Electrical Costs Killing Me!!!
- Thread starter mrpet
- Start date
kvosstra
New member
Ill chime in on this - since I'm also in CA - First, I dont have air conditioning - we use fans all around the house and We have installed an attic fan to turn on during the day to push heat out of the ceiling (it gets really hot up there)
I will have to update this next month, since I just changed some parts of my tank - Last month I ran
main tank 180G display:
Ampmaster 4700 - 24/7 - 280W
2x200W heaters - 400W - 4 hours
1/3HP chiller - 500W - 5 hours
Euroreef - 60W
Kalk reactor - 12W - 15min
Calcium reactor - (40W+12W) 24/7 - 52W
2x6100 - 35W 24/7 - 70W
2 vortech - 24/7 70W
fuge lights - 24/7 - 130W
2 4ft VHO - 12 hr - 220W
2 400 Halides - 6 hr - 800W
other misc - 20W 24/7
My pricing -
Baseline - 363 KwH at 0.11559
101-130 - 108.9 KwH @ 0.13142
131-200 - 254.1 Kwh @ 0.22580
201-300 - 363 KwH @ 0.31304
Over 300% - 666 Kwh @ 0.35876
Use of 58.5 Kwh per day - 1755 KWH for $466.71 total.
I have made some changes -
I replaced the Ampmaster 4700 (costs me 71.54 a month to run this pump) with a Dart Gold - should reduce by 140W 24/7 (or reduce to 35.77 a month)
I am also replacing the fuge light (2 65W pc's) to 2 t5 3000K for another saving of 50W an hour. (saves $12 a month)
I hope to be under $400 next month!
So at the .35 rate - a little savings can go a long way. I suspect that changing your chiller to fans would make a big difference! As well the change to 78, should really drop the total bill
Best of Luck
-Kyle
I will have to update this next month, since I just changed some parts of my tank - Last month I ran
main tank 180G display:
Ampmaster 4700 - 24/7 - 280W
2x200W heaters - 400W - 4 hours
1/3HP chiller - 500W - 5 hours
Euroreef - 60W
Kalk reactor - 12W - 15min
Calcium reactor - (40W+12W) 24/7 - 52W
2x6100 - 35W 24/7 - 70W
2 vortech - 24/7 70W
fuge lights - 24/7 - 130W
2 4ft VHO - 12 hr - 220W
2 400 Halides - 6 hr - 800W
other misc - 20W 24/7
My pricing -
Baseline - 363 KwH at 0.11559
101-130 - 108.9 KwH @ 0.13142
131-200 - 254.1 Kwh @ 0.22580
201-300 - 363 KwH @ 0.31304
Over 300% - 666 Kwh @ 0.35876
Use of 58.5 Kwh per day - 1755 KWH for $466.71 total.
I have made some changes -
I replaced the Ampmaster 4700 (costs me 71.54 a month to run this pump) with a Dart Gold - should reduce by 140W 24/7 (or reduce to 35.77 a month)
I am also replacing the fuge light (2 65W pc's) to 2 t5 3000K for another saving of 50W an hour. (saves $12 a month)
I hope to be under $400 next month!
So at the .35 rate - a little savings can go a long way. I suspect that changing your chiller to fans would make a big difference! As well the change to 78, should really drop the total bill
Best of Luck
-Kyle
mr evolution
Premium Member
change your t-5 to Power Brite LED from current USA. Not sure what are the cons for producing LED or how it affects landfills, but they offer some good lighting that for sure.
kvosstra
New member
With the peak/off peak, you have a time of use meter installed. I did this in a previous house and you can save a lot - but beware of things that run during peak time - as they will be very expensive. This obviously means not doing the dishes during the day, laundry, and for your tank - running lights and extra pumps on the off peak as much as possible. I previously ran my lights and closed loop only at night - and used powerheads during the day as well as a small return pump to save energy.
-Kyle
-Kyle
reeflopumps
New member
In defense of Darts
In defense of Darts
Please call Reeflo pumps at 719-231-2761 and let me see if I can help "repump" your system...as far as Red dragon's being more efficient ..BALONEY!, have they got you fooled.
