lights power consumption

[BMW Rider]

Well, the power bill just arrived again. I can't believe how much it keeps going up. I figure my new reef tank is using over $60 / month most of which must be for the lighting. This is about $20 more than I figured as a maximum when I set it up. I'm trying to figure out just how much I need to run the lighting to be ok. Currently I'm running two 96w PCs for 12 hours and two 250w MHs for 11. I'm wondering if I can drop them down to 11 for the PCs and 9 for the MHs. Will this be a long enough photo period for the corals? Alternatively , do I need to have the PCs on with the MHs at all, or can they be shut down once the MHs come on so they just provide a sunrise/sunset period? I am using one actinic and one 6500k bulb in them, the MHs are 10000k bulbs.

All I have so far for corals are:

montipora digitata
green furry mushroom
green star polyp
kenya tree
zoanthids


I'm open to suggestions and reccomendations. Of course when my wife sees this months bill , she'll kill me and the whole thing will become irrelavant.

[DOO-E]

I have a frind who is running 2 55 watt pc's over a 28 inch tall tank he has a sebea anenome at the bottom and has quit feeding it has grown so big. You really dont need much light. about 5 watts per gallon. that is what he and i are running i have corals, mushrooms and GSP's and he has anenomes. Cut back to say 1 250 watt halide or 2 150 watt halide this will help also.

[mr_alberta]

Are you running the PC's for the sunrise/sunset effect? If so, that is not absolutely essential, so you could remove the PC's. If the PC are for actinic supplementation, you can always just switch to higher K bulbs. Growth may be slower though but you will save on electricity costs. That's what I did. I was running a 250W and 2x65W PC for sunrise/sunset/actinic but wanted to save some on energy consumption, so I removed my PC's. I noticed no difference in behavior in any of the corals or fish or anenome once I stopped using them.

[bluetang]

DOO-E,.... Go back and read his post again. He has in total about 155g's in his reef and about 5 watts per gallon as it is.
You should try doing the math....

Sorry Ed, for the post highjack.

[Canadian Man]

Just a tid bit of info for you. A 400W halide on average cost about $.30 a day to run. So that's about $0.025 an hour. So lets say 3 cents an hour to run.

Cut back your photo period an hour a day and you save $0.90 a month. Peanuts Don't forget this is a 400w halide we are talking about. This ammount can vary a bit of course but not too much from the figures I posted.

So instead of paying $9.00 a month per halide to run you pay $8.10.
Again 400w don't forget. If it makes you feel any better my bill runs about $250 a month and half is for the tank

[mr_alberta]

I though I had it bad with my $56/mo power bill....

[mark]

Was looking at my gas and electric bills a few days back. It's something, the proportion of true energy cost (kW/hr , GJ) compared with the rest of the bill (taxes, delivery etc.).

this is why Im lighting my big tanks with LED's....

[Delphinus]

Lights are probably a culprit but they're not the only one that contribute to a power bill sticker shock. Your choice in pumps can make a huge difference. Powerheads and Tunze's are peanuts to run, but something like a Little Giant or two can add up. Heaven help you if you run a hot tub pump.

I don't know what to say. Unfortunately it's not a cheap hobby. If it's any consolation, we all have spouses who get irritated by the power bills. Just ask mine. One piece of advice: be prepared to run when the expletives start.

I'm with Jonathan, if my bill comes in at <$230, I go out to dinner to celebrate. And buy a biiiiig steak or something.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by UnderWorldAquatics

this is why Im lighting my big tanks with LED's....

What about that 400g surge over that swimming pool reef of yours? Come on, if you're going to dump 400g on the order of once per minute, putting a couple LED's over your tank is gonna be cool, but nothing more than a novelty as far as your power bill is concerned. Or do you have plans on putting your own mini-hydro-dam in those ponds in that yard of yours?