Electric bill and Mother In Law??
- Thread starter NYFrank
- Start date
MIKE NY
Two Decade club
bro, I feel your pain....you'll get more responses on the LIRA forum, anyway were're getting killed here on the Island with gas and electric....especially this time of year when oil always seems to go up....not going to name companies, but check out the profit margins they are making......not even mentioning the taxes which are going the roof toooo!
When I had both reefs running (120 & 125) they were almost 2/3 of the total electric bill in the winter and I do not have metal halides just about 600 watts of power compacts. I pay 10 cents per kwh and they were about $35 each per month. Electronic MH ballasts use less energy, just feel the heat difference. I am not sure what you are using, but you can't just add the bulb wattage to get power consumption.
I say if you want to play your going to pay my electric bill is unreal I pay as I go and one month it's 900 next month it's 200 then 600 I'd have to say it probably averages around 550 I'm in a 2400 sq ft ranch two people I swear my neighborsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ are connected to my house. I run power compacts (7) and 3 mag pumps. I agree LIPA has us bent over a oil barrel. But we build these crazy set up and want them to be cheap who are we kidding as we get addicted and start dreaming of bigger set up we are our worst enemy. It's like building a race car and wanting to run regular gas.
Allow me to muddy the waters..
Frist law of thermodynamics:
Heat is light and light is heat.
Therefore all heat produced by your tank ( and there is an absolute conversion rate in BTU's ) will result in a lowering of the energy costs associated with heat. If the electrical cost has risen by $75.00 , then the cost of heating the dwelling must have dropped.
G'won, ask for your rebate, I dare 'ya.
Seriously. if the house isn't heated by electricity, what was last December's usage in Kilowatt hours? What's this December's? If all other things are equal, the only difference would be from the tank.
Frist law of thermodynamics:
Heat is light and light is heat.
Therefore all heat produced by your tank ( and there is an absolute conversion rate in BTU's ) will result in a lowering of the energy costs associated with heat. If the electrical cost has risen by $75.00 , then the cost of heating the dwelling must have dropped.
G'won, ask for your rebate, I dare 'ya.
Seriously. if the house isn't heated by electricity, what was last December's usage in Kilowatt hours? What's this December's? If all other things are equal, the only difference would be from the tank.
Dave we r on the plan where u pay a set amount each month so it dont go up and down. But now I am thinking of a way to run just the lites on a solar panel.
Chuck U bought up a good point about the lite and heat. And yes I have not had to turn the oil burner on nearley as much during the day
- I now dred the thought of the of running the ac in the summer. Like I said we r the working poor.
Chuck U bought up a good point about the lite and heat. And yes I have not had to turn the oil burner on nearley as much during the day
- I now dred the thought of the of running the ac in the summer. Like I said we r the working poor.sterling18
WMAS and HVReef Member
How many solar panels do you think we will need to run our tanks. lol considering how much power they eat.:eek1:
Pandora
Premium Member
chuck, I know your point is about conservation of energy, but I think you know that heat does not = light. Some light is hotter than others depending on wavelength, and the amount converted to heat will vary. So while lights might slightly heat the ambient temp of the room, it's not like they would work as a 500 W heater would. Certainly not enough to balance things out and lower your heating needs by an equivilent $75 worth a month.
Frank, back when I had roommates and lived in a house where we split utilities, I got my first reef tank. First bill did jump by close to $50, and I wasn't using halides (using 440 W of VHO), plus this was years ago before many of the energy price hikes. So I don't think it's improbable it's mostly the tank. Ended up having to work out where I would pay more in utilities than the rest of the house.
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Anemonebuff
New member
It is possible. I probably pay about that much a month for my tank. Long Island has the second highest electric rates in the US, next to Maui. We pay about 18 cents a KWH with LIPA(thieves) and there is a increased fuel price adjustment as well(which is illegal, but they do it anyway).
BOHICA- Bend Over Here It Comes Again.
Anemonebuff
New member
Your Mother in law may be adding in some of the cost of the increased fuel price charge. My balanced billing went from $214 a month to $260 a month. My home heating oil is up 30 cents a gallon. The taxes here are rediculous as well. I pay $11,000 a year in property taxes. Like I said BOHICA. Seven years to retire, and off to somewhere cheaper.
jay24k
Active member
My electric bill this month was about 170 dollars. My tank alone is about 54 dollars a month for my 180. So 1/3 is my tank roughly. Compare to mine and you should be able to tell.
I run the following
750 watts MH - Electronic ballast 7 hrs
320 watts VHO - 12 hrs
2 SEIO - 1500 and 1100 - 24/7
Iwaki 40XLRT 24/7
ASM G3 Skimmer 24/7
Fuge light approx 25 watt 12 hrs
No heater needed
2 little fans which don't add much.
Also factor in the heat from your tank is cooled by your house which costs more but in the winter you save.
I run the following
750 watts MH - Electronic ballast 7 hrs
320 watts VHO - 12 hrs
2 SEIO - 1500 and 1100 - 24/7
Iwaki 40XLRT 24/7
ASM G3 Skimmer 24/7
Fuge light approx 25 watt 12 hrs
No heater needed
2 little fans which don't add much.
Also factor in the heat from your tank is cooled by your house which costs more but in the winter you save.
Anemonebuff
New member
525 watts MH-8 hours
80 watts NO actinics -10 hours
300 watt titanium heater
ASM G3 skimmer-24/7
Tunze Stream 6000, maxi jet 1200, Penguin 300gph, and Mag 18(Return)-24/7. Plan on adding another maxijet I have on hand.
80 watts NO actinics -10 hours
300 watt titanium heater
ASM G3 skimmer-24/7
Tunze Stream 6000, maxi jet 1200, Penguin 300gph, and Mag 18(Return)-24/7. Plan on adding another maxijet I have on hand.
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