Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Has anyone tried any solar pond pumps like these.

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/geo_liquid.php
The missus is cracking it about the power bill so I need to get more efficient.

I had one and it was useless.
The panel didnt have enough power to run the pump, let alone charge the battery.
Every morning it needed to be turned on when the sun came up.

Perhaps you can start looking at ways SHE can cut her power consumption....

Ha don't go there, she's one that turns off power points at the switch even though nothing is plugged into it!

Are you sure your AP system is the big power user? I am running a 65w water pump and a 20w air pump 24x7 and hardly noticed any difference on my power bill.

Can you get hold of a power meter to check all your appliances?

Hahahaha.... I like that... Power might be leaking out hey...

Yeah I think generally the consumption is pretty low on most AP systems... And if it isn't low, then you either have a huge system (which will be producing lots) or your using over sized and/or inefficient pumps.

Hey Bundy

What is the Power Consumed of all your Gear, in total if they where running 24/7 that will give you an indication..

You need to take into account that when Pumps Turn on they reach about 800% of total draw for a Short Time..

Could you down size the pump[Watts] in your system..

Juergen

Yeah the pump I am using is way to high in wattage. and I had this and another pump and an air pump running 24/7 while I was heavily stocked.

I knew pumps drew extra power on startup but 8 times? Is there a reference or something you can point to? (I am not looking to nit pick etc - conserving power is just something I am interested in).

I think you will find that submersible pumps dont have a huge power surge on startup, they tend to work different to normal pumps.
You will also find that with these types of pumps, as pressure increases, power draw decreases, which is backwards to normal electric motors that have a higher power draw as back pressure increases.
The power draw on a submersible pump is directly related to impeller speed.

However, if I am wrong, I cant see how a power draw of 640w (estimating 80w pump) for a period of 2 seconds make any real noticeable difference to your power bill.
In fact, working on 640w for 2 seconds, once every hour, 365 days per year at ~22c/kw (Perth price) you pay $0.68 every year in pump startup.
At 15 minutes every hour, 365 days, your pump draws 175kw p/a, so $38.50 a year.
Even with startup power draw, you are looking at less than $40 per year.
If constant flood, multiply that figure by 4 to get $160.

If your pump draws a different power (mine is 84w and is a 5000lph pump), simply half your pumps power draw to work out annual cost for f&d (80w / 2 = $40 per annum) or if constant flood, double your pumps power draw (80w x 2 = $160 per annum).

Obviously your power may cost more or less than ours, but it shouldnt be hard to work out an easy way to calculate annual cost from the rated wattage.

Andrew

Sounds like you have a pretty heavy power requirement. I have found that you need about 4 times the solar panel to pump draw if you want to run the pump 24x7. If using a 100w pump, thats 400w of solar! that's $$$.
I am so far getting away with a 20w solar panel and. 4.5w pump for 3 fish. If you can run a system that can switch between mains and solar depending on when it's needed, you may be able to get away with a single panel.
If it was me, i would take the opportunity to buy a solar panel, DC pump and battery for yourself, then replace all the lights in the house with LED and start looking at shutting off standby power when you are away from home.
I have a system where i have one remote control for 3 different power points around the house, i press one button and everything shuts off.
My power bill last quarter was $200.

didn't realize this is an old post.

What is the liters per hour that you need for your pump? I would find a DC pump that is what you think you need and figure out the solar from there. The way your talking now is converting to AC.

My system is on 100 watts of panels, which now days is around $140 USD, you need a controller, which could be around $30-$50 USD. A descent battery $250-300 USD. My system is not connected to the house at all.

I run 2 DC water pumps at 4.8 watts each, so 9.6 watts. 240lph each

I run 2 DC air pumps at 4.4 watts each, so 8.8 watts. 5.6STL/min each

so out of 100 watts I'm only using around 18.4 watts.

Mine works well, it's a bit over kill but there are many variables. Rainy days, cloudy days. It's enough to make it so far with no problems.

I also have anotherDC water pump that has a 600lph that uses 8 watts.(I'm not using this one)