INSTEON and Variable Speed Pool Pump

[swanie2000]

Hello,
I would like to hear from anyone who has a large Insteon installation in their home, and has also installed a Variable Speed pool pump.

I am concerned the way the pool pump operates to vary the speed, would put noise back on the AC line, and that noise will interfere with the correct operation of all the Insteon switches.

I have nearly 80 Insteon devices in my home, and don't want to break that installation by trying to save money with a variable speed pool pump.

Any input or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[jpape]

I installed a Sta-Rite variable pump last year and it has had no affect on my HS install at all. I'm running both Insteon and z-Wave.

[swanie2000]

Thanks, that is great news. Did you notice a sizeable energy savings over the last year? I will check out the Sta-Rite pumps!

Any other people have experience to share about Insteon, and Variable Speed pumps?

[swanie2000]

Another thought, were you able to interface the pool pump with Homeseer in any usable way? Currently have homeseer running my 1 speed pump, different hours everyday based on water temperature.

Looks like the variable speed pumps would have to be programmed at the pump, and not remote controlled?

[joegr]

I have a variable speed AC blower, and it doesn't seem to cause any issues with Insteon.

[jpape]

Energy savings have been significant. I'm using about the 1/4 of the wattage as the old pump. I haven't looks at interfacing it with HS as it requires a separate plugin/hardware. I just run it 24 hours a days and use the programming available at the pump to change speeds depending on the time of day.

[swanie2000]

My setup is old school relays driven by Insteon modules. I currently have one to control the 1 speed motor, and 1 to control the solar heating valve. I use a 1-wire network to sample water temps. All this works well, and I do not want to re-invent my whole system.

I am looking at these variable speed motors as a way to cut cost, but I also do not want to spend a ton of money on a pool controller, and rs232 interface, and a plugin, just so Homeseer can play with it.

I looked at some of the specs of the Sta-Rite motors, and they say the motors have several speed presets. If I could select 2-3 or 4 of these presets by way of switch closures(relays) , I would be happy.

The rest of the code to operate the pool system could easily be handled by Homeseer with events.

Maybe I could just set it up like you did, get the savings, and then later figure a way to work with it through Homeseer?

Some of my concerns is I want full power to run the pool vac, for maybe 1 hour a day, then cut back to low speeds for constant filtration. This could be set by the time of day, and would always be constant.

However, when there is heat on the roof, I send the water up there to get it, and bring it back to the pool. It is a two story house, and I think it would need full pump power to get the water up to the roof. Once the water fills the heat panels on the roof, and falls back down, I would think gravity would help the water fall, and also create a suction that will help lift the water. Once this is happening, I should be able to cut the speed back to low power, heat the pool, and save money on power.

Only problem is the timing on when and if the water goes to the roof to get heated, varies quite a bit, so I need some additional way to talk to the variable speed pump. I have considered a two speed pump, but that is only about half the energy savings I can achieve with the variable speed pump.

Thanks again for your input, and testimony that the Sta-Rite variable speed pump indeed works well with Insteon. I was afraid the electronics on the motor, that varies the frequency to control the motor would feed back into the house, and disrupt my Insteon network.

So the concept is possible, I just need to find a cost effective way to implement it.

[CharlieWayne]

I believe a lot of the new energy efficient motors either be it for pool or HVAC are DC powered.

We run Insteon and have our sights on a Pentair Intelflow XF interfaced with one of these newer plugins that just became available.

We have a single speed pump now with controlled by a Insteon 240volt appliance switch. With over 60 Insteon Devices were doing fine and don't see any problems other than the plm issues.