10m3 = to snapper in watts , flow and pressure only $550 more
12m3=Dart in watts, flow pressure at only $600 more
Tunze draws less watts but not more efficient is just does LESS flow...its a smaller pump period.
To be constructive, you probably can combine functions under one or maybe two pumps..you can also swap smaller impellers in the existing pumps for less watts (less drag on motor).I can help and we are always available for free consults...I'm just getting tired of these ridiculously overpriced, pretentious 12m3 or E=mc2 or whatever...the tunzes are nice small pumps but not comparable, sorry
Chris
In defense of Darts
Please call Reeflo pumps at 719-231-2761 and let me see if I can help "repump" your system...as far as Red dragon's being more efficient ..BALONEY!, have they got you fooled.
10m3 = to snapper in watts , flow and pressure only $550 more
12m3=Dart in watts, flow pressure at only $600 more
Tunze draws less watts but not more efficient is just does LESS flow...its a smaller pump period.
To be constructive, you probably can combine functions under one or maybe two pumps..you can also swap smaller impellers in the existing pumps for less watts (less drag on motor).I can help and we are always available for free consults...I'm just getting tired of these ridiculously overpriced, pretentious 12m3 or E=mc2 or whatever...the tunzes are nice small pumps but not comparable, sorry
Chris
mrpet
Member
lights are on after 6:00 pm might switch out my pumps is the dart gold really that more efficient?a lot of it is the wife is home right now new baby so she is doing laundry "tons" of it during the day i told her to do it at night might help. poss look into a red dragon rtrn pump as well...
I would add a heat pump to my water heater, it would probably save 1/2 your water heating cost. Water heater Heat pumps are around $500 ON LINE. Also check the attic to see if you can air seal it with spray foam. Find any holes from the attic to your living area for the foam. You will find holes at light boxes, where walls intersect and at holes where electricial wiring and plumbing goes through. After you seal the leaks you may want to add some cellouse insulation. You can do the same in your crawl space or basement. Also check for air leaks at all recipaticles as you can get gasckets for them. If you do this and your bill is still high you are welcome to move to WV where our rates are around 6 or 7 cents.
8BALL_99
New member
I'm sticking a skylight over my 300. I was going to use solatubes.. But would need 3 of them.. They run around 300 a pop lol. I got a skylight a little smaller then the footprint of the tank for a few bucks more then the cost of one Tube. They are a good option though.. There is a very long thread in the advanced reef topics about them. With several pictures of tanks..
MattAndKim
New member
Just because the power factor is .62 for a CFL bulb doesn't mean the power company needs to generate 61% more AC to fire the lamp.
That much power may need to be transmitted but the reactive load just adds to the apparent power necessary to carry the load. Yes, distribution losses will be higher, but nothing close to the energy losses incurred by inefficient incandescent lamps.
The lagging and leading reactive power waveforms of the inductive loads in your household and the capacitative loads of your CFL light bulbs could theoretically improve the overall power factor of the AC loads in your house (but since the power draw of all your CFL's is so low, the effect would be insignificant).
There is a difference between apparent power and real power.
Power factor is not equivalent to power efficiency.
Turn your AC up man!
That much power may need to be transmitted but the reactive load just adds to the apparent power necessary to carry the load. Yes, distribution losses will be higher, but nothing close to the energy losses incurred by inefficient incandescent lamps.
The lagging and leading reactive power waveforms of the inductive loads in your household and the capacitative loads of your CFL light bulbs could theoretically improve the overall power factor of the AC loads in your house (but since the power draw of all your CFL's is so low, the effect would be insignificant).
There is a difference between apparent power and real power.
Power factor is not equivalent to power efficiency.
Turn your AC up man!
I had the same problem two years ago when the rates went up in California. I had a summer that my bill was $600+ and my wife was ready to toss the tank. I purchased a kill-a-watt meeter and proved her wrong 
The two biggest power hogs were 1) A/C, and 2) Old refrigerator. We were running the A/C for about 15 hrs a day, keeping the house at 73°. We now only run the A/C at 78° after 3:00 (except weekends) and open the house up after 9:00 when it cools down. New refrigerator is still on the list, but running the A/C differently cut $300 off my bill. My highest bill this year has been $290.
