how much do you run your pump for pond with bog?

[Lisak1]

after 4 years of stay home vacations we have saved money and agravation

100%. When people say "you spent HOW MUCH on your backyard?" I say "what did those three vacations you took just this year cost ya?" We don't do much travel, so our yard IS our vacation.

 

[brokensword]

100%. When people say "you spent HOW MUCH on your backyard?" I say "what did those three vacations you took just this year cost ya?" We don't do much travel, so our yard IS our vacation.

totally agree; I could spend 4 hours visiting the UP or...walk out 15' and see something just as pleasurable. A huge plus, imo. My wife calls it our 'zen den', so...

 

[allif]

Thank you everyone, you've raised some good points I hadn't considered. I'll relay them to my husband, although he's pretty hard headed so my guess is we'll be trying it his way first. Then we'll move on to 24/7.
Our pump is already pretty small but having two is an interesting thought.
And while I'm sure he'd love to save money it's more about saving energy.
No plants yet but hoping to put them in soon.

 

[poconojoe]

24/7/365 for me.
I'm in northeastern Pennsylvania zone 6b.
It was my first winter with the new bog and I left it running.
At first I worried that the pond would freeze, the bog water would flow over the ice and empty the pond. But that didn't happen. The bog water spilling into the pond kept an opening in the pond ice.

 

[Lisak1]

And while I'm sure he'd love to save money it's more about saving energy.

Aren't those the same thing?

 

[mrsclem]

Thank you everyone, you've raised some good points I hadn't considered. I'll relay them to my husband, although he's pretty hard headed so my guess is we'll be trying it his way first. Then we'll move on to 24/7.
Our pump is already pretty small but having two is an interesting thought.
And while I'm sure he'd love to save money it's more about saving energy.
No plants yet but hoping to put them in soon.

Having 2 pumps is great in case one stops working!

 

[combatwombat]

Aren't those the same thing?

I think they said they’re off grid, so more energy conscious than typical.

 

[Lisak1]

I think they said they’re off grid, so more energy conscious than typical.

Ah - gotcha! Missed that part. I only ever hear about THE BILL when it comes to electricity... and water... and gas... and the plants... and, well ALL THE THINGS! Gotta have balance in a marriage, right?

 

[allif]

I think they said they’re off grid, so more energy conscious than typical.

it's a bit of both actually. we're fully solar powered, but because we don't have storage (batteries) we're still tied into the grid. we've got net metering (not entirely sure how that works but at the end of the year we pay for what we've used above and beyond what we've generated - and they charge us more than they pay us per kWh - of course). so we're conscious of how much we use from both perspectives.

 

[combatwombat]

it's a bit of both actually. we're fully solar powered, but because we don't have storage (batteries) we're still tied into the grid. we've got net metering (not entirely sure how that works but at the end of the year we pay for what we've used above and beyond what we've generated - and they charge us more than they pay us per kWh - of course). so we're conscious of how much we use from both perspectives.

Ah, got it. I thought you were on batteries. I am also grid-tied solar with net metering, except our buy/sell rate is 1:1. It's a fun a challenge to get us to net-zero, but I would not risk the pond health to get there.

What pump are you using and what do you pay per kwh? Have you actually run the numbers to see how much $ you're saving by shutting the pump down? Might not be worth the opportunity cost.

 

[addy1]

it's a bit of both actually. we're fully solar powered, but because we don't have storage (batteries) we're still tied into the grid. we've got net metering (not entirely sure how that works but at the end of the year we pay for what we've used above and beyond what we've generated - and they charge us more than they pay us per kWh - of course). so we're conscious of how much we use from both perspectives.

We are grid tied, but we make enough solar we usually get a refund from the electric company for excess solar watts produced. Our panels were installed by the power company, part of the go green push xx houses had to be solar. We paid nothing, do pay for the generated solar, but at a fixed lower rate than the power company. Our bill dead of summer, pumps running ac's running (darn hot and humid here)
we still generate more than we use. We do pay the solar bill but like I said get a refund, so far the biggest was $200 usually in March. Works out very nicely, any issues they fix.

 

[allif]

Wow sounds like you guys scored nice deals! We paid outright for our solar array, but did get some rebates and tax credits. We have to pay to stay connected to the grid. Not sure how the electric company gets away with charging more than they pay but it's not a great incentive for anyone wishing to go green. So far we still generate more than we use and we plan to add more panels ourselves if our consumption goes up.
I don't know ofhand what we pay per kWh, would have to check but I'm personally not too worried about what we'll use with the pump - I'd sooner get a bigger but more efficient pump (we're using a 650 gallon Smartpond pump)

 

[combatwombat]

@addy1: Sounds like you're on a lease, but lease is owned directly by the power company? Sounds like a good deal. I investigated lease before buying outright, but all the proposals I got came with horrible terms.

@allif: Don't know anything about Smartpond pumps, but unless they are extremely poorly designed, a 650 gph pump is going to use a tiny fraction of what most folks here are using to run their pumps. Let us know how the pump cycling test goes. Will you be monitoring water quality?

 

[addy1]

I would need to find the papers again, it has been about 8 years now, it was for 20, works for us. Our bills are really low even with paying for what we generate. And love getting money back.

 

[allif]

@addy1: Sounds like you're on a lease, but lease is owned directly by the power company? Sounds like a good deal. I investigated lease before buying outright, but all the proposals I got came with horrible terms.

@allif: Don't know anything about Smartpond pumps, but unless they are extremely poorly designed, a 650 gph pump is going to use a tiny fraction of what most folks here are using to run their pumps. Let us know how the pump cycling test goes. Will you be monitoring water quality?

Well we're not doing any formal testing ,pump or water quality-wise. Just running it more or less full time for now. We just added plants to the bog, and the ducks have finally discovered the pond, so it's all pretty mucky right now. My plan at least (who knows what my husband is thinking) is to just let the system run for a while and see what's what, then tweak as necessary. But it's all pretty casual.