Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: ole carter on September 04, 2007, 06:17:57 pm
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4 weeks in and the tub is excellent... except fo the running costs,our electric useage has trebbled... :o :o :o :o
Our tub is currently running on std mode, 4 cycles of 30 minute duration with the circulation pump on its default setting at 24hrs constant,with the heater coming on as and when required too maintain its set temp.
Water quality is very good at these settings,so is there anything we can do to reduce the electric costs but maintain quality thru out....
We have read the manual and can see that there is room for manouvre on all the heat and filter cycles/settings,but not sure wot to do for the best...
cheers Shell
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4 weeks in and the tub is excellent... except fo the running costs,our electric useage has trebbled... :o :o :o :o
Our tub is currently running on std mode, 4 cycles of 30 minute duration with the circulation pump on its default setting at 24hrs constant,with the heater coming on as and when required too maintain its set temp.
Water quality is very good at these settings,so is there anything we can do to reduce the electric costs but maintain quality thru out....
We have read the manual and can see that there is room for manouvre on all the heat and filter cycles/settings,but not sure wot to do for the best...
cheers Shell
The circ pump alone should do the job for filtering (especially if you have a good CD ozone unit in line with the circ pump). I'd cut out the main pump having to kick on to aid the filtration and thus save on power usage. You can always add it back in later if more filtering is needed but I doubt that'll be the case.
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I would agree ax out the filter cycles except circ pump. Is this your first bill since start up?? And what temp are maintaining?
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Thanx for the quick reply....
This is our first bill since start up and to be honest we have used it every day for approx an hr each time...
Water temp is being maintained at 39 degrees..
cheers Shell
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Thanx for the quick reply....
This is our first bill since start up and to be honest we have used it every day for approx an hr each time...
Water temp is being maintained at 39 degrees..
cheers Shell
Heck, that's only 7º about freezing. ;)
We keep ours at 101º. Are you guys in one of those Polar Bear clubs?? :)
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:-[ :-[ I know ...if was left up to the other half it would be 38 degrees.
Never mind when he aint looking up to 40 she goes. ;)
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7 degrees above freezing.... Smart a$$es... :D
I don't see the benefit of running a 24hr circ AND have a jet pump running on cycles for filtration? Those 2 systems seem redundant to me. Can Jacuzzi Jim or anyone else explain why Jacuzzi has this??
Carter; remember that the initial fill is costly to heat for the first 8 or 10 hours but you have one of the best spas available for heat retention so I wouldn't worry. Bank on a buck a day to operate it on average.
Steve
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7 degrees above freezing.... Smart a$$es... :D
I don't see the benefit of running a 24hr circ AND have a jet pump running on cycles for filtration? Those 2 systems seem redundant to me. Can Jacuzzi Jim or anyone else explain why Jacuzzi has this??
Carter; remember that the initial fill is costly to heat for the first 8 or 10 hours but you have one of the best spas available for heat retention so I wouldn't worry. Bank on a buck a day to operate it on average.
Steve
Most any spa with a circ pump will have some sort of secondary filtration or filtration cycle. In the 400 series Jacuzzi and the 800 series Sundance additional filtration in my opinion is not needed. The high flow circ pumps filter around 56,000 gallons a day then 1 main pump runs through a filter when its on.
In the 300 series Jacuzzi and the 700 series Sundance that have a normal size circ pump in them I believe they filter around 20,000 gallons a day not positive, but you can program pump 1 to run said amount of time during the day for additional filtration,is it needed probably not but it doesnt hurt.
Hot springs has pretty much done the same with there circ pumps they run 24/7 and any main pump runs through a filter as well,not sure you can program any kind of a filter cycle in a Hot springs??
I am sure you know a lot of this already but its the best I could come with for an answer. As for why Jacuzzi/Sundance do it this wayI could'nt tell you,probably some tech came up with it and it sounded like a good idea at the time.
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In 2005 Artesian went to huge circ pumps, before that they used 11 GPM circ pumps and I don't think any other filtration was offered when you bought the circ pump option in the Island series or with a circ pump standard in the 2 higher end series.
I always thought it was one or the other but not both, didn't think you needed both with a circ pump. I can see why it would be a good idea to have both occassionally as water can get cloudy after a party.
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So are you saying your monthly electrical bill went from $5 to $15?
