Please give you opinion on well pump power usage

[Keith Carlson]

I'm trying to get a very rough estimate of the cost of electricity to run a well pump.

Here's what I know: The pump is 230volt, 3/4 HP (from info on inside cover of control box). I do not know flow rating of pump, age, make or anything else about it. Just moved into this house 2 1/2 years ago and the well and pump go back before that.

On some website, I saw an estimate of 140 kWh per year for a 3/4HP well pump. This was based on 253 gallons/day usage. Well, with 365 days a year, it calculates out to about .0015 kWh/gallon. On my last electric bill, the cost was $.066 per kWh. Also, on my last city water bill, usage was 15,000 gallons. Bottom line, this would come out to $1.48 for electricity to pump the same

15,000 gallons. (The variable part of the city water bill was $80 for those 15,000 gallons).

For anyone who's looked into the energy cost, does that estimate look way off?

Bear in mind that I'm not trying to estimate future bills. I'm trying to get a rough, but accurate estimate so I know if there's a big difference in the cost of city water supply vs. water pumped from the well.

My house is served by a city water supply AND has a private well. When I moved in (up until a couple of days ago), the well supplied water for the outside faucets and the sink in the garage. The rest of the house is supplied by the city water. Just last weekend, the well pump stopped working. Of course, the big question is whether it's worth the $ to get it fixed. My first thought was that if the per gallon cost was similar, then there's no use fixing the well pump. If the well is MUCH cheaper, then it's worth looking into further and getting estimates.

$1.50 definitely is MUCH cheaper than $80. Just looking for a reality check.

Many thanks!

[John Gilmer]

The cost of electricity for a well pump for domestic use is "down in the noise." The major costs are: 1) drilling the well; 2) installing the pressure tank, pump, controller, and connecting pipe; and 3) being prepared to pay for #1 & #2 again if something "goes wrong."

You capital costs are on the order of $200/year. Your electric costs would be less than 10% of that.

As I tried to say, the cost is the CAPITAL costs. That's also true of your city water bill. You are paying for the distribution and treatment (and sewage) system bonds.

Whether you are on public waste water disposal is important. Typically, the sewage charge is 2 or 3 times the water bill. Note that many places will not let you operate a well when you are on a public sewer since they can't measure the well water you put into the sewer.

What you should compare is the $80 with the cost of bringing your well system back on line. The electric cost just doesn't matter.

>

[Harry K]

A reality check is that replacing the pump is going to run a big bill. My guess (and it is a WAG), at least $1500 minimum. Takes a long time to amortize that. Another WAG is that with a working pump the cost of well water is way under what the city charges.

Harry K

[Richard J Kinch]

I deduced a rule of thumb of 10:1 costs considering costs of city water vs electric power for a pump. So its not the power, its the equipment costs, including water treatment and other overhead, that will determine the economy. This is why where I live in SE Florida, people have wells and pumps for lawn irrigation even if you have city water.

[Keith Carlson]

Thanks, John.

Yep, I'm afraid to think what it would cost to fix the pump/controller/whatever.

My first step was just getting an idea of whether it's cheaper *when it is working*. If that wasn't much of a differenece, then I wouldn't even bother getting estimates. Since there IS a big difference, I'll at least go to the next step and see what the damage is.

[Keith Carlson]

That was my setup here. The well served only the outside faucets. So after getting estimates, I'll also need to estimate my outside water usage and figure how long it would take to recoup the repair costs. My gut feel is "not in my lifetime", but, we'll see.

[Richard J Kinch]

Hmmm. All I know is it costs me $1.50 in electric power to water my lawn once with the well pumps, vs $15.00 with city water. You can pay for a lot of pump with that kind of economy.

City water in most places has gotten too expensive for anything but household use. Here they *increase* the rates as soon as you use more than an "average family", no matter how large your household.