Running the pool pump is required to trigger the salt cell for chlorination even if the pool is algae-free. A variable speed pump would likely make a larger difference, as it did with our 30K gallon saltwater pool. The robot is quite the beast, so no doubt it has an impact.
Hey Bruce! Yeah absolutely. So I upped the chlorine production from the cell, from like 30% to 70%, meaning more free chlorine is produced, in less hours of the pump running. Plus make sure the conditioner (cyanuric acid) levels are strong, so that the free chlorine stays in the pool longer.
Also agree about a variable speed pump. A pool cleaning robot is good eliminating other pool maintenance - no need to skim for debris or scrub down the walls for grime build up. That's what it is used for - not meant to reduce filter time or water turn over rate. This isn't going to do anything when you have kids over and they pee in the pool, etc. A good filtration system is a must. I would not be a fan of reducing the amount of time your pump / filter runs each day. Might work for a bit, but long term you can have some challenges with maintaining proper chemical balance and actually maintaining a chemically clean (and safe) pool.
I have a similar setup. I have a salt water pool and a Dolphin robot similar to yours, it also has the WiFi function. What I like about it is how much time it frees up for me. I used to spend hours every week cleaning the pool with a suction brush also similar to yours. I do run the pump for many hours to keep the free chlorine level up. I might try increasing the chlorinator production and decreasing the filter run time. I am not sure if you have a sand filter but I have cartridge filters and they are not that hard to clean especially after you've done it a couple of times. I find that cleaning the filters periodically really helps keep the phosphate down.
Phosphates often mean an outside source is contaminating the pool, like if you have a well for yard sprinklers which happen to have a high phosphate level. As for saving money, electricity usage in pumping in pipes is proportial to the speed of the pump cubed. Most algae is in the water, and should get filtered by the pool filtering system. Get a variable speed pump, only run it at a moderately high speed an hour or two a day (to run the suction based bottom cleaner) then at half or less that speed (where it draws 1/8th the power). In my case I use a much smaller speed that turns over the water about once a day, and uses a small fraction of the original electricity. You still need to filter the water as well as clean the walls, so adjusting pump speed will still save a lot of money. Plus they are quiet.
As you mentionned running a 2000W pump most of the day is not the way to go, variable speed pump running fast for an hour then slowest speed throughout the rest of the day to filter the pool water twice in a day.. you’ll have fun doing the math 😉the robot is nice too but it’s main purpose is to scrub walls and pool floor for algae and deposits..also that cartridge filter should be replaced with a sand filter, backwash once a week and you would have the perfect setup
Very interesting topic for self sustainable living. Thanks, and guide would be nice. Living off grid is finally possible… didn’t even know you have second Chanel.
One, we also have a pool robot, though not quite as fancy as yours. We call him "Wally" after the little garbage cleaning robot in the movie. We refer to it as "tossing wally into the pool to clean it." He does a good job. Two, the best way to reduce your use of chemicals and keep your pool clean and warm is to put a cover on it. Our pool is a simple rectangle, so no problem. Your pool would take a little more work and money to get one for it. I live in the great white north, and only need to heat the pool at the beginning of the season. After that, the cover usually generates and retains enough heat that we rarely need to use the heater. It also keeps a lot of dirt out, making less work for Wally and I. Wally only goes in once or twice a week for a couple of hours, and I only need to clean the filter once or twice a season. Three, I also have a gas heater. I'm looking forward to seeing how your heat pump heater works out. Four, I have a variable speed pump. It runs 24x7, at the slowest speed during the day, and slightly higher speed overnight when power is cheaper to give the pool a good stir and keep the heat and chemicals uniformly mixed. We originally had a single speed pump, and the new variable speed, programmable pump is certainly saving us money.
@@TwoBitLife There is a little computer panel mounted on the pump. You can manually adjust the speed or shut it down for whatever reason, but you can also program it for particular speeds at certain times of the day.
