Electric Bill

[tye_c]

Got my electric bill today. $456 dollars. I figured up some things with the tank-electric calc on the home page.

Item KWH/Month Cost/Month
Lighting - full spectrum 553.71 66.44
Lighting - actinic 14.6 1.75
Circulation pump 160.6 19.27
Skimmer pump 120.45 14.45
Powerheads - constant 240.17 28.82
Dosing pump 80.3 9.64
Chiller 16.06 1.93
Exhaust Fan 176.66 21.2
Total 1362.55 163.51

So it looks like the tank cost me 163.51 to run not including the extra Central Air run time or the dehumidifier time.

For lighting I have 2 400 watt HQi radiums on the display, a 400w on the frag tank and a 175w MV on the fuge.

There is a MAK4 feeding the display and a mag 12 feeding the fuge and frag tank. The hammerhead closed loop runs 24x7 right now along with a Cap-1800 power head.

The skimmer is fed by a mag 5 (used to be a mag 3 until it died). There is a Sedra 1200 on it for Recirc.

I am thinking of cutting the halides back from like noon to 8pm. That will cut out $22 a month. If I can convince my wife to let me get to Tunze 6100's I can ditch the hammerhead. That will save another $18 a month. Not sure what else I can cut out or change right now to save money. Spending 163 a month on the electricity for the tank is insane.

 

[Bcollins111900]

OUCH!!! Granted I do not have as much equipiment as you do but dang. It cost about $50-$60 a month to run my 220. And it includes the following...

GenX PCX-40 Return Pump running 24/7
Dual 175 Metal Halides That are on for 10-12 Day
Two Hydor 4's running 24/7
Three King 590 GPH Needlewheel Pumps running 24/7
Rio 1400 Pump running 24/7
210 GPH Power Head (Phosban Reactor) running 24/7

 

[ronc98]

I feel your pain. As insane as it sounds I have not run my Air condition yet this summer for this very reason. It is only going to get worse as energy prices get higher. Tunzes help ALOT in cutting down the power needed for a tank for two reasons. First they tend to give alot more flow per watt and then also eliminate the plumbing you have on a closed loop that if run wrong can add heat to the tank. My returns were under my 400W MH and that added a TON of heat to my tank. When I reworked my tank the last time I reworked some of this. If you can eliminate pumps and run your skimmer or reactors from drain water or return water you will save a bit from there.

The last thing I did was add the ability for my controller to give random weather patterns which will not run the all of the lights everyday.

 

[ronc98]

One thing I forgot if it makes you feel better your tank more then likely allows you to have a smaller heating bill in the winter. My Gas bill is much cheaper now since my tank basically heats my house.

 

[Bcollins111900]

LOL. I forgot to add the heaters as well to the tank. I am just glad that my tank is in the basement. We still run the AC alot though.

 

[uztaryn]

Um yeah, my electric bill last month was close to $700. I am investigating now because it has never been over $300 before.

 

[ronc98]

OUCH

 

[RokleM]

$356 last month.

 

[sammie]

$119.00 last month and that's with
3- 400w MH
440w VHO
150w T5 on frag tank and QT tank
GEO skimmer with sedra 9000
Euro reef skimmer on QT with sedra 3500
2-300w heaters and 100 w heater in QT
Iwaki 70
Hammerhead
quiet one 1000 for QT
Tunze wave box
1/3 hp chiller
fans etc.etc.etc
air conditioner in fish room

I guess it pays to live in the woods after all. We don't have AC but really have never needed it as the trees in our yard have formed into a canopy completely covering the house. We have so much shade we can't grow flowers though.

Advantages of country livin....

 

[icu2]

well, I live in the middle of nowhere as well and ours has been $350 for the past 3 years.

 

[tye_c]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10271138#post10271138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sammie
$119.00 last month and that's with
3- 400w MH
440w VHO
150w T5 on frag tank and QT tank
GEO skimmer with sedra 9000
Euro reef skimmer on QT with sedra 3500
2-300w heaters and 100 w heater in QT
Iwaki 70
Hammerhead
quiet one 1000 for QT
Tunze wave box
1/3 hp chiller
fans etc.etc.etc
air conditioner in fish room

I guess it pays to live in the woods after all. We don't have AC but really have never needed it as the trees in our yard have formed into a canopy completely covering the house. We have so much shade we can't grow flowers though.

