Any ideas on how to save energy on a reef tank system.

drink a few less coffee and eat out less per month. that alone can easily save you $15-50 per month.
 
Something most seem to be forgetting in their calculations is that almost nobody runs LED's at the max rated power. I have a DIY fixture with 36 3 watt cree's. I am running it at 350/350/400mah on my 3 strings. I have tried bumping the power up 50-100 mah at a time but end up going back because I bleach corals. So my fixture that is supposed to use about 108 watts is in reality probably closer to 50 when u count in the driver losses. Another way to put that is I see twice the electrical savings I thought I would get.
 
Something most seem to be forgetting in their calculations is that almost nobody runs LED's at the max rated power. I have a DIY fixture with 36 3 watt cree's. I am running it at 350/350/400mah on my 3 strings. I have tried bumping the power up 50-100 mah at a time but end up going back because I bleach corals. So my fixture that is supposed to use about 108 watts is in reality probably closer to 50 when u count in the driver losses. Another way to put that is I see twice the electrical savings I thought I would get.

That is a fair point, but considering very few people who have LEDs give us indications on what level would be optimal in various tank sizes, those of us who don't have them have to assume full intensity.
 
Alot of people keep saying go with LEDs. I've stated before, from my resource her on RC, the amount of LED's it would take to satisfy my tank would consume just enough electricity that I am already using."

Dead solid wrong. This is really pretty easy to figure out. You're using over 1000w in electricity in just lighting, correct? 96 x 3w led's would use under 300w, and you could ditch the chiller to boot.

Sounds like your 'source' here on RC is misinformed.

If you go DIY you can save big over pre-made fixtures. Get 2 of these to start -> http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-57/48-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail, and install them on 4 of these heat sinks -> http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-131/Drilled-and-Tapped-4.25"/Detail. The heatsinks are pre-drilled, and drilling/tapping is the most tedious part of the DIY. They even have solderless connectors now - which is a really nice option for those without soldering experience, and would allow for changing out individual stars if you wanted to experiment with adding a few different colors in the future. BUT - solderless connectors are 1.50 each, which would add another $150 to total cost. Not too bad, I guess.
 
Last edited:
I always look at lights first (LED uses much less and chiller time is significantly less), then pumps (circulation, skimmer, etc.). You would be amazed at items which run 24x7x365 racking up usage.
 
That is a fair point, but considering very few people who have LEDs give us indications on what level would be optimal in various tank sizes, those of us who don't have them have to assume full intensity.

I am doing SPS at about 65% intensity. On two tanks. Use that as a "number".
 
my calcs show that your system should cost you about 2.29 dollars per day to operate. Not that much of your bill really. Running the AC and heating water is probably the majority of the $200 bill. thats assuming this:
800w*12 Halides
200w*8 T5s
250w*6 Chiller
275w*24 return pump
140w*24 skimmer

=22900 w, @.10/kWh 22.9kW = 2.29 per day
 
Last edited:
$31.92 a month is nothing. I thought the tank was using a lot more energy then that, but I was not sure how to do the math. Maybe I need to start pointing the figure at my wife on all the electricity used. Instead of her pointing at my tank. The washer and dryer are running every day. Summer here is very hot right now.
 
Dead solid wrong. This is really pretty easy to figure out. You're using over 1000w in electricity in just lighting, correct? 96 x 3w led's would use under 300w, and you could ditch the chiller to boot.

Sounds like your 'source' here on RC is misinformed.

If you go DIY you can save big over pre-made fixtures. Get 2 of these to start -> http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-57/48-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail, and install them on 4 of these heat sinks -> http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-131/Drilled-and-Tapped-4.25"/Detail. The heatsinks are pre-drilled, and drilling/tapping is the most tedious part of the DIY. They even have solderless connectors now - which is a really nice option for those without soldering experience, and would allow for changing out individual stars if you wanted to experiment with adding a few different colors in the future. BUT - solderless connectors are 1.50 each, which would add another $150 to total cost. Not too bad, I guess.

Those are the kits I used, went together really easy. The nice thing about the LED's is there is 3 or 4 solder pads for positive and negative on each 'bulb'. Allowing for a lot of different wiring configs, and even nice if you goof up a solder or two. Just running a fan over them keeps them cool enough to touch the heatsinks (they are red hot without fans), which I couldn't say for my MH lights. Good luck ever touching one of those even with hurricane force winds on them.
 
According to the kill-a-watt, the rapidLED 36 LED bulb DIY kit, including 3 drivers and the electronic dimmer module, is exactly 187 watts. My 125 needs 72-80 bulbs for sps coral, so ~360 watts compared to my old setup of ~760 watts (I never did test the old setup with the kill-a-watt). I can't see how anyone could say that is not a HUGE savings in electricity over the course of a month, much less a year. Factor in bulb replacement every 6 or 8 months....


It was interesting that my 5500 Marineland pump is using exactly the same draw as my 3000 marineland pump...68 watts. The lesser pump shuts down at night, and the higher flow one runs, along with 2 tunze pump (6 watts each) for nighttime water movement. 6 watts to 68 watts is a crazy difference. I am almost thinking of sticking with only one return pump and just rely on wavemakers to move the water around, that's a fairly big savings over the course of a year.
 
Caesra quote [Admitted I do not run a chiller, I don't see a need to. I keep the room reasonably cool with an AC and both me and the tank are cool for a faction of the price of running/buying a chiller. For $300 you can get a pretty decent room AC that run pretty darn cheap.

If I could figure out how to run 3 250's with no chiller I would be extremely happy. Are your lights in a canopy or do you have them in pendents? Ahttp://reefcentral.com/forums/member.php?u=248573re you using any other light to go with the MH?
 
