Howdy all, I live in the DFW area (Flower Mound) and it appears that I need to replace my pool pump. The pool pump motor was replaced prior to us buying the house (we moved in to the house in 2017, pool pump motor was replaced in 2015), and by our best estimate, the housing for the pump is ancient (like 2005 ish). Anyway, got a quote for replacing the pump for $2600. Does that sound reasonable?

I believe some new BS Let's Go Brandon legislation targeted pool pumps. They all have to be variable speed high efficiency now when replacing older units. They cost less to run, but much more expensive up front when purchasing. Does the whole pump need to be replaced or just the motor?

It really depends on the equipment, but that seems high.

Thanks all. So, the quote for replacing the entire pump was $2600 (labor included), or I can just replace the motor for $800. The guy said that the housing was from 2005, and the motor was replaced once before in 2015. If I replace the entire pump. I get a three year warranty from the company, but if I just replace the motor, it only comes with a 6 month a manufacturer's warranty.

I'm going to get a second quote next week, but I doubt it will be much different. He did say that there was some legislation that requires the pumps to be variable speed, and that increases the cost.

If the pump housing looks okay, I bet you could get another 5+ years out of it by just replacing the motor. I bought a motor on Amazon for about $200 and did myself a couple years back. Just have to buy new seals as well. My pool pump is similar age to yours and this is its third motor from what I can tell.

Here's how I'd think about the economics. To go another 18 years, you'd get the new pump ($2600) plus one new motor at some point during that time ($800) for a total of $3400. That's $189 per year. The alternative is a new motor at $800. So $800/$189 = 4.25 years. If you think you can get another 4.25 years from replacing motor then you could go that route.

If you do it yourself and it's only $400, then you just need the motor to last 2.1 years to break even.

Don't forget there's significant electricity savings with a variable speed pump. I was in the same spot a year ago deciding between replacing single speed motor vs. upgrade to variable speed pump. IIRC, variable speed will pay for itself after about 3 years based on the lower power consumption.

OP, your quote is the same as when I got a few quotes in Nov. '22. My two quotes came in at 2,600 and 2,800 installed (Pentair IntelliFlo). I ended up replacing my single speed motor myself, just couldn't pay the premium to upgrade at the time but I will next time my motor goes out. If you plan to be in this house long enough to see the electricity savings, and have the funds to upgrade, I'd go to variable.

Thanks for all the good advice. I'll keep you all up to date once we figure out what we will be doing.

At my old house, I replaced our pool's single speed motor with a variable speed. Bought the motor and new seals for roughly $400 and swapped it out myself. If you are at all handy and only the motor needs replacement, give it a try and save yourself some money. Also not mentioned earlier, the noise level on a variable speed is considerably lower than the single speed. That was a quality of life improvement when swimming. Good luck!

Agreed. Our single speed motor went out this past summer. The rest of the pump was in ok condition so we just replaced the motor with a new variable speed.

We went with the vgreen motor from Century (AO Smith). It's pretty plug and play if you know what kind of mounting bracket your pump has. We are pretty satisfied so far. As you mentioned the noise is way down.

I don't have a pool but am curious: can you take what is a single speed pump and turn it into a variable speed simply by a motor replacement? Or do you have to replace the entire pump?

Yes. We only replaced the motor with a variable speed motor. Rest of pump stayed the same.

91AggieLawyer said:

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I don't have a pool but am curious: can you take what is a single speed pump and turn it into a variable speed simply by a motor replacement? Or do you have to replace the entire pump?

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Yes, but as stated before it has to fit the pump housing. If you buy a variable speed motor make sure it includes a drive. You'll also need a controller to program your speeds but this is typically easily done with a control wire if you already have automation. If you only have a time clock, you'll need to buy a motor and drive that includes a controller.

Do you know what brand your pump body is?

What replacement for a variable speed motor are you being quoted?

Another thing to check when swapping for a variable speed is the voltage to the motor. If you're running in 230V configuration, then the Pentair will only handle 233V and the Jandy will only handle 243V. A lot of homes in Fort Worth that I've done installs on recently are reading as high as 256 volts at the panel. The Jandy you can run at 120V but it takes twice the amperage and uses more power.

Jandy complains that it's Oncor turning up the voltage to make sure no one loses power as the variable speed motors are sensitive to this.

I replaced my pump a few months ago. Did the labor myself and went from a 12 year old pump to one of the new ones. It wasn't cheap but well worth it. My BTU bill has decreased by over $100 a month since that pool pump was replaced. That's worth the money.

