Increase Utility Bill

[Str8linespeed]

So Im curious as I dont have a meter on my tank. I've been watching my Utility bill since we have started the tank June of 2016. Each month the electric bill is higher than the year before. I cant believe that the tank would be drawing that much electricity, its a RSM 250, 65 gallons. Now I know some of the larger systems some of you guys have draw some power, Im curious about systems the size of mine, has anyone has monitored there usage and seen an increase in there bill?

 

[teddyzaper]

So Im curious as I dont have a meter on my tank. I've been watching my Utility bill since we have started the tank June of 2016. Each month the electric bill is higher than the year before. I cant believe that the tank would be drawing that much electricity, Its a RSM 250, 65 gallons. Now I know some of the systems you guys if anyone has monitored there usage and seen an increase in there bill?

I don't have a meter, but my bill is about $10 higher per month for a 55g

 

[Str8linespeed]

I can somewhat understand having pumps running 24/7, lights, etc.. I guess I didnt expect to actually see it on my bill as well as I do.

 

[ZenGuitarGuy]

I've seen increases since starting my 65G in December, but then again, hydro is going up for all kinds of dumber reasons. I couldn't say definitively that it's the tank that's driving it up, but one would assume it will to some extent.

 

[ericarenee]

they will use cause you to use more power. but maybe your usage rate has increased as well..

 

[WatDatThing]

Maybe your rates went up from last year?

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[Str8linespeed]

A rate increase is entirely possible. I'll have to pull a prior bill to take a look.

 

[Darrell Brady]

Nothing cheap in this hobby.

 

[mcgyvr]

Add up the wattage of everything you have and you can easily see how much energy your tank is consuming.. You know the rate you are being charged.. Use that..

Obviously changes in outside temperature and other factors could be contributing to it also..

 

[anthonys51]

Add up the wattage of everything you have and you can easily see how much energy your tank is consuming.. You know the rate you are being charged.. Use that..

Obviously changes in outside temperature and other factors could be contributing to it also..

you say your bill increased, but never said by how much. a little increase is expected. In general your tank should be running just about the same amount of electric every month (just about heater should be only variable or chiller) . your bill is affected by other things like such as outside temp, jut to name one. also my electric company doesn't always use the same amount of days in each monthly bill, so you have to look at days billed to if thats the case. mine also puts average temp on bill from last year and this year

 

[Tooboot]

can't speak for all of you living in the US, but where I live in Canada, my hydro bill outlines the rate, total cost, and monthly electricity use in kw. my bill also shows a comparison to last year around the same time.
based on this I can say that I have seen an increase in electricity use as well as the total on my hydro bill, smaller increase in use than cost (rates went up).

 

[dmarkham]

I only seen between a 15 to 20 dollar increase a month on my 150 gallon tank. The type of lights and equipment play a big part in the energy usage.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I had 4 tanks (25g, 60g, 75g & 180g) with MH and t5 lights and the required chillers(2). I switched to all leds and my electric bill went down over $400 the next year. The fixtures use a little less electricity, the chillers ran a lot less, like 95% less, and my house A/C ran less!

 

[Str8linespeed]

Its just interesting to see the increase. Like I said in the original post, the increase started the same month we started the tank. Then when we upgraded to the larger tank even a larger increase. Our bill does show history, temp, days, current rate. etc.. We cant see if there was a rate change, but our kWh's did increase.

Dec. 15 were 450 and in Dec. 2016 650
Jan 16 was 525, Jan 17 was 700

I just find it very interesting and was simply curious if others noticed the same thing. I get that portions of our tanks are running 24/7 and never shut off. I can imagine my 6 bulb T5 39w fixture is sucking up some energy then the numerous pumps, I just never imagined it to be noticeable enough to show up on the bill.

 

[miPapareef]

Did you try out any of the electric bill calculators? Might help you see what to expect.

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter_calculators_tank_electrical.html


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[damage31]

If your in a cold climate, tank heaters are likely culprit. Especially if you have a setback on the heat at night. Keeping water at 78 in a 65 degree room takes a lot of energy.


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[bbgobie]

No need to imagine, just use the calculator on the site, everything except heater is pretty easy to calculate coat to run

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