Dead solid wrong. This is really pretty easy to figure out. You're using over 1000w in electricity in just lighting, correct? 96 x 3w led's would use under 300w, and you could ditch the chiller to boot.

Sounds like your 'source' here on RC is misinformed.

If you go DIY you can save big over pre-made fixtures. Get 2 of these to start -> http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-57/48-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail, and install them on 4 of these heat sinks -> http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-131/Drilled-and-Tapped-4.25"/Detail. The heatsinks are pre-drilled, and drilling/tapping is the most tedious part of the DIY. They even have solderless connectors now - which is a really nice option for those without soldering experience, and would allow for changing out individual stars if you wanted to experiment with adding a few different colors in the future. BUT - solderless connectors are 1.50 each, which would add another $150 to total cost. Not too bad, I guess.

Man thats $850 in LED and $160 in heat sinks. Total of $1010 But the heat sinks are only 16'' long. How am I going to do that on a seven foot tank?
 
Man thats $850 in LED and $160 in heat sinks. Total of $1010 But the heat sinks are only 16'' long. How am I going to do that on a seven foot tank?

The LED's can be mounted with lenses that have different parameters. If those 2 fixtures are a few inches off the water surface, with a wide lens, you can cover a heck of a lot of space. That said, I went with the 9" heatsinks, so I can aim them at different angles. Just a bit more work hanging them is the only real difference.
 
16" x 4 = 64" The spread of the light in the intervals between the four modules will more than cover the gaps. If you do order these diy groups, I suggest getting both wide and narrow optics, and putting a row of wide optics along the edge of each of your four modules. That way, the light spill from the wide beams will be sure to overlap ensuring no dim areas.
 
$31.92 a month is nothing. I thought the tank was using a lot more energy then that, but I was not sure how to do the math. Maybe I need to start pointing the figure at my wife on all the electricity used. Instead of her pointing at my tank. The washer and dryer are running every day. Summer here is very hot right now.

Its more like 60 bucks, but still its only 25% of your bill

The math is easy. here is a plug and play formula to calcuate usage.

((x*h)/1000)*.10

x is the device usage, h is the amount of hours its on, .10 is the average kW charge in the midwest.

Using your lights as an example. ((800*12)/1000)*.10=.96 cents. your lights cost you 96 cents per day to operate.
Better ways of saving money on electicity are starting with things that cost the less to make the biggest impact.

If you have a fridge in the garage, unplug it. It costs about 30 bucks a month to run a fridge or freezer in the garage, which pretty much wipes out the savings you save by buying in bulk.

Wash your clothes in cold water, and make sure that the lint trap and exaust on the dryer are clean.

Change from incandesent to compact flourecent where ever you can. that will cut the AC bill down too.

turn the AC up to 71 or 72 and run celing fans.

turn PC towers off, run laptops whenever possible.

Get rid of phantom loads by manually powering off appliances and electronics. here is a link about phantom loads if your not familer with what they are.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_load#Estimating_total

Run your tank lights later in the day early evening, when its cooler , that takes load off of the AC.

Pull the shades during the day when the AC is on.

Buy a programable thermostat, only cool the house when people are there.

only start the dishwasher when its full, only do laundry when the washing machine is full.

Turn down the thermostat on the hot water heater .

Take showers instead of baths.

Im sure there are more, but once again the biggest cost savings are targeted around reducing the amount of AC needed, and reducing the amount of hot water you use.
 
Last edited:
...turn the AC up to 71 or 72 and run ceiling fans...
...Alot of great ideas, but (IMO) AC at 71 or 72 is way too low and wasteful...'air conditioned' air at 75*-79* is cool and very comfortable. And those few degrees make a BIG difference in your electric bill.
My auto thermostats have my house at 79* when I get home, and you'd never guess the temp. It feels much cooler as you walk in the door.

As a business owner, I had to lock the thermostats, year round...because the people that kept turning the temp down to 60*in summer, were the same ones that tried to turn it to 90* in the winter.
IMO, 80* is 80*...in fact 80* may actually seem cooler in summer, because most people are wearing lighter clothing.

I'd bet that most, if not all family members, would not realize an extra degree or 2. TRY IT...I dare you!
 
...Alot of great ideas, but (IMO) AC at 71 or 72 is way too low and wasteful...'air conditioned' air at 75*-79* is cool and very comfortable. And those few degrees make a BIG difference in your electric bill.
My auto thermostats have my house at 79* when I get home, and you'd never guess the temp. It feels much cooler as you walk in the door.

As a business owner, I had to lock the thermostats, year round...because the people that kept turning the temp down to 60*in summer, were the same ones that tried to turn it to 90* in the winter.
IMO, 80* is 80*...in fact 80* may actually seem cooler in summer, because most people are wearing lighter clothing.

I'd bet that most, if not all family members, would not realize an extra degree or 2. TRY IT...I dare you!

i completly agree! i was trying to make suggestions based on not changing peoples lifestyles.. much. 78 is fine with me, but alot of folks i know and have audited have there thermostat set at 68. So 71 and 72 is a stretch for those folks :)

I was in the solar industry for along time, and used to do energy audits. The points i listed above where always high on the list. Its hard to advise someone to invest 50k in solar when they waste so much power that doesnt need to be wasted. I save the more extreme ideas like cranking up the ac to 78 after all other minor things are squared away. My goal first it to save with minor lifestyle tweaks, second phase is more intrusive like rasing the AC and taking away hot tubs, third is off the charts like using clothes lines to dry clothes etc, things that interfere with lifestyle practices alot. Its amazing, people who can commit to phase 1 (phase 1 things listed in my previous post) things can sometimes save as much as 50% off there bills.
 
Two things i can see that would bring it down... MH light would be changed to LED and the other thing would be the chiller.. but if you got the LED's you might not have to run the chiller as much or not run it at all
 
Back
Top