The cost of your eletricity.

[dkim128]

I just started in this hobby as you can tell, and so far I've been using PC lighting. I know that this won't be enough so I will have to upgrade to either halides just different options.

However electricity is a concern too. Its already high enough as I constant leave all my lights on and have about 20 shop lights going and water pumps running for my other hobby (the frogs). I was wondering how much the electricity bills come up to with the additon of a couple salt water tanks.

 

[aiko670]

A lot!

 

[jgleach]

I may be an exception, but with both my tanks, AC, and the pool, I'm well over $400 in the summer months and between $200 and $300 in the winter....Soooo. I agree with aiko670.....

ALOT!

 

[Ramble On Rose]

I have to say that the difference between what I was running - 480W of VHO to 900W of MH (plus the VHO) was not that bad compared to running the AC for 3 months. There is an increase, but IMO, nothing like the seasonal charges for AC and gas for the winter.

 

[gotfish8]

$300-400 a month with 5-250w mh an 3 150w pumps running

 

[anjhof]

How much cheaper would T-5's cost? Just thinking of other options for the thread poster.

 

[jasutton]

also the prices are increasing in Jan by 20% and staying that way until middle 2008

one question: IS 300 W VHO more expensive than 150W MH??

for the smae photo period?

 

[ykh]

Get this tool, it will tell you exactly how many watts your device is consuming. You will be surprised to find out how much power some devices use.

Kil A Watt

 

[ykh]

I always read that T-5 will consume less energy. But when I plugged in my 8X54W T5 Tek Light into the kil-a-watt device, it showed that it consumes 500 watts. So, running two 250W MH lights will cost the same. To be honest, I never thought t5 would consume so much power.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8149027#post8149027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by anjhof
How much cheaper would T-5's cost? Just thinking of other options for the thread poster.

 

[NewSchool04]

500 watts for a 8 bulb set up doesn't sound that bad. If you add it up it's just 70 watts different then what it would be if you just added up the bulb wattage.
MH is going to be different depending on what type of ballast and bulb you use. With a 250W HQI ballast you can run up to 340+ watts per bulb depending on the which one you choose.
If you are concerned about the electric bills and want a MH set up, I would recommend an electronic ballast. Those come in close to the wattage of the bulb.

 

[ykh]

I was referring to 250 W MH running on electronic ballast, not HQI. The point I was trying to make is that I've always heard that T5 consumes less power, doesn't seem so to me after I ran the test.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8149401#post8149401 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04
500 watts for a 8 bulb set up doesn't sound that bad. If you add it up it's just 70 watts different then what it would be if you just added up the bulb wattage.
MH is going to be different depending on what type of ballast and bulb you use. With a 250W HQI ballast you can run up to 340+ watts per bulb depending on the which one you choose.
If you are concerned about the electric bills and want a MH set up, I would recommend an electronic ballast. Those come in close to the wattage of the bulb.

 

[kimha]

My house has lots of windows and I put my tanks near windows to get direct sunlight into my tanks. I know most people would go against this due to algae problem, but I don't have algae problem in all my tanks. I do have plenty of snails in my tanks tho. I turn on aquarium lights between 7-9pm for viewing purpose. My electric bill is less than $100/month for these tanks. I am using 12 PC lights at 96W each.

 

[Hammercoral]

A watt is a watt, the power company doesnt care what device is plugged in. I think the pumps make much more sense if you want to design a cheaper system to operate, since they are on 24/7. My tank is about $100 in electric a month, but maybe a bit more since the whole house AC probably runs harder in the summer to fight off heat from the lighting.

 

[Bryan89]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8149134#post8149134 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jasutton
also the prices are increasing in Jan by 20% and staying that way until middle 2008

one question: IS 300 W VHO more expensive than 150W MH??

for the smae photo period?

Not true on the 20% rate hike. That is what the projected increase is, but ComEd possibly will be phasing in the rate hikes at a slower rate and then back fitting plus interest in 2011 .

 

[jasutton]

I wrote that before they even announced the increase, much less the details involved witht he increase.

 

[jasutton]

and i thought they were still arguing over it...was the issue resolved? I have been in a cave the past week.