ELECTRIC Bills!!!!!!

J

jamesgang

New member
Holy crap. Just got my first bill having my tank running full blast. Uh, I might not be keeping this tank unless I can bring it down. The wife wouldn't even talk to me about it tonight.

$460.83 How are you guys running 200+ gallon tanks and still able to eat

That's running dual elec. 250 MH w/ 72w CF on at night in the sump. Hours are from 10am-9:30pm

I might try running reverse lighting for a month. Turn them on at 6:30 pm and off at 3:00 am. To do that I'll have to start stepping the time back.

Any suggestions???
 
That sounds high. Are you sure you don't have any other power being consumed somewhere? I have three 175w, 4 54w T5's on the tank and then 4 more 39w T5's on the frag tank with a pcx 40, a 1/3HP chiller. My bill is around $300 a month. I also run a ton of A/C though. The wife and I like it cold in the house.
 
Wow,$460. Is that total bill including Gas? I have a seperate granny unit,Pool,and central a/c and I'm burning 2 250 watt halides and my Electrical portion of my bill was $255 and I burned 1129 KWH. how many KWH did you burn. Its on your Bill as well as what you paid for them. I wonder if you need to talk to PG&E about a different plan or maybe you can ask for a higher baseline. I asked for a higher baseline and they said no,but you can always ask.
 
i'm around $275-$325 keep my 2000sq.ft. house A/C at 75 deg.

I run a 1/2 hp chiller, 750 watts of light and probably another 300-400 watts of other misc pumps,skimmer, ect.
 
Jeff do you have a way to determine which of my appliances cost the most electricity to run ? like killawatt ? am courious to see why my pg&e is so high
 
No i dont have a kill a watt meter, but my guess is probbably your A/C. We bring cool air in at night so my A/C doesnt come on till about 3-5 o'clock. plus your running 4 more halides than me. Also my photo period for all my lights is 2:00-9:30. (Halides 3-8:30)
 
BTW Hey Darren are you still alive? Mabe he got kicked out the house and doesnt have a computer -------hope not!!-------.:beer:

If you need help determining where your consumtion is coming from you can call me.
 
Jeff, Thats too bad, but am trying to use less electricity so I worked out a deal with Icecap and they are willing to give me credit for trading in my 3-150 watt ballasts for 3 new style 175 watt ballasts which I will use for my primary lights and kick in the 250s for mid days only. The 175s will run the Iwasaki 15k which have par of 89 the same par as the 250 watt reeflux 10k bulb but with better colors. Supposingly, the new style icecap ballast will put out 5-10% more lights so this means it will drive the 15k iwasaki par up to 90+ so am excited to try it

http://www.thereefstop.com/index.ph...Id=828&ccSID=7de525121df9c83cf937fec18d9cb2a1
 
I'm trying the reverse lighting and running my tank from 6pm to 3am. That's when I'm home to see it most of the time anyway. I'll take a look at my bill and figure out what my usage is.
I keep my house at 72-72* to keep the wife happy.
 
"I'm trying the reverse lighting and running my tank from 6pm to 3am"

The only way that would work is if you had PG&E installed a time of use meter at your house.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10491127#post10491127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by northbay-reefer
"I'm trying the reverse lighting and running my tank from 6pm to 3am"

The only way that would work is if you had PG&E installed a time of use meter at your house.
Click to expand...

Yes and no, your cooling bill for the house AC would be a little lighter. In the not to distant future, PG&E will be installing SmartMetersâ"žÂ¢.

Because the SmartMeterâ"žÂ¢ system records each electric meters usage every hour, customers will be able to voluntarily take advantage of electricity prices that vary by season and time of day potentially reducing their bills by shifting their energy use from peak to off-peak periods.

A key feature of SmartMeterâ"žÂ¢ technology is the ability to reduce peak load on the very hottest days by providing financial incentives to customers who voluntarily shift electricity usage away from critical peaks, which will reduce PG&Es need to purchase power to meet demand at the most critical times, help avoid strain on the power grid, and help reduce reliance on fossil-fuel generation.
 
You can lower the amount of time your lights are on. Many of us use 5 - 8 hours of MH only. FWIW I run 6 hours of MH and 8 of PC.
 
My house temp is set at 80 right now and my bill still high, I think I might have a leak in my duct works.

Soon I will cut back my photo period and go 3 halides instead of 6
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10490756#post10490756 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jamesgang

I keep my house at 72-72* to keep the wife happy.
Click to expand...


WOW......72 degrees...........................................sounds like you shouldnt be talking to her!!! I say, your fish tanks off the hook. That A/C has to be running from about 10 AM to 10 PM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
120 Gallon Mixed Reef Tank for Sale
Replies
6
Views
927
vanbro1
vanbro1
Z
Zeeter's Dream Tank
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
zeeter
Z
Dono
Moving/Custom Tank breakdown
Replies
1
Views
685
dadummy
dadummy
BeanMachine
Downsizing Sale- Pick up in Orange
Replies
4
Views
708
s2k
s2k
o2manyfish
o2manyfish - Status Update on 750g tank upgrade.
Replies
3
Views
905
acesq
acesq
Back
Top