How Many Watts Does a Well Pump Use?

For homeowners using well water, it’s important to understand how much electricity your well pump may consume. This knowledge helps with budgeting energy costs, selecting the right electricity supply, and maintaining the pump properly. Keep in mind that well pumps vary in power consumption, depending on their capacity and type. In this article, we’ll explain the possible wattage of a well pump, the reasons behind its power usage, and how you can optimize this energy consumption for better efficiency.

Understanding Wattage

Wattage describes the capacity of electric power in use per unit time, in other words power. In the case of well pumps it gives information on amount of energy consumed in the pumping of the well. Calculating for wattage also assists in getting an approximate value for monthly consumption and compatibility checks on your electrical circuit.

Types of Well Pumps

Submersible and jet are the two broad categories of well pumps in use today. The different types of units require different power as the following examples below will illustrate.

Submersible Pumps

Submersible pumps are placed directly in the well and force water to the surface. They are usually more effective than jet pumps as most of the parts are submerged in water, thus there is likely to be less force of friction and resistance.

Average Wattage: Submersible pumps may use 1000 to 3500 watts. However, some of the larger wells that require more pressure might have pumps that use up to 5500 watts.

Factors Affecting Wattage: Some of the parameters that determine wattage include the depth of the well, the lift of the distance in meters that the water has to be pumped, and the GPM or gallons per minute.

Jet Pumps

Jet pumps are situated outside the well; they work by pulling water up with the help of suction force. For above ground types of pumps, the general performance is marginal in relation to submersible pumps as they need to struggle to pump substances against the pull of gravity and friction.

Average Wattage: Jet pumps normally draw power ranging from 500 to 1500 watts. There are larger models that can reach 2500 watt.

Factors Affecting Wattage: The deepness of the well and the pressure of water that is required both strongly correlate with the wattage. In actuality, deep wells demand higher capacity to pump the water.

Factors Influencing Power Usage

Knowledge of these parameters will assist in selecting the most suitable pump and will enable you to control energy usage in the best way.

The factors that determine the wattage a well pump will consume are as follows:

Well Depth

Among all the factors that determine the use of power, the depth of your well is one of the most indicative. It been said that deeper wells are ones that take more energy to pump water to the surface. This means power requirement increases by the ratio of the same length of thickness that is for every 10 feet.

Lift and Pressure

Lift can be described as the extent of distance that water must be moved vertically up or even down depending on the context in which the term is used. Higher lifts require more power. The pressure which is required to provide water to you also affects wattage.

GPM Rating

The acronym GPM stands for gallons per minute which denotes the flow rate of the pump. Higher GPM ratings mean a higher volume of water is being pumped; therefore, demand for power is high to propel that amount of volume. The flow capacity of the pump depends on the required water consumption a particular house, building, or farm uses.

Pump Efficiency

Efficiency of the pump is of great importance when it comes to power usage. Modern devices consume less power to pump a certain quantity of water compared to the traditional models of pumps. This means that, in the long run, it is possible to see a significant reduction in power consumption, and therefore, your electric bills will be considerably lower when you have affixed a high-efficiency pump in your house.

Voltage

Another factor that affects power usage is the voltage. Single phase well pumps can be used at homes and small-scale farms while the three phase pumps are typically used in giant operations such as large-scale farms.

Calculating Energy Consumption

To predict the amount of energy you use for your well pump, you must know the wattage of the pump and the intervals it operates per day.

Energy consumption is calculated in kilowatt hour (kWh) and the formula used to give the daily energy usage in kWh is given as follows: Energy = Wattage (W) ÷ 1000 × Hours of operation.