The two biggest power hogs were 1) A/C, and 2) Old refrigerator. We were running the A/C for about 15 hrs a day, keeping the house at 73°. We now only run the A/C at 78° after 3:00 (except weekends) and open the house up after 9:00 when it cools down. New refrigerator is still on the list, but running the A/C differently cut $300 off my bill. My highest bill this year has been $290.
melev
Well-known member
Excellent topic. Thanks for the link, Ken.
I just went through this recently myself, and pulled out the trusty Kill-o-meter:
Doing a little math to see what it costs to run my tank...
3 MH bulbs combined - 900w x 6 hrs per day
2 VHO bulbs combined - 187w x 11 hrs per day
Return pump - 141w x 24 hrs per day
3 Vortech pumps combined - 63w x 24 hrs per day
Calcium Reactor - 65w x 24 hrs per day
3 Fuge lights combined - 62w x 8 hrs per day
2 Skimmer pumps combined - 116w x 24 hrs per day
Prop light - 147w x 7 hrs per day
2 Icecap Fans - 12w x 7 hrs per day
All of the above runs 19.3 kWh per day, or 579 kWh per month.
Take that number times $.124375 and it adds up to $72 of basic operational cost.
Not included are a handful of tiny pumps running the suncoral tank, phosban reactors, flow in the prop section and refugium, which is probably around 100w for about $9 a month more, which puts the tank at $81.
In the winter, I run a couple of heaters which definitely cost me money. I only use two and they don't have a lot of wattage, thus they run longer than they should have to trying to bring the tank temperature up to 79.5 so they can shut off again. I probably need two 500w heaters so they can do the job quickly and save money, but what I have is a 300w & a 250w heater. That's something I'll need to resolve this fall, and make sure the DJ power strips can handle the extra wattage load, if they were to kick on during the lighting period. For now, the heaters are turned off for the summer months. My tank doesn't drop below 78.5F at night.
The window A/C unit (for the fishroom) definitely adds to the monthly expense during the hot months. If the circulation fan is running, it uses 116w of power. When the compressor kicks on, it uses 727w. If the garage is closed, it works even harder and uses something closer to 780+w of power. Last year, I measured the window A/C with a Kill-o-watt for two weeks straight to find out how long the compressor was on versus how long just the circulation fan was running, and it was pretty much 50/50. I hate to even calculate this one. 303 kWh equaling $38 a month.
During June, I was been able to turn off the window a/c during the late night hours, and turn it on daily around 1pm. One day I forgot and didn't turn it on until 3:30pm, after the lights had been on for some time and the fish room was getting toasty. However, the tank was 79.8F, which is due to the fact that my lights are 18" off the water. I don't really want to test the theory of what will happen if the A/C unit is off for the full day with the fish room closed up, but I do have the Aqua Controller II set to turn off the lights if the tank reaches 83F.
Add on the live rock cooking vat and the quarantine tank of 36 kWh and the angled tank of 73 kWh, and it looks like my little hobby is soaking up 1063 kWh per month, which is about $132 per month. My electricity rates are about to jump up slightly, which will put it around $149 per month in total electricity usage.
My three Vortechs combined use $5.64 of electricity a month to provide all the flow in my reef. The one Vortech on the angled tank costs $0.62 a month at a mere 6 watts of power.
----------------------
How to save electricity in your home:
Don't run the A/C unit too cool. I've kept my home at 75F this summer, and it is costing me money. However, I work out of my home most of the time, so I don't have the luxury of making it warmer since I'm not away all day like many of you.
Make sure the water heater isn't leaking. If it is, new cooler water is entering all the time, and the elements are having to heat that new water.
Make sure the dryer hose isn't crushed behind the dryer. Instead of running 40 minutes or so, it may run 2 hours or more and still not dry stuff. That one is an easy mistake.
Pump a bunch of insulation into your attic space so the A/C doesn't have to run as long when it does come on. I just spent a small fortune (Hi Bergzy :wave: ) on a new central A/C system. It was supposed to save money, but because the insulation in the attic wasn't deep enough and the soffit vents were clogged up badly, it could not keep up. I replaced all the soffit vents ($16), and pumped $500 of pink snow into my attic. It is now 15" deep, give or take an inch, and I have a much better R-rating in the attic. The A/C was able to keep the house the right temperature even when it was 110F outside. Prior to the insulation, the house crept up to 79F during the worst heat of the day.
