Big tank owners: How much electricity are you using?

J

Jimbo327

Well-known member
For those with ~200G+ tanks, how much electricity does it use per day? I'm adding the lights, heater, pumps...I'm thinking you guys are using 1000W per hour for a good 12 hours, no? So what is your monthly power bill?

Seems like a lot of power needed to run big tanks.
 
my 200g garage tank is about a average of 300-400 including the house utilities. $250 would be a good guesstumate

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got about 450 gal system... running about 1kwh on average, bill is around $300 a month for the tank, ended up getting solar =)
 
I have solar, but it's been keeping up with my house. But adding a 200g tank will stick me with a $250/month bill. I've gotten used to not paying any electric bills.

So I'm wondering if I should add some batteries. I contacted the solar company for a quote. I'm just not sure if batteries makes sense financially.
 
Jimbo327 said:
I have solar, but it's been keeping up with my house. But adding a 200g tank will stick me with a $250/month bill. I've gotten used to not paying any electric bills.

So I'm wondering if I should add some batteries. I contacted the solar company for a quote. I'm just not sure if batteries makes sense financially.
Click to expand...

I think the batteries are just when your electricity goes out, not for storing and using electricity over what your system is producing. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I priced the back up batteries and they were way too expensive and couldn't justify the price for the benefit. I added approx. a 6kw system to my house, and we owe about $60 for the last 4 months total. Producing about 1,000 kwh per month. That's with AC and my 300.

I think some of these estimates are a little off. I don't think a 200 gallon tank is going to cost you $250 per month in electricity.
 
Mine was between $300 - $500. $500 during July, August, Sept. That's the whole electricity bill. I don't know exactly what it costs just for the tanks since they push me into higher tiers.

I do wish I went solar earlier. But I'm solar now and it's great.
 
Jimbo327 said:
I have solar, but it's been keeping up with my house. But adding a 200g tank will stick me with a $250/month bill. I've gotten used to not paying any electric bills.

So I'm wondering if I should add some batteries. I contacted the solar company for a quote. I'm just not sure if batteries makes sense financially.
Click to expand...

Batteries are good when electricity goes out or if you want to use the batteries during peak hours. I get about 10 hours off the battery if I run it down to 10%. That's running my whole house without altering my usage.

I got it because once, I was without electricity overnight, ended up being like 12 hours, I was on the brink of losing all my fish and corals. In the morning I had to buy a generator. Which kept my losses at a minimum. So if that battery saves me from one crash in 10 years, it paid for itself. On top of that, I use it daily to minimize peak hours.
 
I've been tracking my aquarium electricity usage for about 8 months now. I'm using a smart plug I purchased on Amazon and can track the usage via Bluetooth on my phone. My entire system is plugged into this smart plug. https://amzn.to/3DxwXeo

The two biggest factors are going to be your lights (brightness and duration) as well as your environment (meaning how often your heater has to run).

Now granted my system is smaller, about 90-gal., but it should give you a general idea. During the summer when the heater is running less I'm averaging 75 kWh per month. As its been getting cooler and the heater is running more I'm averaging about 100 kWh per month now.
 
I can't wait to see my electricity bills when move into the new house and have a big tank running again. Just try to calculate through the platform Strøm24.no . Once I have my bill, I will update here
 
BeanMachine said:
I think the batteries are just when your electricity goes out, not for storing and using electricity over what your system is producing. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I priced the back up batteries and they were way too expensive and couldn't justify the price for the benefit. I added approx. a 6kw system to my house, and we owe about $60 for the last 4 months total. Producing about 1,000 kwh per month. That's with AC and my 300.

I think some of these estimates are a little off. I don't think a 200 gallon tank is going to cost you $250 per month in electricity.
Click to expand...

I have the Tesla Solar and Powerwall batteries. My house feeds off the batteries at night and I have 20% saved for power outages. With a 320g Display and 100g frag tank plus a Tesla Model 3, my monthly bills were $350-450/mo before solar. With solar I've been anywhere from SCE owing me credits to me paying ~$30/mo
 
My electricity bill was 500 a month last August my AC never turned off, poor installation in the attic. Usual bill 180 month with a 120 gallon tank minimum lighting.
 
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