Electrical Cost

[mrairportjunke]

Ok gang.  Gotta help me figure something out.  I am tryin to figure out and find how much money it cost to run my aquariums each month bases upon just electrical.  I am tryin to figure out how to figure out how much each thing pluged in runs me on average.  Anyone have any ideas of how to figure this out???

[algarciajr]

Re: Electrical Cost

I will give this a shot, someone correct me if I am wrong. First you have to know how many watts a particular item consumes. For example an Eheim 2217 uses 20 watts. You take the watts and multiply that by the number of hours per day that the item is being used. Take that figure and multiply it by 365 days, divide this number by 1,000 to get kilowatt hours. Then you multiply this number by your cost per kilowatt of electricty, divide this number by 12 and that is your monthly cost to run. For example to calculate the cost to run the Eheim 2217 per month it would be.

20 watts x 24 hours x 365 days / 1000 x .16 / 12 = ~$2.34 per month.

20 x 24 x 365 = 175,200 total watts per year
175,200 / 1,000 = 175.2 total kilowatts per year
175.2 x .16 = $28.032 per year (replace .16 by your cost per kilowatt)
$28.032  / 12 = $2.336 per month

I hope this helps.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: Electrical Cost

where did you get the .16 from???  is that something you made up or yo uget that from a bill?  i cant find the cost on my bill per unit.  another questoin, why divide by 1000??  i understand the formula and stuff but tryin to figure out what the 1000 breaks it down too

[algarciajr]

Re: Electrical Cost

The .16 is an estimate (replace .16 by your cost per kilowatt) from your electrical bill.  I used 16 cents for an example, your cost may be differnt. Electrical companies charge you per kilowatt (1,000 watts) used.

[ponyrandy]

Re: Electrical Cost

If you have Reliant Energy the average cost per kilowatt hour is now on the back of the bill.Top right hand column under "Current Electricity Charges Detail". The last figure is your average cost.
Brian

[ponyrandy]

Re: Electrical Cost

Also for 34.99, Foster & Smith has a gadget called "Kill A Watt". You can plug anything in to it and it gives you the kilowatt hours. I think Home Depot and Lowes also carry them.
Brian

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Electrical Cost

Local power rates are $ 0.119 to 0.143 per KWH
I use GreenMountain which is $ 0.138 for renewable power thas doesen't polute our Gulf Coast Wet Lands.

If you would like to find yours go to
Texas Electric choice
and enter your zip code

[mrairportjunke]

Re: Electrical Cost

thanks again guys.  yall are awesome.