Most of us will always get hit with a high electric bill every few months. The Electric company invoices monthly rates based on estimates. Then every few months (depending) you will get an actual reading. For some people they may even get a discount but anyone in the hobby will likely get a large bill. You can call the electric company and have the estimates changed if you want.

Bottom line is you're not paying $400 a month, you just didn't pay enough on your last few bills to cover the actual usage. Next month it will be back down to what it was before.

See these look more realistic. This is what i end up with as well i have approx 350 gallons with 3 400 watts 4 48" T5s 2 tunze power heads 2 tunze wav boxes Dart return pump bubble king skimmer a chiller that does not run in the winter and my last bill was just under 500. I am always blown away at peolpe who try to say that their tank only costs 60 80 dollars a month to run. I must be doing something wrong. Before i had a tank 3 years ago our bill was approx 150 a month.

I'm paying $160 a month on an equal payment plan and so far I've paid more then I have actually used. If my hydro ever reaches $400 a month I'm quitting :mrgreen:

I moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) and his bill was about $40-50 per month without me and about $100-$110 with me. I'd say thats pretty much my tank that took care of the increase. Previously I had run it through that calculator on RC which gave me about the same values.

I don't have a large tank yet but with my 70 and my HQI nano I only burn about $17/mth. I did get a Kill-o-Watt Meter and check all my devices though when I set things up and I had a quietone pump that was pulling 3x what they said it would. I got it replaced and now it reads really close to what it should.

Beyond the lights, I think it's often the big returns that gobble up power on your large tanks.

My total household electrical bill last month was $199.80 with Epcor's rate 10 to 12 cent for the period (interesting how the rate changes throught out the period but yet they estimate usage).

Using RC calculator, tank is about $70/mon. Thinking about throwing some frags in the sump and adding a 175W MH, would expect to add about another $7.00 a month. Sell one frag for $10.00, I'm making money.

I think my tank only cost me around $10 a month ahah... except I don't actually pay for the electricity :)

Well then you must have some deep pockets to spring for some of our bills... :wink: Should have gt a nano...

I don't see how large returns would gobble up power. Most of the pumps I have seen for returns/closed loops are Reeflo pumps, and the popular ones, like the Snapper, Dart, & Barracuda, are equivalent to 1-4 household light bulbs running, and that's when they are running fully open, if you have them dialed back the power usage drops accordingly. At least I think that's what I saw on a chart at the LFS.

How the heck do you guys spend so much on electricity??? Do you keep all your lights/oven/dryer/dishwasher/etc. on 24 hours a day?