Pool Pump replacement - inground pool

It is a fairly complex thing to size a pool pump properly. This really depends on the sum of the suction and return head and the amount of water you are turning over. Without those numbers you are probably stuck with simply trusting that the original installer was right and use a pump with the same performance. Here are a couple sites I came up with when I was designing my pool

Talk to friends and see if there is a pool shop near by. Not one of the biggies. I had one in Tempe AZ called B&B Pools. A friend turned me on to it and they never steered me wrong. When my motor lunched I took it in to get rewound. They condemned it and sold me an smaller motor that fit the pump I had. The new motor used less amps and work solidly until I sold the home.

Usually you replace like for like hp wise. Better check the impellers on the pump for wear. You might need an complete new set up.

pools "The hole in the water where all the money goes."

Stick with the same HP pump you already have. If you pull the pump/impeller assembly off the back of the pump housing and take it to your local pool place. They will usually pull the impeller and swap the motor for you at no charge (other than the new motor).

A pool pump is pretty much a pool pump. X horsepower motor uses X amount of electricity.

Steve B.

Check out Leslie's Pool Supplies, they stock Hayward pump parts and they will rebuild your old pump for you!

Bill

Pool pumps are typically wrongly oversized, a very costly thing over time. The wrong $100 motor can cost you $1000s in wasted power.

You probably want 1.0 HP or even smaller for your size pool. It's not as complicated as the trade likes to pretend; it does come down to only 2 or 3 possible choices. Smaller is better as long as you get the job done.

Lots of pool pump motor sellers on eBay. Email them if they don't list what you need. Local shops may or may not give you a good price.

While true of motors in general this is not so in pool pumps. True efficiencies go down with larger sizes. The pump designs don't scale linearly.

Typically when the motor bearings fail in a pool pump, the rest of the motor is corroded to the point of not being worth repair, so you likely should replace the whole motor, although the pump mechanism may be salvageable.

The motor can't see what its connected to so it is just as efficent when connected to a pool pump as it is if its connected to any other device. Larger pumps may be less efficient than smaller ones but since the OP was trying to save money if possible I think we are safe to assume he isn't going to replace his 1.5HP motor with a 5HP unit.

I was wrong in one respect. A.O. Smith does have an energy efficient motor that, in the 1.5hp size, could save the OP around $40 per year and only cost about $50 more than the standard motor. I have reached the limits of my meager knowledge here and have no idea how they accomplish the added efficency. Details available at

Steve B.

Understand that PER GALLON PUMPED a smaller pool pump is more efficient than a larger one. Thus you want the SMALLEST pump that will do the job.

The job in a pool is mere circulation of some number of gallons per day. Pressure and flow are themselves not the job. Oversizing is very, very costly in the long run.

Although the newer pool pumps are more energy efficient and much quieter. If the pump and impeller are both old I would replace the whole setup.