external sumps ~ electric bill

[NeonFish]

Well, now that it's been bout 2 months after the accidental flooding and everything moved into the 210g w/ 40g sump (half full). I'm saving about $200/month on electricity. Was pretty much in tier 4 all the time.

After we finallize our move, I think I'll move to a more efficient external pump like the red dragon.

 

[eternalreef]

So you are saving that money by moving to a more efficient pump? What were you using before?

 

[northbay-reefer]

The red dragon is wayyyyy overpriced, you can go with the Laguna pump or the bubble blaster. I am currently using the Laguna 1500 and it is very quiet.

 

[jkreefer]

I'm curious about what set up you were running before to save 200 a month. Did you used to have a bigger tank than a 210?

 

[Reef Bass]

What is an external sump and why does it cost more to run?

 

[NeonFish]

I had coralife 1100P. which pumped water up ~20' from the sump in the garage to the aquariums in the house. Basically, that part of the system was removed. So when planning the new system, I want to use a more efficient pump and not pump water vertically up (that limited my choices).

I think this one is rated at 145watts running 24x7. If that was costing me $200/month, then red dragon at 54watts would be around $74/per month.

I think Laguna 1500 is around 100 watts, which would be around $137/per month. In 2 months the red dragon would pay for itself.

Well, my calculations could be wrong.

I'll definately include pump incremental cost into the equation. rather spend more $ at the LFS than PGE.

 

[NeonFish]

I'm curious about what set up you were running before to save 200 a month. Did you used to have a bigger tank than a 210?

the 210 was a father's day present that I had not setup yet. When the accident occurred, I moved everything into that that tank so that the carpets could be rolled back and mats dried. We were still showing the house to sell. After 4days, the carpet started to stink. It was a crappy situation, still don't think I had enough hurricanes to recover. :rollface:

 

[northbay-reefer]

The laguna is rated at 100 watt, but when you pump it at 6' head it will runs at 60 watt. I bet you that when you runs the coralife it is not actually drawing the full 145 watt at 20' head but somewhere in the 100 watt. The higher the head the lower the power consumption. If you don't believe me then put a kill a watt on it.

Running a pump at that rate is not going to cost you $200/mo, how much are you paying per kilo watt at tier 4?

 

[aldiaz33]

NeonFish- your numbers look high to me. In order for a pump to account for $200 of your electric bill, the pump would need to be drawing 925 watts!!! (assuming the highest PG&E tier of $0.34 per KWHr).

A 145W pump would cost you around $31 per month.
A 100W pump would cost you around $21 per month.
A 54W pump would cost you around $12 per month.