Well pumps and SWs [RE-wrenches]

[Brad Bassett]

I think if you use a large pressure tank and keep the pressure switch 
hysteresis small, most people won't notice the pressure changes. I think 
constant pressure is an unnecessary luxury for residential use. And as 
Windy points out, and I concur in my view, it's got to be inefficient. 
If you use a soft start pump (at least one constant pressure pump and 
probably all of them work fine with on/off switching and are soft start) 
you avoid the power dip.


Brad Bassett
Alternative Energy Engineering
Olympia, WA office
brad at alt-energy.com



Windy Dankoff wrote:
> 
> Ken,
> 
> Kurt says no problem 3/4HP pump on SW5548, but it will cause a big 
> dip in the voltage every time it starts. The lights in the house will 
> dip -- fluorescents especially.
> 
> And, regarding the option of using a constant-pressure pump, this 
> helps in one way -- it uses a variable speed motor system with 
> soft-start. That's good. But, it runs MUCH longer time periods. 
> Rather than run at full speed only, then stopping, it spends lots of 
> time running at reduced speeds to balance against water demand. Not 
> only does this add extra running time, but the efficiency is lower at 
> reduced speeds. It's a little like using light using a light dimmer 
> -- less power during slow running, but at lower working efficiency. I 
> have not observed a constant-pressure pump in actual use, but I 
> believe it is a very poor choice for energy efficiency. If any 
> wrenches have some experience, please chime in.
> 
> Windy
> 

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