Just threw up in my mouth a little bit... the electricity bill came

[Pan]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

I add up the wattage of my equipment x the number of hours each set is on per day and multiply by 30. Then I multiply that by the $/kwh.

My systems are mainly low power, with the exceptions being 3 x 250w MH on for 10 hours/day. I also have 4 Sedra 9000 pumps going 24/7 (2 skimmer @ 55w/2 returns @ 90w) and those are my main draws.

Low power lighting over the fowlr, seahorse, goldfish, sump & shrimp tanks & med. power (4 x 55w PC) over the planted community. The HOB & cannister filters, powerheads & such draw very little & I keep my tank temps on the low side with no ill effects. Until a couple days ago, didn't even have a heater plugged into the reef tank & the fish/corals were fine in the low-mid 70s. On my other tanks, I estimate the heaters to be on 12 hours/day or less.

In the winter, my bill rises due to heaters but not huge.

I made sure I went with slow flow for the returns so less power needed (some friends use 300w return pumps for instance).

My wife's goldfish tank probably draws 50 watts max/hour with lights for 8 hours & 30w for the other 16 hours daily.

I use a clip on light with a 27 watt Phillips Daylight CFL bulb over my sump & 2 over my seahorse tank. (in other words, a Tek HOT5 is way over kill for a sump light)

The 210g reef draws approx. 315 watts 24/7 (pump, powerheads, skimmer, fuge light, 80w UV) and 1065 watts for 10 hours when the MH lights come on. At $.065/kwh (old rate), that's $.69 for 10 hrs & then $.29 for the other 14 hours. That's roughly a dollar for the reef or $30/month for my reef tank. All the other tanks' equipment combined do not equal what my reef tank draws. My rough calculations is $1/day for the other 5 tanks.

Actually, with those 2 new tanks I added since I last did this calculation, I guess I'm up to $60/month for powering this addiction. Averages out to $10/tank since I have 6 different tanks running. Not bad.

I know it's too late (you've already bought and installed your equipment) but there are low power alternatives to many things needed for the tanks. I went from a 250w MH pendant over my seahorse tank to 2 x 27w clip on CFL lights. I harvest and sell my macro every week or two, so they work fine for nutrient export. I have smaller heaters (150w to 200w) and keep my tank temps in the low to mid 70s without any issues.

It sounds like you have your sump in the basement & so you need a high power pump to send water up 10+ feet to the display tank, whereas I can get away with a 90w Sedra.

Anthony

hehehehe....wifes goldfish tank...

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Pan

hehehehe....wifes goldfish tank...

Ask my friends. She made me tear down a 6'6" planted community discus tank over a 6' rainbow/congo tetra tank, then tells me she wants a fancy goldfish tank as I'm draining my tanks of water.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Ask my friends. She made me tear down a 6'6" planted community discus tank over a 6' rainbow/congo tetra tank, then tells me she wants a fancy goldfish tank as I'm draining my tanks of water.

Hey Anthony, does Irene do the maintenance on the goldfish tank?

[i have crabs]

a while back i bought a power meter from costco kinda like a kill-a-watt meter and i found other than the lights heaters where my biggest problem with 4or5 tanks usually running i had about 1000w of heaters which were costing me between $1-2 per day my 8 bulb tek light which is around 400w was costing me about $0.75 per day other things where seio powerheads and some things around the house, with all my tanks i average about $250 a month, usually one is a bit lower for the estimate and 1 is a bit higher and i calculate power at $0.11
some things actually use alot less power than they say or i would expect so that was a nice change,mh lights on the other hand use up to 20% more than they say so 750w of halides is probably over 1000w and costing you up to $2 per day

also about the heaters, i found it much cheeper to run my heat up all day and night then to have the heaters sucking up power

i think anyone with a bigger reef or multiple tanks should buy a meter, i got mine from costco online for $35 and ive seen canadian tire selling them in the flyers for about the same, kill-a-watt meters are about $50 but i think they have some better functions

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by 24storm

How does every one know what there tanks cost per month. I have tried those calculators and such. But i still get a very high bill. And the bill does not break out my tank for me. Since i have had a tank i have seen my bill increase quite a bit. But i cannot say my tank costs 200 a month or 50 a month, How do others come up with tank costs. It seams like every month enmax has a new fee for this or that.

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.

[mseepman]

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.

[mark]

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.

[superduperwesman]

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

[my2rotties]

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

Originally Posted by superduperwesman

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

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by mseepman

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

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.