How to Calculate Electric Costs for Pumps and Aerators

Be careful when comparing pumps.  Always compare GPH (gallons per hour) vs. amps draw.  To calculate the operating cost of an electric motor use the following formula:

Amps x volts (115 or 230 volts) = watts x hours per day of operation ÷ 1000 x cost per kilowatt hour.

For example:  Say you are looking at our SCPA10 aerator (at the following link) and you read that it draws 1 amp of electricity and  it uses 115 volts.   This aerator (as well as others)  should run 24 hours a day as well as most pumps for backyard ponds, etc.  What we need to do to figure out the total cost is get out our electric bill.  Look on the bill where it states the kilowatt or kwh.  You'll find some numbers something like this:  240kwh @ .9704 or .1003.  The numbers will be different throughout the country as electric costs vary.  Our electric costs is .1002 and I'll use that for this example.  This .1002 means that it costs me 10 cents (use the first numbers after the decimal point) per kilowatt hour.  Now, let's plug this information into our equation:

1amp x 115volt = watts x 24 hours per day ÷ 1000 x .10

This calculates to: 
1 x 115 = 115 watts.  115 watts x 24 hours = 2760.  2760 ÷ 1000 = 2.76.   
2.76 x .10 = .276 or nearly 28 cents per day to run my SCPA10 aerator.  With 30 days in the month I multiply the .28cents per day  x 30 days and I get $8.40 which is the price it will cost me per month (a 30 day month)  to run my aerator!

Sometimes you will see a big difference in prices for comparable pumps throughout our site.  This is not only due the individual features of the pumps but because of how energy efficient they are as well.  Take for example the 2 pumps at the following page:   http://www.pondandwatergardensupplies.com/3000gph-pumps.htm    You will see the first pump by Beckett that sells for  $215.89 and uses 700 watts and the second pump by OASE that sells for $700.00 and draws only 260 amps.   The first pump would cost us $50.40/month to operate while the second pump would cost us $18.72/month to operate.  The first pump would cost us over 2 1/2 times per month to operate compared to the second pump.  Granted, there is also a substantial difference in price between the two as well as other differences in product quality, but you should consider the cost of operation of any pumps to make sure you can afford to operate them. 

By the way, you can use the above formula to figure out what it costs to operate your computer, your TV, electric stove, etc. 

Good luck and I hope this information has helped you!