@@TwoBitLife The pump is a Pentair Intelliflo, and we have had it for a few years now. The old pump died, and we upgraded to this one. I have never checked the power usage in detail, it is hard wired into the outside pool power panel. It is a lot quieter than the old one, and I can program it to optimize power usage. I am sure that many other manufacturers offer similar pumps, and that they also probably now come with wifi and remote control apps. Being in San Diego, you might not even need a heater if you put a decent cover on the pool. A big benefit of a cover is that It keeps the heat in at night when the pool is not in use. The pool heats up during the day, and cools down minimally overnight. Depending on what temperature you like your pool at, a cover might be all you need.
🔌I suggest a VFD first and highly recommend a Solar Ionizer. I made my solar ionizer from an inexpensive 5" x7 " solar panel, an old floating chlorine tablet dispenser with no tablets, and two copper 1/2 inch tubbings. Cost less than $25 and saves me well over half on chlorine usage. It's been in my 13,000-gallon pool for two years and now only clean the pool walls every other week. My water is crystal clear. I also run a solar boat bilge pump during the day to create water ripples so the bees and wasps stay away. I have a ton of plants around my pool. 🔌
As you mentionned running a 2000W pump most of the day is not the way to go, variable speed pump running fast for an hour then slowest speed throughout the rest of the day to filter the pool water twice in a day.. you’ll have fun doing the math 😉the robot is nice too but it’s main purpose is to scrub walls and pool floor for algae and deposits..also that cartridge filter should be replaced with a sand filter, backwash once a week and you would have the perfect setup
Running the pool pump is required to trigger the salt cell for chlorination even if the pool is algae-free. A variable speed pump would likely make a larger difference, as it did with our 30K gallon saltwater pool. The robot is quite the beast, so no doubt it has an impact.
Hey Bruce! Yeah absolutely. So I upped the chlorine production from the cell, from like 30% to 70%, meaning more free chlorine is produced, in less hours of the pump running. Plus make sure the conditioner (cyanuric acid) levels are strong, so that the free chlorine stays in the pool longer.
Also agree about a variable speed pump. A pool cleaning robot is good eliminating other pool maintenance - no need to skim for debris or scrub down the walls for grime build up. That's what it is used for - not meant to reduce filter time or water turn over rate. This isn't going to do anything when you have kids over and they pee in the pool, etc. A good filtration system is a must. I would not be a fan of reducing the amount of time your pump / filter runs each day. Might work for a bit, but long term you can have some challenges with maintaining proper chemical balance and actually maintaining a chemically clean (and safe) pool.
Looking forward to the rest of your projects, have fun 🙂
I have a similar setup. I have a salt water pool and a Dolphin robot similar to yours, it also has the WiFi function. What I like about it is how much time it frees up for me. I used to spend hours every week cleaning the pool with a suction brush also similar to yours. I do run the pump for many hours to keep the free chlorine level up. I might try increasing the chlorinator production and decreasing the filter run time.
I am not sure if you have a sand filter but I have cartridge filters and they are not that hard to clean especially after you've done it a couple of times. I find that cleaning the filters periodically really helps keep the phosphate down.
Absolutely! I love my pool so much now because it’s finally easy to manage
This was great! When are we getting more videos?!?
Phosphates often mean an outside source is contaminating the pool, like if you have a well for yard sprinklers which happen to have a high phosphate level. As for saving money, electricity usage in pumping in pipes is proportial to the speed of the pump cubed. Most algae is in the water, and should get filtered by the pool filtering system. Get a variable speed pump, only run it at a moderately high speed an hour or two a day (to run the suction based bottom cleaner) then at half or less that speed (where it draws 1/8th the power). In my case I use a much smaller speed that turns over the water about once a day, and uses a small fraction of the original electricity. You still need to filter the water as well as clean the walls, so adjusting pump speed will still save a lot of money. Plus they are quiet.
