What a pump replacement actually costs in Brevard County, how to tell a repair from a replacement, how long each type lasts, what the federal efficiency rule means for your pool, and what to check before you buy a pump on sale. Prices are ours and current as of September 2026.
Equipment Brands We Service and Repair
Pumps, filters, heaters, heat pumps, salt systems and automation from the brands Brevard County pools run on.
How much does it cost to replace a pool pump in Brevard County?
A full pool pump replacement runs $985 to $2,750 installed. A single speed pump is $985. A variable speed pump is $1,755 to $2,750 depending on horsepower and manufacturer. Replacing the motor alone, where the wet end is still sound, runs $405 to $780.
| Job | Installed cost | What drives the price |
|---|---|---|
| Motor only | $405 to $780 | Covers 3/4 hp through 2 hp, which is most residential pools. Only worth doing when the wet end is sound. |
| Single speed pump, full replacement | $985 | The one compliant single speed size still made. Suits small to midsize pools with no solar, no attached spa and no high flow water features. |
| Variable speed pump, full replacement | $1,755 to $2,750 | Horsepower and manufacturer. If the pool runs an automation system, the pump is matched to that brand. |
| Service call | $125 | Credited against the repair if you accept the proposal. |
Three things reliably push a job up the range. An automation system on the pad means the replacement has to match that brand so the two can still talk to each other. A totally enclosed motor adds $75 to $150 over a conventional one. And higher horsepower costs more, which is why sizing the pump correctly is worth doing before shopping on price.
The $125 service call is credited toward the work if you accept the proposal, so it is not an extra charge on a job that goes ahead. Customers on weekly pool service typically do not pay a diagnostic fee at all for common pump and motor problems.
How do I know if my pool pump is going bad?
A change in noise is the signal that matters most. A motor that has started screeching or grinding is telling you the bearings are going, and that is what ended the last pump we replaced. Leaking at the shaft and losing prime are the other two worth acting on quickly.
What each symptom usually means:
- A rising whine or grinding. Bearings. The motor is the half that is failing, not the plumbing.
- Water dripping between the motor and the wet end. The shaft seal. Left alone, that water gets into the bearings and turns a small repair into a motor.
- Will not hold prime. Almost always air getting in on the suction side, which means the lid o-ring, the drain plugs, a union, or the valve before the pump. The pump itself is often fine.
- Running but moving little water. Check the basket and the filter pressure before blaming the pump. A clogged impeller and a filter that is due look identical from the deck.
- Tripping the breaker or shutting off when hot. The motor is drawing more current than it should, and that one does not get better.
Should I repair my pool pump or replace it?
It comes down to which half failed, not how old the pump is. On a single speed pump with a sound wet end we quote a motor swap and a variable speed upgrade side by side. On a variable speed pump a failed drive or motor is not worth repairing, but a leaking wet end can be replaced on its own.
The four situations, and what we recommend in each:
- Single speed, wet end in good shape. If the wet end is sound and the pump is a brand and model known to last, we offer a motor replacement and a variable speed upgrade, and let the energy numbers decide.
- Single speed, wet end needs other parts now or soon. We quote the small single speed pump, if the pool is small enough and has no high flow features, and a variable speed option alongside it.
- Variable speed, drive or motor failed. Not worth repairing. Those parts cost close to a whole pump and the local distributors do not stock them.
- Variable speed, wet end leaking. If the drive and the motor are working properly, we replace the wet end and keep the rest of the pump.
One thing worth checking before you spend anything. Most manufacturer warranties on pool equipment are only valid when a licensed professional did the install, so a pump fitted by a previous owner or a handyman may have no coverage left at all. Our guide to what pool equipment really costs in Brevard County covers why the installed total matters more than the sticker price.
Should I buy a pool pump on sale?
Only if replacement is the right call in the first place. A discounted pump is still the wrong purchase if your motor was the only thing that failed, and a $405 to $780 motor swap beats a sale price on a pump you did not need. Find out which half failed before you spend anything.
The supply stores run equipment promotions through the year, and we get the same call afterwards: someone bought a pump on sale and then found out what it costs to put it on the pad. Four things to check before you take the deal:
- Which half failed. If the wet end is sound and the motor is the problem, a motor replacement is the cheaper fix and no sale pump changes that math.
- The installed total, not the box price. Labor, tax, fittings and any plumbing adjustment come on top of the sale price. Compare installed to installed.
- Your automation brand. If the pool runs an automation panel, the pump has to match that brand. The one on sale usually is not it.
- Your pipe. A bigger pump on the pipe already in the ground does not move more water. It runs louder, wears faster and can pull air past fittings that were fine before.
The honest version of a sale is this. If your pump is at the end of its life and a variable speed upgrade is the right move, a good price on the right unit is worth taking, and we will tell you so. If it is a motor, we will tell you that too, and you keep the difference. Either way, the $125 service call is credited against whatever work you go ahead with, so finding out first costs you nothing extra.
How long do pool pumps last in Florida?
Lifespan tracks the motor type more than the address. A conventional single speed steel motor typically lasts 18 months to 5 years. A totally enclosed fan cooled motor typically lasts 4 to 10 years. A variable speed pump typically lasts 8 to 15 years or more, and some last longer.
Two things move a pump within those ranges. The first is how well it is protected from the weather. Salt spray gets the blame on the beachside, but it is one exposure among several, and lawn sprinklers hitting a motor do the same job more slowly. A pump under a cover or inside a pump room outlasts one sitting in the open, wherever it is. The second is how hard it works, meaning run time and, on a variable speed pump, the RPM and flow rate it is set to.
That is worth saying plainly because the common assumption is that beachside pools simply eat pumps. Exposure is real, but it is exposure, not the postcode. A protected pump three blocks from the Atlantic can outlast an unprotected one inland.
