- Nov 23, 2014
- 211
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
There are a few other threads that address ExtremepowerUS products, mostly old threads so here goes…. I’ve had experience with six extremepowerus pumps, and have done some preliminary reviews of their 137,000 BTU heat pump. Spoiler alert: I think the pumps are worth it, but the heater probably too risky.
My first extremepowerus pump was a two speed 1.5HP and it lasted 4 ½ years before the motor windings blew. I told a few friends about it only costing just over $200 and it caught on – and I helped them install them. So now I know of five more of them in operation. I have my 1.5HP that lasted over 4 years, it got 40GPM and totally quiet (almost can’t tell it’s running) on low, and 70 GPM on high and making about the same noise as most other pumps I’ve witnessed when running at full 3450 RPM, including some (all?) variable speed pumps. Mine stayed quiet as a mouse – until the windings blew, LOL. So, for another $215 I replaced it with a 2HP version about six months ago – working as quietly and efficiently as the original. I run it for 11 hours per day on low and it costs about $50 less per month than the old Hayward single speed, a savings of about 81% (based on 13 cents/kwH here).
Okay, now for the downsides, as you might ask “4-5 year longevity is not great, right?”. Some of those old one-speeders ran for 10 or 20 years I guess! Well, perhaps folks are getting better longevity from their top-brand-named variable speed pumps (VSP’s), but they cost between $1K and $3K, depending on many variables, installation, etc. And my own experience with a VSP is from having purchased a top dollar Jandy 1.5HP variable speed ‘epump’ over a decade ago in a former home, and it gave me plenty of headaches. First discovery stemmed from my own ignorance, had to buy a $300 controller to make it work at all, which is still the case with many (but not all) VSP’s. Ran wiring inside to protect the controller and for convenience, but not so convenient if you’re working at the equipment pad and want to control it, but whatever. Next realization was that it would fault out if I tried to vacuum running it full speed. And occasionally it would fault out at other speeds. As an aside, a close friend of mine works in materials conveyance where many VFD’s are used, variable frequency drives which are part of all or most VSP’s. He says faulting at full speed is all too common, so they (and I) ran it at about 3400 max. Less vac power but whatever. Then you learn the only cure for the fault is to power cycle, making you wish you still had the old intermatic mechanical timer so if it faulted when you’re out of town at least it would cycle back on the next day. That is, if on return of power it didn’t enter that great feature called auto-prime 3450 rpm and fault out again. Ugh. The topper was that the darn thing squeaked – even on lower speeds. At full speed (or 3400) it make just as much racket as any other single speed pump. I should have returned it but didn’t feel like fighting with Jandy. All the while I was thinking about the ROI and wondering if this Jandy VSP, with all the sensitive VFD electronics, would survive all the power surges and reach a 10 year life with some good ROI. Alas, the problem went away (for me) when I moved
Given the availability of $200 2-speed pumps, I decided to never again consider a top dollar VSP. My apologies in advance if I’ve offended anyone who loves their VSP and got 5 or more years from it, I can only offer my own experience.
Oops – I promised downsides of the ExtremepowerUS pumps, not my old problematic Jandy VSP…. Okay, the exremepowerUS pumps seem kinda junky. I had the aforementioned windings go at 4+ years, and my neighbor is in year three and it seems a small leak is seeping – occasionally - from the pump housing. It’s still quiet but we’re wondering about its life. Another friend has three of them in a more elaborate setup – he’s in year three on the three of them and one of the three is starting to make noise on low. Another is letting a bit of air in on occasion, seemingly cured from time to time by cleaning and lubricating the skimmer basket cover gasket (o-ring), which seems like it could be better designed. It hasn’t ever lost prime but some air gets in and the water level in the basket drops off slowly over days. He’s also a madman and pays zero attention to pool chemistry, so there is that. Also, while Extremepowerus documentation seems to be improving, good luck finding a pump curve. And the HP rating might be a pipe dream or a marketing guess (I got the flow I needed so don’t care). The whole assembly is unusual, the motor being an unidentified frame type – not square faced, not round c-face, and not labelled. It also runs hot, which might explain the 4-5 year life of the winding, even though I have a vented cover on it to minimize water splash up into the motor vents. My buddy got a 4 year service plan from amazon so he may exercise that soon on one of his. Also I think you can forget about customer service from extremepoowerUS, see below about that. My particular conclusion is that I could replace that $215 pump 4-10 times over the next 40 years and still be ahead of the game compared to a $1k or $2K or $3K VSP – especially if I had to replace an off-warranty VSP too. But I do my own installs, so there is that. I make the pool maintenance decisions based on cost and effort, and the cheap pumps seem like a no-brainer to me.