As you mentionned running a 2000W pump most of the day is not the way to go, variable speed pump running fast for an hour then slowest speed throughout the rest of the day to filter the pool water twice in a day.. you’ll have fun doing the math 😉the robot is nice too but it’s main purpose is to scrub walls and pool floor for algae and deposits..also that cartridge filter should be replaced with a sand filter, backwash once a week and you would have the perfect setup
Very interesting topic for self sustainable living. Thanks, and guide would be nice. Living off grid is finally possible… didn’t even know you have second Chanel.
One, we also have a pool robot, though not quite as fancy as yours. We call him "Wally" after the little garbage cleaning robot in the movie. We refer to it as "tossing wally into the pool to clean it." He does a good job.
Two, the best way to reduce your use of chemicals and keep your pool clean and warm is to put a cover on it. Our pool is a simple rectangle, so no problem. Your pool would take a little more work and money to get one for it. I live in the great white north, and only need to heat the pool at the beginning of the season. After that, the cover usually generates and retains enough heat that we rarely need to use the heater. It also keeps a lot of dirt out, making less work for Wally and I. Wally only goes in once or twice a week for a couple of hours, and I only need to clean the filter once or twice a season.
Three, I also have a gas heater. I'm looking forward to seeing how your heat pump heater works out.
Four, I have a variable speed pump. It runs 24x7, at the slowest speed during the day, and slightly higher speed overnight when power is cheaper to give the pool a good stir and keep the heat and chemicals uniformly mixed. We originally had a single speed pump, and the new variable speed, programmable pump is certainly saving us money.
How do you adjust the speed? Do you have data on the power usage at the different settings? Ours is called sharky
@@TwoBitLife There is a little computer panel mounted on the pump. You can manually adjust the speed or shut it down for whatever reason, but you can also program it for particular speeds at certain times of the day.
@@TwoBitLife
The pump is a Pentair Intelliflo, and we have had it for a few years now. The old pump died, and we upgraded to this one. I have never checked the power usage in detail, it is hard wired into the outside pool power panel. It is a lot quieter than the old one, and I can program it to optimize power usage. I am sure that many other manufacturers offer similar pumps, and that they also probably now come with wifi and remote control apps.
Being in San Diego, you might not even need a heater if you put a decent cover on the pool. A big benefit of a cover is that It keeps the heat in at night when the pool is not in use. The pool heats up during the day, and cools down minimally overnight. Depending on what temperature you like your pool at, a cover might be all you need.
Great video. The Sigma is a game changer. We live under a humongous oak. if I didn't have this cleaner, I'd give up on my pool.
Tackled our pool pump with extra solar panels. But I think I’ll look into this solution too. Love this channel!
Nice how is the solar wired ?
🔌I suggest a VFD first and highly recommend a Solar Ionizer. I made my solar ionizer from an inexpensive 5" x7 " solar panel, an old floating chlorine tablet dispenser with no tablets, and two copper 1/2 inch tubbings. Cost less than $25 and saves me well over half on chlorine usage. It's been in my 13,000-gallon pool for two years and now only clean the pool walls every other week. My water is crystal clear. I also run a solar boat bilge pump during the day to create water ripples so the bees and wasps stay away. I have a ton of plants around my pool. 🔌
interesting so ripples will keep the bees away?
@@TwoBitLife Yes and paper wasps.
What brand and model is your pool cleaning robot?
It's a geni.us/DolphinSigma
As you mentionned running a 2000W pump most of the day is not the way to go, variable speed pump running fast for an hour then slowest speed throughout the rest of the day to filter the pool water twice in a day.. you’ll have fun doing the math 😉the robot is nice too but it’s main purpose is to scrub walls and pool floor for algae and deposits..also that cartridge filter should be replaced with a sand filter, backwash once a week and you would have the perfect setup
Definitely needed topics home entergy use and water use great topics for home owners, can’t wait!
Sounds like you really cannot afford this house or lifestyle.