Electrical Costs Killing Me!!!

[LJA]

I don't think anyone else suggested this but there are ways to cut costs everyware. Being a restaurant manager I've learned there are a lot of ways to cut down on exspenses, not all of which are food .


I would:

Change out all your lightbulbs in your house (when they go bad) with the energy saver bulbs. You may not like the color at first but they are a lot LESS YELLOW than the regular ones, giving off a nice white light. You could probably do 13 watts per bulb instead of 100.

Be cheap on common items such as paper products and plastic garbage bags. They cost next to nothing but it all adds up.

HTH

 

[BeanAnimal]

Re: CFL Bulbs

Re: CFL Bulbs

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13129785#post13129785 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Herndog
You know I changed every bulb in my house to CFL and the bill didn't change. I think that the only place saving money is the power company.

No, the joke is that it is costing the power company (and in turn YOU AND ME) a fortune. CFL bulbs create a very low Power Factor. In a residence, you DO NOT pay for PF losses!

In a nutshell. An Edison bulb is a resistor and has a Power Factor of UNITY! Your residential meter bills correctly for it.

The CFL bulb has a PF lower than UNITY (it is a ballast). Your residential meter does NOT bill for PF losses. Therefore the wasted energy is not billed, even though the power company has to generate and transmit it.

CFL bulbs are a scam any way you look at them. They cost magnitudes more to manufacture. They use magnitudes more raw materials to produce. They weigh a LOT more and therefore use magnitudes more fuel to ship. They are chock full of mercury, no matter WHAT you are being told. They last NOWHERE NEAR as long as they are rated (the more mercury, the longer they last but they keep lowering the mercury levels....) Their TOTAL "carbon footprint" from cradle to grave is MUCH MORE than that of the the equivalent number of incandescent bulbs.

 

[inachu]

Re: Re: CFL Bulbs

Re: Re: CFL Bulbs

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13130453#post13130453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
No, the joke is that it is costing the power company (and in turn YOU AND ME) a fortune. CFL bulbs create a very low Power Factor. In a residence, you DO NOT pay for PF losses!

In a nutshell. An Edison bulb is a resistor and has a Power Factor of UNITY! Your residential meter bills correctly for it.

The CFL bulb has a PF lower than UNITY (it is a ballast). Your residential meter does NOT bill for PF losses. Therefore the wasted energy is not billed, even though the power company has to generate and transmit it.

CFL bulbs are a scam any way you look at them. They cost magnitudes more to manufacture. They use magnitudes more raw materials to produce. They weigh a LOT more and therefore use magnitudes more fuel to ship. They are chock full of mercury, no matter WHAT you are being told. They last NOWHERE NEAR as long as they are rated (the more mercury, the longer they last but they keep lowering the mercury levels....) Their TOTAL "carbon footprint" from cradle to grave is MUCH MORE than that of the the equivalent number of incandescent bulbs.

If you use the itunes store go by the video from PENN& TELLER
THE TV show is called BS(cussword) they interview the guy who created the recycling program for the USA.

The way we are using recycling today is not at all as he intended and not very good.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Don't get me started on that boondoggle either

Anyway, the the OP.

Could you list EVERY piece of equipment on your system in the form.

NAME WATTS HOURS PER DAY

It will make it much easier to make meaningful recommendations.

 

[Nuuze]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13130191#post13130191 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by inachu

1 LCD monitor in standby mode for one month = $7
VCR in standby mode or off position for one month =$12
52 inch Plasma off mode for one month = $22

This makes me wonder with all the things I have on standby. Maybe I can save a ton unplugging them. :eek1:

 

[BigJay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13130998#post13130998 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nuuze
This makes me wonder with all the things I have on standby. Maybe I can save a ton unplugging them. :eek1:

Put your entertainment center on a power strip, and shut that off before you go to bed at night.

 

[Herndog]

Re: Re: CFL Bulbs

Re: Re: CFL Bulbs

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13130453#post13130453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
No, the joke is that it is costing the power company (and in turn YOU AND ME) a fortune. CFL bulbs create a very low Power Factor. In a residence, you DO NOT pay for PF losses!

In a nutshell. An Edison bulb is a resistor and has a Power Factor of UNITY! Your residential meter bills correctly for it.

The CFL bulb has a PF lower than UNITY (it is a ballast). Your residential meter does NOT bill for PF losses. Therefore the wasted energy is not billed, even though the power company has to generate and transmit it.

CFL bulbs are a scam any way you look at them. They cost magnitudes more to manufacture. They use magnitudes more raw materials to produce. They weigh a LOT more and therefore use magnitudes more fuel to ship. They are chock full of mercury, no matter WHAT you are being told. They last NOWHERE NEAR as long as they are rated (the more mercury, the longer they last but they keep lowering the mercury levels....) Their TOTAL "carbon footprint" from cradle to grave is MUCH MORE than that of the the equivalent number of incandescent bulbs.

