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A Guide to Outdoor Gas Fireplaces
Imagine that you are sitting in your backyard on a cool, breezy night. You’re sipping hot tea and looking at the stars. The sound of crickets chirping and frogs croaking is nature’s symphony. The scent of jasmine is in the air. It’s the perfect...
Garden Furniture: A Natural Extension of the Home
Garden Furniture: A Natural Extension of the Home
In the past, the garden has traditionally been a separate entity, with wrought iron or plastic furniture dotting the landscape in no particular design pattern. Seen as simply a place to have a...
How to Grow Flowering Dogwood Trees from Seed
You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link,...
Tree Pruning Tips
You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, ...
What's in Store for National Home Gardening Club Members?
The National Home Gardening Club offer many benefits to its
members.
It is said to be the largest home gardening organization with
paid membership. For a nominal fee, various benefits are
available.
If you choose to become a member the...
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Pond Pumps Vs Pool Pumps
Pond Pumps Vs Pool Pumps
Often people install pool pumps to run their water feature
because of the initial cost savings of purchasing such a
pump. This is ill-advised for a variety of reasons; most
importantly, the use of a pool pump can lead to massive
increases in your electricity bill.
Also, many unscrupulous landscapers and some retailers
provide quotations that include the supply of a pool pump
rather than a pond pump in order to reduce the final cost of
the quotation in an effort to win the work. They do not
inform the recipient of the quotation of the running costs
of a pool pump.
Simple arithmetic proves that the initial cost savings of
purchasing a pool pump to run your water feature can cause a
blow out of staggering proportions in your annual budget.
This is especially true when keeping fish or plants, which
requires that your pump is running 24 hours a day to
oxygenate the water.
Running Costs
To calculate your operating costs per year multiply watts
your pump uses per hour, by the number of hours you run it
per year (if you run it 24/7 then use 8,760 hours per year),
then divide by 1,000 to convert it to kilowatts, then
multiply by your cost per kWh (kilowatt-hour) ($0.1447 in
QLD – see www.energexinstitute.com).
watts x 8,760 / 1,000 x $kWh = $ operating costs per year
Example 1:
A Blagdon Amphibious P8000 Fountain Pump (169 watt)
169 (watt) x 8760 (hours per year) / 1000 x $0.1447 =
$214.22 per year
Example 2:
An Average 1.0 HP Pool Pump (750 watt)
750 (watt) x 8760 (hours per year) / 1000 x $0.1447 =
$950.68 per year
Total Cost Savings = $736.46 per year ($184.12 every
quarter!)
Below we have compared the smallest pool pump generally
available against the largest pond pump generally
available:
Example 3:
An Aquashift 15000 Pump (210 watt)
210 (watt) x 8760 (hours per year) / 1000 x $0.1447 =
$266.19
per year
Example 4:
A 0.75 HP Pool Pump (550 watt)
550 (watt) x 8760 (hours per year) / 1000 x $0.1447 =
$697.16 per year
Total cost savings = $430.97 per year ($107.74 per
quarter!)
Above we have only considered operational costs; however
there are a number of other considerations when comparing a
pond pump to a pool pump:
Guarantee/Warranty
All Pond Pumps supplied by Water Features Online are quality
pumps and are backed up by Continuously Rated Guarantees of
varying lengths (2-5 years). Continuously Rated means that
the pump is guaranteed to run 24 HOURS A DAY for the period
of the guarantee.
Conversely, while Pool Pumps may be of good quality, the
guarantees are NOT continuously rated and they are usually
guaranteed to run for approximately 6 hours a day (read the
fine print!) for the period of the guarantee. If a pool pump
is run for 24 hours a day then this effectively reduces a 2
year guarantee to a 6 month guarantee.
Noise
This is a factor often overlooked. Pond Pumps are generally
submersible and therefore silent. Pool Pumps are generally
dry mounted somewhere near the water feature and can be very
noisy. This is counterproductive when introducing the sound
of water into a garden.
Maintenance
Both Pool and Pond Pumps require some basic maintenance,
they need to be kept clean and free of debris. However, Pond
Pumps have fewer moving parts than Pool Pumps, therefore the
likelihood of breakdowns are greater in a Pool Pump. Often
the seals on Pool Pumps degrade and need replacing regularly
whereas a Pond Pump generally does not have a seal.
About the Author
Danielle Dickinson is an avid water feature enthusiast. She is a regular contributor to Gardening Magazines. Visit her website http://www.waterfeaturesonline.com.au for more information on building and maintaining any type of Water Feature as well as a huge range of water gardening products.
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