miracledogg
Well, how strong the
pump should be has many factors. There are 2 ratings on pumps that are important. The most important is the head height (the maximum height the pump can pump the water to). This is basically the pressure. Once the water reaches the maximum head height, it equals the pressure the pump can push the water out. Thus the water flow stops because there is to much back pressure in the water tube. The other rating is GPH (gallons per hour). the gph rating changes depending on how high the water is being pumped up to. The maximum gph is what the volume the pump can put out at zero feet high, the gph you get at 3 feet high will be lower than at zero feet high. Most pumps have a chart that tells you the gph at different heights.
Beyond that it just comes down to the type of system your using, as well as all the variables on how you built your system. How high the pump needs to pump, where the reservoir is in relation to the system, how many gallons it takes to flood, etc.. Not to mention how fast or slow you want it to work/flood & drain/drip. So there is just no chart that can take into account how you built your system. Basically all you need to do is figure out how many gallons the system will take to completely flood (just a educated guess guess will be fine), as well as figure out how high the pump will need to pump the water. Then just get a pump that will be able to pump that much (or preferably more) water at that height (or preferably higher). If your planing a
drip system, then how many gallons it takes to flood wont be a factor. But how many plants your running the drip lines to (and the head height) will, as well as the size lines you choose to use. But typically a drip system wont need as high a GPH rating compared to running a flood and drain system, unless your running the line to a relatively large number of plants.
As for how much the electricity will cost you to run the pump. Well that's easy. Just figure out how many watts the pump is. It usually says on the box, if not multiply the volts by the amps to get the watts. Then find out how much you pay per kilowatt hour, the rate you pay will be on your electric bill. That's all you need to find out your estimated cost to run the pump (or anything for that matter). Here is an online
Electricity Cost Calculator. Just fill in your rate, watts, and how long you want to use it, and click calculate. Play around with changing the watts and running time (just keep the rate you pay the same as what you actually pay).