Advantages of country livin....

$119, was that just for your tank or your whole electric bill. You must be getting some cheap electric. The last bill averaged out to $.125 per KWH. I doesn't help that we have a hot tub as well. I am sure thats another 40-50 a month.

 

[tye_c]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10271205#post10271205 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tye_c
You must be getting some cheap electric. The last bill averaged out to $.125 port KWH. I doesn't help that we have a hot tub as well. I am sure thats another 40-50 a month.

Mine only hit $330 last year with the 75g. I was fine with that.

 

[walmart]

Lol
3 power heads
260 watt power compacts upgrading to t5s 220 watts
css 125
rio return pump

not running anything compared to you guys.

 

[uztaryn]

Well, lets see. I am running:
3x 400w MH on 430w ballasts
3x 250w MH's
12 moonlights
4x 4' t5's
4x 3' t5's
2x Sequence Hammerheads
1x Sequence Dart
1x Rio
8x MJ 1200's
3x 6045
2x 6055
2x Hydor 4's
1 OM 4way
2x 36w UV's
1x GEO Calcium Reactor with pumps
1x GEO Skimmer with 2 recirc pumps

and a few other things for the tank. I also have a Hot Tub; however, I have never seen a bill over $300 before this month. My AC was a bit messed up so that may have contributed some.

 

[asnatlas]

If you have AEP the other reason you see a jump in your electric bill is because June - Sept you are paying more for your electric... In these four months you are paying $0.08 for every KWH you use as in the other 8 months Oct - May they are giving you a "discount" for everything over 700 or 800 KWH used...

EX: 800 KWH x $0.08
everything 701 or 801 KWH + will be billed at $0.035 or something like that, I know its $0.04 or a little less...

Of course with it being summer we are also using more power due to AC units and chillers if they are being used... But that is why AEP does not give a "discount" for June - Sept because they have to produce alot more power to keep up with the demand...

To give an example of how much this saving can add up... I have been running my AC unit for the past few months and as I am sure the AC unit has run a little more over this past month, but my bill jumped up about $160.00 from the month before. I am not one to keep my AC set really low, my avg temp is around 76-78deg...

 

[szwab]

one thing that saves us from running the air and keeping the tank cool is our whole house fan we installed about 6 years ago. At pennies a day it works wonders.

 

[thebrian]

I'm on the average monthly payment plan where AEP bills you a rolling average of your charges for the last 12 months, and I've only been in the house where I am now for about 7-8 months, so it's been slowly creeping up, but I only payed $59 this month for electric. Had I been paying the actual charges, I would have payed $96.65 though, which is still a lot lower than what many of you are paying. I am running 800w of aquarium lighting for about 10 hours a day, and another 196w for 12 hours a day. I also have a blueline pump (230w I think) along with a mag 12 and a canister filter running. I also have central air that I keep set pretty cool.

Bills over $300 seem very high. i could see around $200 or so with a large house and aquariums, but unless you're running lots and lots of lighting, and/or have poor insulation, much more seems very high.

 

[tye_c]

You paid $59 for electric this month. I paid $66 just to run the display, frag and fuge lights. I think my electric costs more per KWH that yours.

 

[Freed]

I'll say it again: Time of day meter. I only pay $0.019 per KWH from 9PM-7AM. This is when all my lights are on, I do my dishes, laundry, A/C. etc... I have AEP as well.

 

[thebrian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10275990#post10275990 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tye_c
You paid $59 for electric this month. I paid $66 just to run the display, frag and fuge lights. I think my electric costs more per KWH that yours.

My actual costs were $96.65 though. I'll just end up paying part of it during the winter when my costs would normally be lower. And I do have AEP.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10276029#post10276029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
I'll say it again: Time of day meter. I only pay $0.019 per KWH from 9PM-7AM. This is when all my lights are on, I do my dishes, laundry, A/C. etc... I have AEP as well.

How do you get a time of day meter? Do you just call and ask for one, or do you actually have to pay for a new meter? Are there other up front costs or any disadvantages?