Well pump question

[Oregonhunter5]

Hey guys. So you've heard me say we're moving. I have a question. We are leaving a home that is on on a well. We found a place that is also on a well. Right now we have a 1 hp pump I believe. This new place has a well that's 330 feet deep. Well has a 15 hp up,p, cause it also pulls water to sprinkle the 12 acres. Question is, anyone know how much more electrical cost it would take to run that large of a pump a month? Understanding the summer would be higher due to being in growing season.
Thanks

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[The Heretic]

If you are not going to be doing the irrigation, then it shouldn't cost much more as you would not be using it as much.

Indeed, you might want to consider having a well specialist come out and add a different pump just for the house as the existing pump may be mismatched for residential usage.

You can estimate that for each HP, the amount of power used will be 1 to 2 KW depending on efficiency and power factor.

You can ask the previous owners to share their power bills too.

My well, which I think is right around 1 HP is a very small portion of my power bill, but then I do not irrigate and I am a single person living alone so I don't use much water. Most of my power consumption is heating - I have an electric furnace - my power bill quadruples in the winter.

 

[Jamie6.5]

If you plan to water the entire 12 acres for the three summer months, it will be 15 times more expensive to run that pump, than your current one uses to water a similarly sized plot.
HP is a measure of work done, and in terms of energy use, bears a direct correlation to power consumed, when efficiency of the pumps are equal or close to it. (which they probably are close)

Some areas however, have a discounted rate for electrical use dedicated to agriculture purposes. If this is the case with your new place, the pump will be on a different meter from the rest of the place, and will be billed at a different (lower) rate per Kwh.

It would behoove you to ask questions at the power company, any local irrigation district and of the existing homeowner.

 

[Redcap]

1 HP is 746w.

 

[jbett98]

I'm curious, what was previously grown on the 12 acres?

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Just grass from what I know. Might of been other stuff years back. I'm a little nervous cause this place doesn't have ground water rights from the canal in Idaho. Grandpa would not approve of this. The well has a 8 inch pipe then connecting to a 6 inch lower down. It's total overkill.... Thy spent $45k on the system.

 

[jbett98]

What are your plans for the acreage?

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Well.... Good question. First of all space from city folk. Then some cows for food and 4h. There's also a small motor cross track already there. Maybe have my brother graze a few horses from his place, to help with overload there.

 

[The Heretic]

1 HP is 746w.

When a motor is 100% efficient, yes it is.

No motor is 100% efficient.

A lot will depend on the kind of motor, the kind of load and the kind of pump.

 

[jbett98]

Are the acres cross fenced, so you can selectively irrigate a hay crop and keep the rest for pasture?
Also, is the irrigation pipe and fittings staying with the property?

 

[Redcap]

When a motor is 100% efficient, yes it is.

No motor is 100% efficient.

A lot will depend on the kind of motor, the kind of load and the kind of pump.

Very true.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Are the acres cross fenced, so you can selectively irrigate a hay crop and keep the rest for pasture?
Also, is the irrigation pipe and fittings staying with the property?

Yes on pipe. Just need to run a cross fence. Perimeter is done.

 

[RVTECH]

I'm a little nervous cause this place doesn't have ground water rights from the canal in Idaho.

How did this happen IE. the place not getting water rights? Is there an irrigation canal nearby?

 

[Oregonhunter5]

How did this happen IE. the place not getting water rights? Is there an irrigation canal nearby?

It has 12 acres of ground water rights, with two shares. But no canal rights. The canal runs right against the land. I could buy rights, but there a premium in Idaho these days.

 

[oknow]

Look at it this way with the big motor and just using it for the house the pump does not have to work very hard so it will fill the water tank with no stress or strain where the 1hp pump will have to work harder and ware out sooner.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Ok. They have two tanks, and a digital wall unit that runs the system.

 

[jbett98]

Consider yourself lucky.
I would rather have an over sized well on my property, then run out of water in a dry summer.
I had a friend buy a house on 2-1/2 acres right next to the North Fork of Eagle Creek, located East of Portland, near Mt Hood.
To get the mortgage financed through the VA, he had to put in a well. (Previous owner pulled water from the creek.)
He located it in front of the house and within 30' of the creek. His thinking was that the water level must be shallow, and it wouldn't cost very much.
175' of solid bedrock later, artisan water came bubbling up. Best water I have ever tasted.
Only problem was that the property lines were messed up and the well was located two feet over the line.
There was bad blood between the previous owner and the guy next door. (for good reason.)
My friend ended up buying an extra five acres (at inflated prices) just to keep the well and get the financing.

 

[RVTECH]

I could buy rights,

That was my next question - how much is a 'premium' in Idaho theses days?

 

[Oregonhunter5]

That's a good question. I've spoken to a few sources at the water district and they didn't know a dollar amount, but not saying premium.
Still haven't pulled the trigger yet. If I buy it, I will need to build a home on it. Right now it's a barn with 1,500 feet of living quarters. A really nice barn you might say.
Sounds like white trash, lol, but it's not.

 

[U201492]

Hey guys. So you've heard me say we're moving. I have a question. We are leaving a home that is on on a well. We found a place that is also on a well. Right now we have a 1 hp pump I believe. This new place has a well that's 330 feet deep. Well has a 15 hp up,p, cause it also pulls water to sprinkle the 12 acres. Question is, anyone know how much more electrical cost it would take to run that large of a pump a month? Understanding the summer would be higher due to being in growing season. Thanks

<broken link removed>

In order to calculate the average operating cost for any electrical appliance you can use the following formula:

watts/1000 = kW x hours of operation = kWh x kWh rate = cost

11250(Watts)/1000=11.25KW per hour. Current Tier III costs average out to 10.5 cents/hr/Kw = 11.25KW*.105=$1.18 per hour of operation.

I doubt very highly you'll be running that monster 8 to 10 hours a day unless you're doing irrigation. I would suggest you take a 5 gallon bucket and time how long it takes to fill in seconds then do the math to figure out how many gallons per minute. 15HP at 330 feet? You're probably looking at an easy 20 GPM- in fact, the pipes are probably so restrictive the backpressure is very hard on the pump, therefore I suggest you put in a large storage tank- perhaps 5,000 gallons- so you always have a reserve with a high and low level switch. Its been a long time- 11 or 12 years- since I've put in wells, but I promise you a 1 HP pump @ 15 GPM runs around $1000 dollars give or take a bit. A 15HP pump is going to beat the living daylights out of your wallet when it needs repair- on/off, on/off, on/off is hard as hell on the bearings even though they use the water to cool them- hence the suggestion of a cistern of 5,000 gallons so it pumps up, then shuts down for 2 or 3 days.

The alternative is when that pump goes bad would be put to put in a far smaller pump. You must have plenty of water; you're down 330 feet, so lets say you intentionally downsize to a 3 HP pump, and put in one way back flow arresters every 100 feet (top of the pump, 100 feet up, 200 feet up, 300 feet up, then the last 30 feet of head can just sit there. This will save you some money- depending how you set it up.

Maybe it'd be a good time to show up at your local well driller with a gallon of coffee, a few dozen doughnuts, and show up when the work crew's show up and introduce yourself. That'll build some good will and they can give you some insights.