Monthly cost of MH Lights

[Herefishyfishy]

Think energy efficient, you could be doing better by design, Mike!
Yea those litle PH's will add up fast!

Scooty, I am a tightwad on power consumption. Time my basement heating, to help keep it cool in the day and warmer at night. Was a primary reason I upgraded to the bubble master, very small power draw. Running most water flow with 2 controlled SEIOs for same reason. Only running 2 of the 4 six foot VHOs. Minimal reactors besides CaRx which uses a small eheim, running at any point Not sure where could save more power except replacing my 2 return pumps with a single larger one.

 

[danno14]

Pumps are a great place to start when looking at power consumption- switching from a 3/4hp hayward to a Sequence 5700 + Iwaki 100rlt dropped my pump power needs by a third. Of course, you have to factor the cost of power saved over the projected life of the pump(s) vs. the cost of the pump itself.....

Lighting is a definite cost, but not as much as people think in comparison to pumps (24/7) or chillers (BIG power draw). I find my chiller running even during the winter....

My next step, and one that is not practical for most, is evaluating a multi stage closed loop cooling system using a lake to cool my tank. I have been pricing titanium pipe as a heat exchanger, and it appears to have the potential of being pretty reasonable. Now to find someone who wants to dig 80' of trench by hand

 

[Scooterman]

Scooty, I am a tightwad on power consumption. Time my basement heating, to help keep it cool in the day and warmer at night. Was a primary reason I upgraded to the bubble master, very small power draw. Running most water flow with 2 controlled SEIOs for same reason. Only running 2 of the 4 six foot VHOs. Minimal reactors besides CaRx which uses a small eheim, running at any point Not sure where could save more power except replacing my 2 return pumps with a single larger one.

Yea, after counting the price we pay these days, I was off because I was using my base rates from 8 years ago!:lol: So nix what I said your doing fine, you do have to compare cost of the equipment over the time period to see if it is worth it & pumps eat most of the power but as Ron's has his I think he is also doing well, must be something else. We won't see the power rates go down anymore these days I would think they will increase steadily. I have my MH lights crossing over their photo period during the day, it is sorta an experiment, IMO the intense light is only needed so many house a day & the rest can be supplemental, I'll need more time to figure that out though. One thing is we all consider power consumption these days compared a few years back when it wasn't so bad.