I just went through this recently myself, and pulled out the trusty Kill-o-meter:
Doing a little math to see what it costs to run my tank...
3 MH bulbs combined - 900w x 6 hrs per day
2 VHO bulbs combined - 187w x 11 hrs per day
Return pump - 141w x 24 hrs per day
3 Vortech pumps combined - 63w x 24 hrs per day
Calcium Reactor - 65w x 24 hrs per day
3 Fuge lights combined - 62w x 8 hrs per day
2 Skimmer pumps combined - 116w x 24 hrs per day
Prop light - 147w x 7 hrs per day
2 Icecap Fans - 12w x 7 hrs per day
All of the above runs 19.3 kWh per day, or 579 kWh per month.
Take that number times $.124375 and it adds up to $72 of basic operational cost.
Not included are a handful of tiny pumps running the suncoral tank, phosban reactors, flow in the prop section and refugium, which is probably around 100w for about $9 a month more, which puts the tank at $81.
In the winter, I run a couple of heaters which definitely cost me money. I only use two and they don't have a lot of wattage, thus they run longer than they should have to trying to bring the tank temperature up to 79.5 so they can shut off again. I probably need two 500w heaters so they can do the job quickly and save money, but what I have is a 300w & a 250w heater. That's something I'll need to resolve this fall, and make sure the DJ power strips can handle the extra wattage load, if they were to kick on during the lighting period. For now, the heaters are turned off for the summer months. My tank doesn't drop below 78.5F at night.
The window A/C unit (for the fishroom) definitely adds to the monthly expense during the hot months. If the circulation fan is running, it uses 116w of power. When the compressor kicks on, it uses 727w. If the garage is closed, it works even harder and uses something closer to 780+w of power. Last year, I measured the window A/C with a Kill-o-watt for two weeks straight to find out how long the compressor was on versus how long just the circulation fan was running, and it was pretty much 50/50. I hate to even calculate this one. 303 kWh equaling $38 a month.
During June, I was been able to turn off the window a/c during the late night hours, and turn it on daily around 1pm. One day I forgot and didn't turn it on until 3:30pm, after the lights had been on for some time and the fish room was getting toasty. However, the tank was 79.8F, which is due to the fact that my lights are 18" off the water. I don't really want to test the theory of what will happen if the A/C unit is off for the full day with the fish room closed up, but I do have the Aqua Controller II set to turn off the lights if the tank reaches 83F.
Add on the live rock cooking vat and the quarantine tank of 36 kWh and the angled tank of 73 kWh, and it looks like my little hobby is soaking up 1063 kWh per month, which is about $132 per month. My electricity rates are about to jump up slightly, which will put it around $149 per month in total electricity usage.
My three Vortechs combined use $5.64 of electricity a month to provide all the flow in my reef. The one Vortech on the angled tank costs $0.62 a month at a mere 6 watts of power.
----------------------
How to save electricity in your home:
Don't run the A/C unit too cool. I've kept my home at 75F this summer, and it is costing me money. However, I work out of my home most of the time, so I don't have the luxury of making it warmer since I'm not away all day like many of you.
Make sure the water heater isn't leaking. If it is, new cooler water is entering all the time, and the elements are having to heat that new water.
Make sure the dryer hose isn't crushed behind the dryer. Instead of running 40 minutes or so, it may run 2 hours or more and still not dry stuff. That one is an easy mistake.
Pump a bunch of insulation into your attic space so the A/C doesn't have to run as long when it does come on. I just spent a small fortune (Hi Bergzy :wave: ) on a new central A/C system. It was supposed to save money, but because the insulation in the attic wasn't deep enough and the soffit vents were clogged up badly, it could not keep up. I replaced all the soffit vents ($16), and pumped $500 of pink snow into my attic. It is now 15" deep, give or take an inch, and I have a much better R-rating in the attic. The A/C was able to keep the house the right temperature even when it was 110F outside. Prior to the insulation, the house crept up to 79F during the worst heat of the day.
