Allen Concepts, Inc.

Pool filtration pumps are a large consumer of United States energy resources, consuming about 9.8 Billion kWh per year (2001 DOE Household energy report). The filter pump serves the function of forcing the water through a filter which helps to maintain water quality of the swimming pool. Pool pumps consume almost 1% of the U.S. electrical energy (2001 DOE Household Energy Report). Most pools are currently being run by a mechanical 24-hour timer. There are significant energy savings which can be obtained through the use of an intelligent, year-round, digital control.

Most pools do not require as much filtration during the winter months as during the summer months. This is due to the fact that when the water is cool, bacteria and algae do not multiply as quickly as when the water is warm. It is somewhat common for a pool service technician to turn up the pump run time in the spring and turn it back down in the fall. This method is subject to human error and many pool owners do not adjust their timer at all because they forget or are unaware that this is an option.

The TightWatt timer automates this process and gradually adjusts the run time of the filter for an efficient year-round schedule. Rather than a "binary" control of turning up in the spring and down in the fall, the TightWatt timer gradually increases run time beginning mid-February and gradually decreases beginning in mid-September. The pool owner simply sets a "summer run" and "winter run" and the TightWatt creates a year-round run schedule based on these two values. This reduces the amount of time that the pump is running while maintaining water quality. Temperature data for the Southern and Western U.S. combined with consultation of pool professionals was used to create the year-round schedule.

The timer can also be set to work with most time-of-use plans allowing consumers to shift their pool energy usage to off-peak times when it is easier for power companies to meet electrical demand. The default settings of the timer cause the pool filter to run at night, but these can be changed by the pool owner/operator.

The TightWatt timer also makes use of an extremely efficient power supply (developed by Power Integrations) which reduces standby power consumption. This does not produce significant savings when compared to the savings that result from intelligent operation of the pool pump, so these savings will not be considered in the calculations. The timer also allows better control of manual operation than is possible with a mechanical timer, which can produce savings, but this amount is difficult to quantify, so it will not be included in the calculations.

A residential home with a pool can save approximately 1545 kWh per year. This is based on a 3-hour winter run and an 8-hour summer run with a 2 kW pool pump. Through a calendar year, the TightWatt saves approximately 27% on pool energy consumption, so it has a technical potential to save approximately 2.64 billion kWh annually in the U.S (9.8 billion kWh/year x 27%). Pools in cold climates are typically shut down in the winter, so the TightWatt would not provide a significant benefit to these areas. Most pools however, are in areas where they are left open year-round and can benefit from an intelligent year-round schedule. The maximum technical potential is approximately 2.64 billion kWh because there are still many pools which do not have timers at all.

We hope to produce about 5,000 units during CY 2007, which will save approximately 7.7 million kWh. This amount could be increased through greater public awareness/marketing. The timer has been designed to snap into most existing cases, so that installation time and cost are kept to a minimum. The timer is very affordable w/ respect to the energy savings with a suggested retail of $149.00.