Most pools in South Africa still run the way they did in 1985 — one speed, all day, and somebody with a hosepipe on a Saturday. An Aquagem inverter pool pump averages 210 watts. The iWash Pro backwashes the filter on its own. Add an inverter heat pump and you swim into May. All of it from your phone. From R35 869,99.
This is what changes the day you switch. Every figure below is worked out further down the page, on your own tariff and your own pool — nothing here is a rule of thumb.
A fixed-speed pump has one setting: everything. An InverCaptain averages 210 watts, and Aquagem have tested it down to 30% speed.
Work it out on your tariffiWash Pro backwashes, rinses and returns to filter on its own — on schedule, not when you finally remember. A loaded filter makes the pump work harder for less flow.
See it in every combinationSpeed and schedule and the backwash cycle — all on one screen. Going away for a week? Drop the run time from the airport.
Add heat nextBuilt on Aquagem’s own figures, not a rule of thumb. Two things most calculators get wrong are handled here: your old pump is costed on the power it actually draws off the meter — not the number on the plate — and the inverter is costed on what it really uses, not a percentage.
Pick the size written on the motor plate. We convert it to the real draw — a “1,5 kW” pump pulls about 2,1 kW.
Five combinations, matched by filter size. Every one includes the iWash Pro — without it the filter still has a handle somebody has to turn, and nothing about the filtration is automatic. Each combination is priced below what the same three items cost bought one by one on our own store — not just below list.
Filter size follows pool volume and how hard the pool works. Pump size follows the filter and the pipe run. Get either wrong and you pay for it twice — once in the box and again every month on the meter.
Send length, width and average depth, plus a photo of the pump slab as it stands. We’ll tell you which of the five fits, or that none of them do.
WhatsApp us the pool| Old pump & manual valve | Inverter only | Full combination | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs at part speed | No | Yes | Yes |
| Backwashes on its own | No | No | Yes |
| Controlled from your phone | No | Pump only | Pump and valve |
| Filter and pump matched on purchase | Rarely | Not checked | Yes |
| Someone has to be home to backwash | Every time | Every time | Never |
| Cheaper than the same three, bought one by one | — | No | By R929 – R1 388 |
A full-inverter heat pump modulates instead of switching on and off, so it holds the temperature you set rather than chasing it — and Fairland’s TurboSilence design means it does that without the neighbours hearing it. Set the number once. Two sizes, matched to pool volume.
For pools to 35 000 litres. Wi‑Fi built in, set from your phone.
For pools to 65 000 litres, or a smaller pool you want warm faster.
Send the length, width and average depth — or just the volume if you know it — plus a photo of what is on the pump slab now. You get the right combination, the price, and an honest answer if none of it is worth doing yet.