Conventional motor or totally enclosed?
Conventional motors have a vented steel body and carry a one year warranty. Totally enclosed fan cooled motors, usually called TEFC, are aluminium and sealed against what is in the air around them, and carry a two year warranty. TEFC costs $75 to $150 more depending on size. We recommend it for pools directly on the beach and anywhere else with an exposure problem, sprinklers included. On a Satellite Beach pool it is usually the easy call.
Do I have to switch to a variable speed pool pump?
Only when you are buying a new one. A Department of Energy standard that took effect on 19 July 2021 set a minimum efficiency that single speed pumps of roughly 1 horsepower and above cannot meet, so manufacturers stopped making them. Nothing requires you to replace a pump that is already installed and working.
The detail that gets misreported is that this is an efficiency standard, not a horsepower ban. The rule sets a minimum weighted energy factor for dedicated purpose pool pumps. Single speed and two speed pumps at about 1 horsepower and up cannot hit that number, so they left the market. One compliant single speed size is still sold, which is the $985 option above, and it suits smaller pools without solar, an attached spa or most water features. Everything larger is variable speed now.
The rule governs what can be manufactured and sold, not what you are allowed to keep running. Nobody is going to make you pull out a working pump. But when it does fail, the replacement you can buy will almost certainly be variable speed, so it is worth understanding before you are standing on the pad deciding.
How much does a variable speed pump save on a Florida pool?
Most energy calculators land between $250 and $750 a year. Pentair’s own calculator, run for a Brevard County zip code with a 1.5 horsepower pump, an eight hour run time, a 15,000 gallon pool and a twelve month season, returns about $620 a year.
The saving comes from physics rather than marketing. Pump power rises with the cube of speed, so running at half speed uses roughly an eighth of the power. You have to run about twice as long to move the same water, which still leaves you using in the region of a quarter of the energy for the same turnover. That matters more in Florida than almost anywhere else, because our run times are long and the season never really ends.
You can run your own numbers on the Pentair pool pump savings calculator. The catch is that none of it happens automatically. A variable speed pump only delivers those numbers when it is programmed to run long and slow. Set to run short and fast, it behaves like an expensive single speed pump, and that is exactly how a lot of them end up configured.
What size pool pump do I need?
Size the pump to turn the water over, not to be powerful. Work out the pool volume in gallons, decide how many hours the turnover should take, and divide. A 15,000 gallon pool turning over in eight hours needs roughly 31 gallons per minute. The plumbing already in the ground sets the ceiling.
That last point is the one most often missed. An oversized pump on undersized pipe does not move more water, it just works harder, runs louder, wears faster and can pull air past fittings that were fine before. On older Brevard pools especially, the pipe in the ground is the constraint you are designing around, not the pump you would like to buy.
Why did a new pump not fix my problem?
Because the pump usually was not the problem. Poor circulation, air in the returns and a pool that will not clear are commonly caused by something on the suction side, by a filter that is past due, or by a program that does not run long enough. A new pump on top of any of those changes nothing except the invoice.
The things worth ruling out first are unglamorous and cheap. The skimmer weir and basket. The lid o-ring. The filter, and whether the pressure gauge has been creeping up for months. Whether the run time was ever adjusted when the seasons changed. And on a salt pool, whether the cell is scaled and quietly under producing while everyone blames circulation.
What is involved in replacing a pool pump?
On a straightforward swap, about an hour on site. Our most recent Melbourne replacement was a Pentair IntelliFlo3 1.5 horsepower variable speed pump, it took just over an hour, and the total came to $1,795 including all parts, labor and tax.
That job is a good illustration of the repair or replace call. The original single speed pump had been through several motors over the years. The wet end had started to leak and the motor had gone very loud, which is the usual sign of bearings on the way out. Adding up everything needed to save the pump did not make sense against the cost of replacing it, so it was replaced once rather than repaired three more times.
Pool pump questions Brevard homeowners ask
Is a pool pump on sale a good deal?
Only when replacement is the right repair. If the wet end is sound and the motor failed, a $405 to $780 motor swap beats any sale price on a whole pump. Compare the installed total, not the box price, and check that the warranty is valid with the install you plan to use.
Do I still pay the service call if I go ahead with the repair?
No. The service call is $125 and it is credited against the repair when you accept the proposal. Customers on weekly pool service typically do not pay a diagnostic fee at all for common pump and motor problems.
What is the difference between a conventional motor and a TEFC motor?
A conventional motor has a vented steel body and a one year warranty. A TEFC motor is aluminium, sealed against the air around it, and carries a two year warranty. TEFC costs $75 to $150 more depending on size, and it is what we recommend for beachside pools and anywhere sprinklers hit the equipment.
Can the wet end be replaced on its own?
Yes, on a variable speed pump where the drive and the motor are still working properly and only the wet end has developed a leak. We replace the volute and keep the rest of the pump rather than selling you a whole new one.
Does a pool with an automation system need a particular pump?
Yes. Where a pool already runs an automation system, we install the pump that matches the brand of that system. Mixing brands is where communication problems between the panel and the pump come from, and it is cheaper to avoid than to troubleshoot.
Check availability at your address
If the pump is noisy, leaking or tripping the breaker, get it looked at rather than waiting for it to stop, because a shaft seal caught early is a much smaller job than the motor it takes out. We handle pool equipment repair across Brevard County, Florida, and weekly pool service is where most of these get spotted before they become failures.
Send your address and what the pump is doing and we will confirm whether you are inside an active route and what the next step looks like. Call (321) 271-5800 or use the availability form on any page.
If you are buying a house and the pump on the pad is an unknown quantity, that is a different question and it is worth answering before closing rather than after. A pool inspection dates the equipment from the serial number and tells you what life is actually left in it.
