Equipment Power Consumption

[steeb]

I was curious as to how much power my equipment was drawing. So I bought a meter. FPL charges us .085¢ per kwh

How much is your tank drawing?
Are there more power efficient pumps and such out there?
Do you run your equip 24/7? I know my lights

My Equipment is
Skimmer, LED Light, Pump, UV light, sump light, powerhead, ato

The meter says its costing me $2.79 a day, $19.58/week $83.91/month

 

[Captain smoke]

Are you using LED for the sump light, 12vdc for the powerhead(s)?

 

[Aquatic Reef Creations]

WOW.
My total electric apartment bill runs less than that with 2 people and the aquarium. I was running a 37 cube with 250 watt MH and dual T5 actinics, 2 powerheads, return pump, skimmer and heater.
I will be curious to see what my upgrade to a 75 cube will do to the electric bill. It has a few more bells and whistles along with upsized pumps, lighting, skimmer, etc.

 

[steeb]

Are you using LED for the sump light, 12vdc for the powerhead(s)?

Yes, a CFL for the sump light. The sump light draws the least amount of power.

I picked one of these up for about $15 on sale at home depot. Was interesting to see how much power was actually being drawn.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388

 

[steeb]

Attached is a copy of my FPL bill. I was able to drop my costs by unplugging a lot of items and switching to smart plugs. I control them with a schedule or my phone.

To calculator your kWh cost (my total usage is under 1000 kWh)

Add up non fuel first 1000 kWh + fuel first 1000 kWh. ($0.08571)

If you have a UPS that shows the output, you can calculate from there. If you use more than 1000 you need to factor in the costs of over fuel and non fuel costs.

Non-fuel: (First 1000 kWh at $0.057690)
(Over 1000 kWh at $0.068510)


Fuel: (First 1000 kWh at $0.028020)
(Over 1000 kWh at $0.038020)

 

[Aquatic Reef Creations]

Oh. OK. That makes more sense. That is your total for the month for your household. I thought you were saying that your aquarium was costing that much to run. Whew.

 

[jonnyu]

Well if you buy the meter from lowes or even harbor frieght you plug it and input the kw cost and let it run for a day or two and it will tell you how much you pay for that tank per day and per week. I would trade my electric bill with you anytime lol last three months I have been the the 350-410

 

[micielo719]

Yeah no doubt.. $390 last couple months.. If I had a $84 light bill I would throw a party!! LOL

 

[steeb]

lol - I know. I got the meter to see what room was drawing the electricity. My spare bedroom had things plugged in. I couldn't tell you the last time I walked in there.

I am not home much. The A/C doesn't crank except a few hours a night when I am sleeping. My electricity bill (the majority of it) is definitely the tank. When I first set it up, I noticed an increase on my bill. I pay more for cable, cell phone, and many other things that are more a month than my electricity

 

[AquamanE]

:ape:

 

[AquamanE]

Its part of the hobby guys.

Those that like muscle cars-pay the gas

Those that like heavy video games- pay for the graphic cards and expensive internet.

Those that like coins- pay for expensive coins.

Its a hobby. I has costs.

 

[dadummy]

does this mean I have to stop yelling at my wife for leaving a light on?

 

[McGee10]

I think my 75Gallon runs me about $30-$35 a month. Can't wait to see what the 180 will cost. LOL

 

[Airtex]

I wanted to know what the total (including everything) monthly costs for the 180 DT and other smaller tanks....

So I was going to do it the easy way with simple math.....that was a mistake !! DONT take all your receipts from the last year and divide by 12...it might cause heart failure LOL

 

[Breadman03]

does this mean I have to stop yelling at my wife for leaving a light on?

I've found myself biting my tongue.

 

[AquamanE]

there is a thread (calculator) on line... dont care to search for it, cause it wont change my hobby, but for those that really care, search on line. Im almost sure its here on RC.

 

[AquamanE]

Went to Home page and found it:

http://reefcentral.com/index.php/tank-electrical

 

[fasteddie222]

You shouldn't worried about the electricity it's going to cost you, you should be more worried about your wife yelling at you when you get addicted to the hobby and can't stop buying corals

 

[jonnyu]

If my bill way $84 a month I would be upgrading from 180 to a 380 lol

 

[jeffbrig]

When I got rid of my 250g reef a few years ago, my power bill dropped at least $120/month. Of course that was a bunch of pumps/powerheads, lights, chiller, you name it. My calculated equipment consumption was about $80/month, so the rest was the extra heat/humidity load on the house's AC.