On to the ExtremepowerUS 137,000 BTU Heat Pump – for only $2650 plus $250 shipping on Amazon. It’s so very tempting, especially if it truly delivers 137K and a cop rating alleged of 6.2! But one Amazon reviewer (and there are only a few, some very negative) says there is no way to control it remotely. In the documentation I noticed a connector that seems to be labelled RMT (but hard to read it) so one might hope that would allow dry contact remote control, having set the other controls appropriately as in many other heat pumps. But nothing in the doc explains it. Here’s another alarm: I wrote to customer service (about remote control) and got an automatic reply that said it could take up to 14 days for a reply. Yikes. I also wrote that remote control question as an amazon “customer question” – and it got deleted! Gee, my question seemed polite and everything. I’ll edit this or re-post if I ever get a reply. If the ROI on this was like the pumps wherein I could go through 4 or 5 heaters before I spent what I would spend on a top branded heater I would consider the heater. But at just over half the price of other heaters, I guess it’s too big of a risk. And I need the remote control feature. Alternatively, getting a service plan would also be wise – amazon seems to offer a 4 year on it for $45. I need a new heater by autumn, and what I really want is a BuiltRight. Watching for a used one as they seem to hold up well and have good service.
In related news I guess it’s likely all heat pumps (and residential AC as well) might be going up in price soon, as the 2025 requirements of the EPA mandate going to new (more flammable) refrigerants that have fewer fluorocarbons. Among many articles this from NAHB and this from Rheem. Happy pumping and heating everyone – TFP is GREAT!
My first extremepowerus pump was a two speed 1.5HP and it lasted 4 ½ years before the motor windings blew. I told a few friends about it only costing just over $200 and it caught on – and I helped them install them. So now I know of five more of them in operation. I have my 1.5HP that lasted over 4 years, it got 40GPM and totally quiet (almost can’t tell it’s running) on low, and 70 GPM on high and making about the same noise as most other pumps I’ve witnessed when running at full 3450 RPM, including some (all?) variable speed pumps. Mine stayed quiet as a mouse – until the windings blew, LOL. So, for another $215 I replaced it with a 2HP version about six months ago – working as quietly and efficiently as the original. I run it for 11 hours per day on low and it costs about $50 less per month than the old Hayward single speed, a savings of about 81% (based on 13 cents/kwH here).