You mean infinity?

 

[BeanAnimal]

You lost me herndog....

If you are refering to POWER FACTOR, no I meant UNITY.

PF < 1 LAGGING PF (CURRENT lags behind VOLTAGE)
PF = 1.0 UNITY (Voltage and Current are IN PHASE, I.E. UNITY)
PF > 1 LEADING PF (VOLTAGE lags behind CURRENT)

 

[Freed]

Why would I want to put eveything having to do with my entertainment center on a power strip and then have to reset ALL the times, dates, etc on the equipment on a daily basis?

 

[Freed]

Voltage is what pushes the current thru your wires. Voltage is the "pressure" or force pushing the current thru the wires so none of what you just typed makes any sense.

 

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13130191#post13130191 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by inachu
A person who REALLY wants to cut his electricity cost with just regards to AC will just run the air conditioning unit at night so you get a good nights rest.

1 LCD monitor in standby mode for one month = $7
VCR in standby mode or off position for one month =$12
52 inch Plasma off mode for one month = $22


There was a video news article on this.... cn or usatoday or news.com and they reccomend putting all electronics on a power switch so you will really know when they are turned off.

As usual, "they" have no idea what "they" are talking about

Lets take $.15 per kWh and that $7 claim for the LCD monitor! Lets assume it uses 35 Watts during use and 10 Watts in standby mode. It is used 8 hours a day and in standby fo 16 hours a day.

8 hours * 35 Watts = 280 Watt Hours = $.042 per day
16 hours * 10 Watts = 160 Watt hours = $.024 per day
Total per day is 440 Watt Hours or .44 kWh

So .44 kWh * 30 days = $2 a month to run.

The 16 hours of standby cost about 72 CENTS per month or less than $8 a year.

Don't listen to "them" when "they" tell you how much YOU are WASTING, because in most cases IT is a LIE to push some FOOLISH agenda. Do the math yourself for any device of your choosing.

We can do the same here in this thread for the OP. If he lists all of equipment and the hours per day it runs, along with his electric rate....

You get the idea.

 

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13131426#post13131426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
Voltage is what pushes the current thru your wires. Voltage is the "pressure" or force pushing the current thru the wires so none of what you just typed makes any sense.

I am not sure who or what that is in reference to?

 

[Freed]

Yours, voltage and current have nothing to do with being "in phase" with one another. Voltage nor current lag in front of or behind one another if current flowing thru the conductor is solely dependant on the voltage pushing the current.

 

[inachu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13131575#post13131575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
As usual, "they" have no idea what "they" are talking about

Lets take $.15 per kWh and that $7 claim for the LCD monitor! Lets assume it uses 35 Watts during use and 10 Watts in standby mode. It is used 8 hours a day and in standby fo 16 hours a day.

8 hours * 35 Watts = 280 Watt Hours = $.042 per day
16 hours * 10 Watts = 160 Watt hours = $.024 per day
Total per day is 440 Watt Hours or .44 kWh

So .44 kWh * 30 days = $2 a month to run.

The 16 hours of standby cost about 72 CENTS per month or less than $8 a year.

Don't listen to "them" when "they" tell you how much YOU are WASTING, because in most cases IT is a LIE to push some FOOLISH agenda. Do the math yourself for any device of your choosing.

We can do the same here in this thread for the OP. If he lists all of equipment and the hours per day it runs, along with his electric rate....

You get the idea.

"THEY " online news editions not me.
I just put out the info they gave that I read.

Recycling is a foolish agenda and not at all what the director who invented recycling ever intended as well.
So how many of you seprate your trash?
ITS A FEEL GOOD effort and has virtually ZERO IMPACT on the environment. Go see that video by PENN & TELLER they interview the guy who started the recycling program in USA/Crying American Indian.

 

[mrpet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13128119#post13128119 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by James77
Google online for estimates of what your AC gobbles up. Take the above advice of a kill-a-watt meter to find out the worst offfenders.

Your closed loop is pulling about 400-500 watts, that would be $60+ where I live, never mind CA. You could easily replace that with a few tunzes/vortechs with about less than 1/4 the power usage. 2 tunze 6201 would push 10,000 GPH at 110 watts.

You clould replace the EuroReef with something like the Reeflo Orca 250, and use half the watts. You have great equipment now, selling it would pay for most of the new equipment.

thanks everyone guess im going to look into tunzes had them on my 180 part of the problem is i foamed the back and sides of the tank its going to be a mess cutting away the faom to attach the tunzes also do the magnets for the tunzes go through 1" plexi?
as far as the skimmer goes soot i paid 1500.00 for the rc500 so i guess i could sell it at a loss and get the bubble king i have 2 closed loops so james do you think just those are costing me 120.00 a month? plus i think i will need at least 6 tunzes? tank is 375 gal 72x48x25 still i guess that would be only 330 watts..

