how your tanks effect your electricity bill

[ddaquaria]

WOW... I came up with about $200/month just for my 4x120 and 2x90. This means my tanks are about 40-45% of my electric bill

[myjohnson]

Peter's electricity bill is low like that because he is an engineer. He hand made solar panels for his roof, designed a wild mill in his backyard, and has a panda that rides an electricity creating bicycle......no joke.

[Zulaab]

WOW... I came up with about $200/month just for my 4x120 and 2x90. This means my tanks are about 40-45% of my electric bill

D- you made some calculation errors...
My 180 is about $35 a month, and my 110 is less than that..
You are remembering that each item is in watts and power is paid in per 1000 watts used.
A Mag12 uses 110w / hour * 24 * 30 days = 79200 watts = 79.2 kwh * .132 (what Reliant energy charges me per KHW/h) = $10.4544 a month

Check again, and I am thinking there is an error in your thinking.
Lights and pump should be the most expensive parts of your tank.

Keep smiling :)
Jesper

PS a heater I would say no more than 6 hours a day its actually on and this is lowered A LOT if you have glass lids on your tank.

[peterp63]

Oops...yeah, 12.5 cents per kwh. Jesper, he's probably correct. For 6 tanks and sufficient filtration for trophs that's about right.

.....gotta buy me another panda!

[peterp63]

Oops...yeah, 12.5 cents per kwh. Jesper, he's probably correct. For 6 tanks and sufficient filtration for trophs that's about right.

.....gotta buy me another panda!

[ddaquaria]

D- you made some calculation errors...
My 180 is about $35 a month, and my 110 is less than that..
You are remembering that each item is in watts and power is paid in per 1000 watts used.
A Mag12 uses 110w / hour * 24 * 30 days = 79200 watts = 79.2 kwh * .132 (what Reliant energy charges me per KHW/h) = $10.4544 a month

Check again, and I am thinking there is an error in your thinking.
Lights and pump should be the most expensive parts of your tank.

Keep smiling :)
Jesper

PS a heater I would say no more than 6 hours a day its actually on and this is lowered A LOT if you have glass lids on your tank.

Here are the specs of my calculations:
Lights - 108W - 5 hr/day
mag 12 - 110W - 24hrs
b/u filter eheim 2028 20W - 24hrs
heater 300W - 6 hours (over estimate)
light fan 9W (estimate) - 24 hrs
vortech 28W - 24hrs
wavysea 9W (estimate) - 24hr

Equals 6.564 KW/day (196.92 KW/month)

Using the above, I calculated $23 per month but it can be up to $35 per month depending on my light usage. So I took a close average of those numbers (about $30) and since all my tanks are basically set up the same way (give or take 50W), and rounding up - I'm looking at about $200 per month for all my tanks. I also rounded up for when q-tanks and holding tanks are running.

This is why I saved about $100 last month due to covering my big tanks again, and cutting the light from 13 hours to 5 hours.

[peterp63]

I guess I should look into covering my tanks back up, too. I just hate having to clean the glass when algae starts growing or the deposits get too thick. Also, aeration is so much better with an open tank...

[ddaquaria]

Completely agree Peter.

I lowered my water level to cut the algae on the top glass. The air conditioner also comes on less due to being less humid in the house. And my tanks are not completely covered. Instead of the full glass cover, I only use the large section of glass for the front, so the back is still open. This helps for maintenance and feeding without removing the glass at all.

[blacksmith37]

The main electric power consumption for aquariums (in Houston area ,averaged over the year) is EVAPORATION. Each gallon requires 27,373 watts (no time parameter) of energy to evaporate; if the aquarium is in a space with A/C , the A/C used roughly another 40,000 watts to condense the water. (27373 watts to condense the water vapor and -guess- 13000 watts for A/C inefficiency).
So , I have one covered aquarium in the house . Five aquariums in the "fish room" separate A/C set at 82 F; and no A/C the last couple days with cool nights. And 3 aquariums in the garden shed with no A/C (no covers so they cool with free evaporation).
I need to work on the aquarium in the house it is still evaporating about a gallon every 10 days. I just checked temps (1 PM) , all are between 80.2 and 81.4 (with an electronic thermometer).

[peterp63]

ok.... guess I'll cover everything back up.

[ddaquaria]

ok.... guess I'll cover everything back up.

+ 1

[PhishPhreek]

Lets see, I have 100 bettas in 1/3g beanny baby boxes with no heaters, no filters, no air pumps, no light ooops yes a dual 40w flourescent shop light ($9 @ Lowes + $2 for bulbs) on a switch so maybe 4 hours / day sooooo....

2 bulbs x40w = 80w
80w x 4 hours = 320wh x 30 days
9.6wh/1000wh * $ 0.176 (green mountain)= $ 1.69
or $ 0.017 per betta per month

And they just had babies, going to drive me into the poor house

[peterp63]

i feel sorry for those poor fishes :)