Swimming Pool Pumps – Sizing

swimming pool heat pumps

When replacing a swimming pool pump motor a real constraint is the size of your filter system and the pipes. There’s no way to know if the builder sized the pool pump properly from the beginning. Oversized swimming pool pumps can consume lots of electricity needlessly; too-small pumps won’t keep your water as sparkling as it should be.

• If you need to change pump sizes

First, you want a pump that can circulate all the water in the pool through the filters within 8 – 12 hours. A 2 inch pipe has roughly a 73 GPM maximum flow. Pool filter manufacturers have performance data charts that will give you the flow rating for specific filter models.

You can see why a swimming pool pump motor that’s too powerful can strain and damage your system, wasting electricity in the process; while an undersized pump will never fully clean your pool.

Swimming pool pumps for above-ground pools are different than those for in-ground pools. You may hear terms like “low head pump”, “high head pump”; or “feet of head”. Technically, feet of head is a measure of the swimming pool pump motor’s energy output. Above-ground pools generally use low-head pumps. Lower swimming pool energy consumption is environmentally friendly. There are flow rate charts, available from the swimming pool pump manufacturers and supply houses, that can help you choose the properly rated pump. Hayward pool pumps, Pentair pumps, Sta-Rite and Jandy are well-known and respected brands for the residential market.

You may want to check out my other guide on Spa Pump

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