Running Costs To Operate A Well Pump

Maintaining and running a submersible well pump is not that expensive. You can calculate the cost needed to run your submersible pump and motor using the method outlined in the article. For calculating the cost, three values are required. First is the power your motor consumes in kilowatts. Secondly, you need to know in a month how many hours your motor runs. Thirdly in per kilowatt-hour electricity cost should be known.

Generally, the manufacturer specifies the power that the motor needs. In the specification sheet that comes with your pump, check the motor's maximum load in watts. To get the values in kilowatts, divide the load of the motor by 1000.

Using the flow rate in GPM (gallons per minute) and approximate daily consumption of gallons of water operating hours are calculated. An average person consumes approximately 120 gallons per day in the US. For knowing the daily operating time, gallons consumed per day are divided by flow rate in GPM. Later this daily running time in minutes needs to be multiplied by 30 to calculate monthly operating time. Lastly, divide this by 60 to find the running time in hours.

According to your location in the US, the electricity cost may differ. Roughly it is $0.12 per Kilowatt-hour. 

For calculating the cost per month to run a submersible pump, power consumption, electricity cost, and operating hours need to be multiplied together.

Example:

In the following example, the above process is demonstrated.

 So let's say we have some known values

·         Power consumed by a ½ horsepower motor= 960 watts

·         Pump flow rate= 10 GPM

·         Persons living in house= 4

·         Electricity cost= $0.15 per kilowatt-hour

Working or calculation to be done:

·         Calculating power consumed by motor in kilowatts

960/1000

=0.96 kilowatts

·         Total operating hours by assuming each person consume 120 gallons per day

Calculating operating hours

Four individuals *120 gallons = 480 gallons per day

480 gallons per day/10 gpm= 48 minutes daily

Per month operating time in minutes= 48 *30

Per month operating time in hours= (48*30)/60

=24 hours

·         Electricity cost= $0.15 per kilowatt-hour

Calculating monthly cost

Monthly cost= Power consumption by the motor in kilowatts* Monthly operating hours* Electricity cost per kilowatt-hour

= 0.96 *24* $0.15

=$ 3.46

So the total cost per month for running a submersible pump is only $3.46.

If you have any questions you can contact us at  ‪(760) 440-8520‬.