(sorry, couldn't resist ;) ;D )
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So, are you guys saying the Jacuzzi/Sundance engineers are mistaken to design their filtrations systems as they do and have the factory default the way it is and recommend "redundant" filtration?
How can anyone estimate a buck a day without knowing cost of kwh?
Is that a Canadian buck a day or US?
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How can anyone estimate a buck a day without knowing cost of kwh?
Is that a Canadian buck a day or US?
Seems I just did. :P
Can/US dollar... what's the difference now? $.96 Whoopie....
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So, are you guys saying the Jacuzzi/Sundance engineers are mistaken to design their filtrations systems as they do and have the factory default the way it is and recommend "redundant" filtration?
How can anyone estimate a buck a day without knowing cost of kwh?
Is that a Canadian buck a day or US?
I didn't think the Sundance system filtered with the main pump and that all the filtering was done with the circ pump. I understood that when therapy pumps turned on there is a small secondary suction in the filter well to draw more water to the well itself. I would say you could program the four filter cycles to zero and be just fine. I am not sure how the Jacuzzi system works, but it must be similar, though the SD uses one filter and the Jacuzzi two.
First month electricity use will generally be higher than normal as the spa is new and gets lots of use. Also, any time you fill the spa, the electric will spike because you are heating from a cool temperature rather than maintaining temp.
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Make sure you check the dates of service on the higher bill. My first electrical bill, after getting my optima, was higher than I expected. But when I looked at the bill closely it was for a 5 week span when the previous bill was a 4 week span.
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I didn't think the Sundance system filtered with the main pump and that all the filtering was done with the circ pump. I understood that when therapy pumps turned on there is a small secondary suction in the filter well to draw more water to the well itself. I would say you could program the four filter cycles to zero and be just fine. I am not sure how the Jacuzzi system works, but it must be similar, though the SD uses one filter and the Jacuzzi two.
First month electricity use will generally be higher than normal as the spa is new and gets lots of use. Also, any time you fill the spa, the electric will spike because you are heating from a cool temperature rather than maintaining temp.
tony,
You are right. Current 800 series does not use jet pumps for filtration at all. Not sure about Jacuzzi 400 collection. Jacuzzi Jim?
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tony,
You are right. Current 800 series does not use jet pumps for filtration at all. Not sure about Jacuzzi 400 collection. Jacuzzi Jim?
On the 400 series high flow circ runs through a 60 sqft filter when pump 2 is running it pulls through something called a polishing bag replace every 6 months or so.
It basically is skimming water off the surface through the 60 sqft filter, pump 2 draws directly off the btm floor mounted suction which pulls any dirt/sand and water through the polishing bag according to Jacuzzi it can filter about 8lbs of sand. After the carnies got in our spa last year at the fair, I believe it!
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Oooooopppss.... after reading the manual again,and again,and again today I think......!,I might of got it wrong.
There is only ONE filter,that goes on at any onetime.This is done by the the circ pump alone,either on default setting at 24hrs or you can manually input your own start and duration times.
There are two modes....1.STD and 2.ECONOMY
1.When in STD mode the heater will come on as and when the temp drops half a degree over the 24hr cycle.Should you shorten the 24hr cycle too say 12 hrs and when the circ pump turns off,it will automatically turn back on when heat is called for,again for the duration of the heat up time then switch off again.
2.When ECONOMY mode is switched on this is where the other 4 filtration cycles come in.The heater will only work during these cycles thru their duration of running.
SO all the filtration is done thru the circ pump,no matter wot mode it is in....the other 4 cycles give you control over the heat source.( for warmer climates)
Hope that makes sense,and thanku for all your input....
Shell
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Trebbled? Do you mean "tripled"? If so, then it sounds like you may have mistakenly done what a few others did on this site with the current settings. I think you have a couple of ways to configure it and if done wrong, it drives your power consumption through the roof. My J-370 is essentially the same size (give or take 80 gallons) as your J-485 and my power consumption only increased an average of $20/month (even when run in Standard mode). Check the rating on your circuit breaker as well as the settings on your tub itself (black jumper blocks like on a computer motherboard). The short version is that you need to run at the 60amp setting and if you have it (mistakenly) set to the lower 30amp rating, you are burning through twice as much power as is necessary...i think (it's been a while). In my older manual these options are outlined on pages 7 & 8. Hope this helps