You have to sit back and admire the simplicity of a bell siphon. I can sit on my deck and listen to the darn things from my deck. It is way too cool. I was put off by them until I built my first one. After that I watched for hours not believing they could be some simple to make.

Cycling pumps on & off shortens their life decidedly. Nearly all of the wear & tear on pumps is in the windings and this all happens when they switch on. It saves power for sure, but keep some pumps in reserve and do a cost analysis on the replacement cost of the pump vs. the power cost over time. I'm voting for these crazy cheap intex pumps. 80 watts at $35 delivered for a new pump. Free on freecycle to the quick. At 10 cents a KW hour 24 hour a day operation for a year is $70. I have no idea what cycling these on & off will cost them in life, but I think the overall simplicty of the bell siphon wins.