 

[mrpet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13129990#post13129990 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nuuze
mrpet,

How many sq. ft. is your home? I'm about an hour from you and I run my AC in a 2000 sq. ft. home 79 degrees 24/7 in the summer months. I was able to eliminate my 1/4hp chiller from blowing a fan across my tank in between the tank and lights. I have a Eheim 1262 return, 1260 for skimmer and 1048 to feed reactor. I run my halides 6 hours with T5 3 hours before and 3 hours after the hallides. Our bill is about half as yours.

its 2300 sq ft my chiller is in the garage so is the tank its inwall
im going to get some more fans maybe put some above the sump as well any suggestions on what type of fans and where to get them?

 

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13131611#post13131611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
Yours, voltage and current have nothing to do with being "in phase" with one another. Voltage nor current lag in front of or behind one another if current flowing thru the conductor is solely dependant on the voltage pushing the current.

With all due respect, that is simply not true. The angle by which the sine curve of the VOLTAGE in a circuit leads or lags the sine curve of the CURRENT in that circuit is called the PHASE ANGLE.

Yes, in a simplistic view, voltage pushes current. However, in inductive and capacitive circuits, things very quickly get out of whack with regard to the phase of each component of POWER (voltage and current).

Remember in an AC circuit, BOTH VOLTAGE AND CURRENT oscillate sinusoidally. In a perfect resistive circuit, both cross ZERO and PEAK in phase with each other. In capactive and inductive circuits (and/or elements of those circuits), voltage can lead or lag the current.

You may want to do some reading regarding Reactive Power VS. Real Power, Phase Angle and how voltage and phase interact to produce POWER.

This is not one of those "up for debate" topics, it is the very basis of how AC power interacts with the world around us and why we talk about things like "Power factor" and why we have "real power" meters and commercial meters that measure or account for "reactive power".

 

[mrpet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13130009#post13130009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
CFLs do use less watts, But they are much worse on land fields then standard bulbs. Really depends on your house and lifestyle but changing out a few light bulbs won't make that much of difference for most people..Central unit, washer, dryer, hotwater heater, stove older fridges and deep freezes ect ect are the real heavy hitters.

Ouch.. If my bill hit 800 I would be down grading tanks lol! You can cut back on your lighting NP.. No need for 9 hours 6 or 7 is fine.. I also agree two darts and a barrcuda is KILLINg you.. My Barrcuda pulled like 280watts if I remember a dart is around 150. so thats 600 watts running 24/7. Thats huge on anyones bill. Anything that runs 24/7 is going to have the biggest impact. Your chiller also pulls alot of juice. If you can get by with a few fans that would save a ton. The other problem with your chiller is its dumping all the heat into your house.. So no only is your central unit dealing with the heat from the tank, but it also has to deal with the extra 4-500 watts from your chiller. You have alot of stuff you can cut back on..

what pump can i replace the barracuda with that will do the job and be alot more energy efficent? i may go ahead and sell the darts and 4 way oms its going to be a pain in the a.. to take out all that plumbing dang that sucks... oh well im going to have to do something..

 

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13131646#post13131646 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by inachu
"THEY " online news editions not me.

Yup that is why I offset it with quotes, it was clear that you did not put forth those numbers as your own

Recycling is a foolish agenda and not at all what the director who invented recycling ever intended as well.
So how many of you seprate your trash?

Yup it produces more waste and emissions than it saves in almost all cases. It save little (if any) real room in landfills and the crap products that are produced from much of the recycled material live a shorter life and therefore exponentially increase the "footprint" of the products and process. The same hold true for LOW VOC solvents, paints, etc. Paint a bridge with old school high VOC paint and it only needs painted every 20 years. Paint it with the new "environmentally friendly" crap and it needs painted every 2-3 years.

Aluminum and steel (and other metals) are the few worthwhile consumer recyclable products.

In any case, that is for another thread

WE need to get the full equipment list and usage times from the OP to further this discussion.

 

[inachu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13132239#post13132239 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
With all due respect, that is simply not true. The angle by which the sine curve of the VOLTAGE in a circuit leads or lags the sine curve of the CURRENT in that circuit is called the phase angle.

Yes, in a simplistic view, voltage pushes current. However, in inductive and capacitive circuits, things very quickly get out of whack with regard to the phase of each component of POWER (voltage and current).

Remember in an AC circuit, BOTH VOLTAGE AND CURRENT oscillate sinusoidally. In a perfect resistive circuit, both cross ZERO and PEAK in phase with each other. In capactive and inductive circuits (and/or elements of those circuits), voltage can lead or lag the current.

You may want to do some reading regarding Reactive Power VS. Real Power, Phase Angle and how voltage and phase interact to produce POWER.

This is not one of those "up for debate" topics, it is the very basis of how AC power interacts with the world around us and why we talk about things like "Power factor" and why we have "real power" meters and commercial meters that measure or account for "reactive power".

LOL! wish you were in IRAQ to ground those outlets.