The biggest change is getting used to not pushing so much water during the day. Mine runs 24/7 with only a couple of hours on high. Other than that, it runs really slow. I just don't see the water moving like it used to.

This is the model: Pump, 2.7 HP Jandy FHP Variable Speed. At least that is what it said in the quote I received. The total cost is $2,619.40.

Thanks Bregxit! That's how you Texags!

Shumba said:

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This is the model: Pump, 2.7 HP Jandy FHP Variable Speed. At least that is what it said in the quote I received. The total cost is $2,619.40.

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That's a decent deal. I sell Jandy equipment. Unfortunately the last time I checked, a new motor & drive costs the same as a whole new pump assembly.

Also just FYI Jandy equipment purchased through an online retailer typically won't be warrantied by Jandy/Fluidra. It has to be purchased from & installed by a dealer.

Again, clarify with your installer on the need for a controller. If you just have a time clock now you'll need a separate controller to run the pump speeds.

I think I'm just foimg to go with the $800 replace the motor route, and wait on getting an entire new pump. We are hoping toove in five years or so, and I am not buying another house with a pool. Ha!

Purchased a Black and Decker pool pump for about half the price of Hayward and other name brand pool pumps (less than $ 1000).
Highly rated and we have had no problems.

One last thought before you drop $800, what does the pump do when you turn it on? Does it make an electrical humming noise and not start up? Or is it completely dead and makes zero noise?

If it hums then you may just need a new capacitor (the bump cover on top of the pump). Those are $50 at Leslie's.

It's running fine, but it's super loud and the general consensus from the pool pump guy and my regular pool guy is that the bearings are shot. It was ways a bit loud, but this is "wake you up when it kicks on in the middle of the night" loud.

The pump is probably about ten feet from our master bedroom, and it is really loud when it is running. Both my wife and I work from home, and she is working out of the Master Bedroom so she heard it during the day as well.

That makes sense, single speed motors are cheap enough that it's not worth splitting the case to replace the bearings.

How many gallons is your pool you think? Do you have an automation system or a manual time clock? How many HP and what is the service factor of your current pump?

Hello Corp_Ag12, I'm not sure I can answer all your questions, and at this point, the technician is set to come out later today to do the work, but I do appreciate your assistance (and all the other folks who have chimed in here). TexAgs is a great resource.

My pool is 13,000 gallons (estimate). We have an old-school automation system (it's a metal dial that turns on and off my main pump, and another dial that does the same for the Polaris pump). The technician said that if I purchased a whole new unit I could get a wifi capable one that would use an app, but I told him that, if possible, I'd rather use the system in place as it has not failed us in the 7 years we have lived here. It's old, but it works.

I'm not sure of the HP on my current pump, but the replacement was 2 HP, I believe. We have had it serviced at least twice since we moved in, but that was a while back. At this point, I will limp along until we sell the house. We have two kids in school here, and we love the area, but once my youngest graduates, I'm thinking we will be migrating to a less crowded area (also, hopefully, one with lower property taxes, but who are we kidding, everywhere in Texas has high property taxes).

Gotcha, just doing my best as a pool professional to help get you where you need to be.

With that size pool, you could go with a Jandy 2.2 HP E-Pump for the same price as the 2.7 FHP (theoretically) and run it at low speed. But I understand making it easy with a new motor replacement. The advantage of the variable speed is not only efficiency but noise reduction as well.

Hope everything works out!

Went through this last year. Originally bought B&D, but went with Calimar, per troublefree pool, same pump/controller, just 1 yr warranty vs black/decker at 3 or 5 and half cost. Variable runs much quieter, stronger at full power and some $ savings, though isn't going to cover your mortgage, ha.

Pool supply unlimited
CaliMar Variable Speed Pool Pump | 3HP | CMARVSP3.0

The prices quoted to the OP is very fair if it includes the warranty and the install. Those jandy pumps are rock solid and very efficient.

Be careful with the budget mickey mouse pumps you can buy on Amazon. Most of them are junk and you will be starting this circus over in 2 years.

Went through this last year and ended up with the VSP. I couldn't be happier. The savings was instantly noticeable on my CPS bill. You may want to look at the city or power company to see if they offer any rebates for switching to a VSP. In San Antonio the rebate from CPS varied from $100 - $400 I believe based upon the size of the pump.