover, turnover rate of the pool water is not sacrificed resulting in healthy, cleaner water. While the low setting on the pump did achieve 28 gpm with sand, that flow rate is not enough to operate the chlorinator nor the pool heater.
Bottom line – using FilterBalls can reduce your monthly power consumption while maintaining the flow you need for clean water, heating system and salt generator flow operating requirements.
Monthly savings can be 60 to 80% depending on your filter system design.
Share your stories with us at info@filterballs.com
Commercial pool operators can contact us for our commercial pool
power savings benchmarks