Okay, now for the downsides, as you might ask “4-5 year longevity is not great, right?”. Some of those old one-speeders ran for 10 or 20 years I guess! Well, perhaps folks are getting better longevity from their top-brand-named variable speed pumps (VSP’s), but they cost between $1K and $3K, depending on many variables, installation, etc. And my own experience with a VSP is from having purchased a top dollar Jandy 1.5HP variable speed ‘epump’ over a decade ago in a former home, and it gave me plenty of headaches. First discovery stemmed from my own ignorance, had to buy a $300 controller to make it work at all, which is still the case with many (but not all) VSP’s. Ran wiring inside to protect the controller and for convenience, but not so convenient if you’re working at the equipment pad and want to control it, but whatever. Next realization was that it would fault out if I tried to vacuum running it full speed. And occasionally it would fault out at other speeds. As an aside, a close friend of mine works in materials conveyance where many VFD’s are used, variable frequency drives which are part of all or most VSP’s. He says faulting at full speed is all too common, so they (and I) ran it at about 3400 max. Less vac power but whatever. Then you learn the only cure for the fault is to power cycle, making you wish you still had the old intermatic mechanical timer so if it faulted when you’re out of town at least it would cycle back on the next day. That is, if on return of power it didn’t enter that great feature called auto-prime 3450 rpm and fault out again. Ugh. The topper was that the darn thing squeaked – even on lower speeds. At full speed (or 3400) it make just as much racket as any other single speed pump. I should have returned it but didn’t feel like fighting with Jandy. All the while I was thinking about the ROI and wondering if this Jandy VSP, with all the sensitive VFD electronics, would survive all the power surges and reach a 10 year life with some good ROI. Alas, the problem went away (for me) when I moved
Given the availability of $200 2-speed pumps, I decided to never again consider a top dollar VSP. My apologies in advance if I’ve offended anyone who loves their VSP and got 5 or more years from it, I can only offer my own experience.Oops – I promised downsides of the ExtremepowerUS pumps, not my old problematic Jandy VSP…. Okay, the exremepowerUS pumps seem kinda junky. I had the aforementioned windings go at 4+ years, and my neighbor is in year three and it seems a small leak is seeping – occasionally - from the pump housing. It’s still quiet but we’re wondering about its life. Another friend has three of them in a more elaborate setup – he’s in year three on the three of them and one of the three is starting to make noise on low. Another is letting a bit of air in on occasion, seemingly cured from time to time by cleaning and lubricating the skimmer basket cover gasket (o-ring), which seems like it could be better designed. It hasn’t ever lost prime but some air gets in and the water level in the basket drops off slowly over days. He’s also a madman and pays zero attention to pool chemistry, so there is that. Also, while Extremepowerus documentation seems to be improving, good luck finding a pump curve. And the HP rating might be a pipe dream or a marketing guess (I got the flow I needed so don’t care). The whole assembly is unusual, the motor being an unidentified frame type – not square faced, not round c-face, and not labelled. It also runs hot, which might explain the 4-5 year life of the winding, even though I have a vented cover on it to minimize water splash up into the motor vents. My buddy got a 4 year service plan from amazon so he may exercise that soon on one of his. Also I think you can forget about customer service from extremepoowerUS, see below about that. My particular conclusion is that I could replace that $215 pump 4-10 times over the next 40 years and still be ahead of the game compared to a $1k or $2K or $3K VSP – especially if I had to replace an off-warranty VSP too. But I do my own installs, so there is that. I make the pool maintenance decisions based on cost and effort, and the cheap pumps seem like a no-brainer to me.
On to the ExtremepowerUS 137,000 BTU Heat Pump – for only $2650 plus $250 shipping on Amazon. It’s so very tempting, especially if it truly delivers 137K and a cop rating alleged of 6.2! But one Amazon reviewer (and there are only a few, some very negative) says there is no way to control it remotely. In the documentation I noticed a connector that seems to be labelled RMT (but hard to read it) so one might hope that would allow dry contact remote control, having set the other controls appropriately as in many other heat pumps. But nothing in the doc explains it. Here’s another alarm: I wrote to customer service (about remote control) and got an automatic reply that said it could take up to 14 days for a reply. Yikes. I also wrote that remote control question as an amazon “customer question” – and it got deleted! Gee, my question seemed polite and everything. I’ll edit this or re-post if I ever get a reply. If the ROI on this was like the pumps wherein I could go through 4 or 5 heaters before I spent what I would spend on a top branded heater I would consider the heater. But at just over half the price of other heaters, I guess it’s too big of a risk. And I need the remote control feature. Alternatively, getting a service plan would also be wise – amazon seems to offer a 4 year on it for $45. I need a new heater by autumn, and what I really want is a BuiltRight. Watching for a used one as they seem to hold up well and have good service.
In related news I guess it’s likely all heat pumps (and residential AC as well) might be going up in price soon, as the 2025 requirements of the EPA mandate going to new (more flammable) refrigerants that have fewer fluorocarbons. Among many articles this from NAHB and this from Rheem. Happy pumping and heating everyone – TFP is GREAT!
