The ultimate buyer’s guide to finding the perfect water pump for your home
We may need to install a water pump in our home for a number of reasons. Some people use their water pumps for maintaining the water pressure in their homes, while others need one for their air conditioning system.
No matter what you need your water pump for, it’s important that you invest in one that will do what you need it to and do it well.
In this article, you will find the ultimate buyer’s guide to picking out the perfect home water pump. Including the 6 areas, a water pump should excel in to be worth the price tag.
How do water pumps work?
There are two key types of water pumps: (1) well water pumps, and, (2) air conditioner water pumps.
Well water pumps are most commonly used by households that live very far out of the city. Who needs to draw their own water from the ground, rather than from a locally provided source. They are also popular with people who have a geothermal feature in their homes.
These well water pumps use pressure to drive the water out of the ground and around the house. Well water pumps are the easiest way to guarantee good water pressure when you are sourcing your own water.
The second type of water pump is one that is used for air conditioning or central heating systems. These pumps either push hot water around the house to raise its overall temperature or they move cold water around air conditioning units to help cool the house down.
Key Features of water pumps:
There are 6 key features you should be considering if you want to purchase a water pump for your home.
Knowing what performance you require from your water pump in each of these categories will make your buying decision a lot easier. We have started each section with a question to get you thinking.
Contents
Pressure
What is the minimum water pressure you require in your house?
The higher the pressure your water pump can provide the more reliable your faucets will be, and the nicer your showering experience will be. Water pressure of 1.5-2 bars is ideal, especially for larger houses.
While Flow Rate and Pressure do work hand in hand, there is a way to bypass the need for a good flow rate. The smaller the cross-section of your pipe, the higher the pressure will be, irrespective of the flow rate.
Water pressure is measured as meters of water column (mWC), where 10 mWC= 1 bar. The more bars, the higher the water pressure.
Flow rate
As a household, do you use enough water to need a pump with a higher flow rate?
As we mentioned above, while Flow rate can improve the water pressure in your home it is not detrimental to it. Unless as a household you use a lot of water. If this is the case then you may want to invest in a water pump that offers high water pressure and a high flow rate.
Flow rate is either measured in the number of liters per minute (l/min) OR the number of cubic meters per hour (m3/h).
Suction head – static lift
How deep is the water that you need to draw from?
The suction head refers to the depth of water that can be pumped. The deeper the water source you are using, the longer a suction head you will need.
This is measured in meters.
Discharge head – static height
How many meters of discharge head does your pump require?
When we refer to the discharge head, what we mean is the maximum height reached by the discharge pipe after the pump. This is measured in meters.
If you are building your water pump system on a slope you will require a lot more Discharge head.
TDH – Total Dynamic Head
What is the sum of your static lift and static height?
The measurement of the TDH is the sum of the discharge head and the suction head, minus friction losses. This is measured in meters.
What can cause friction loss? This is mostly affected by the length of your pipes and how many bends they have in them.
Water quality
Does your local water quality present the need to filter your water?
Some pumps will come with built-in filters. However, if you buy the wrong type of pump for your local water quality then it can sustain a lot of damage.
It is crucial that you test the quality of the water you wish to use before you buy your water pump.
