i have a lighting calculator that i have used to calculate this for my tank, but i am starting to wonder if it is correct..i have 2-250w halides on an electronic Coralvue that are on roughly 9hrs a day....does anyone have a rough estimate of what that would be??? i am coming up with $16.43/month...
Monthly cost of MH Lights
- Thread starter ronj
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Scooterman
Well-known member
Use you calculator & take one of your pumps & figure out how much it cost to run it 24/7 a month & get back to me!
danno14
That's Dumas!
I have a Kill A Watt that I use to approximate my costs. If you were closer I would loan it to you:
http://www.supermediastore.com/kilwateldet1.html?WT.mc_id=adwordsACCKillawatt&utm_source=cpc&utm_medium=campaign&utm_term=Killawatt&utm_campaign=cp_ACC_adwords&gclid=CLLMvJ6fgZECFQn8iAodan_n-A
It's a great gizmo to have, and I have used it for lights as well as "dialing in" pumps. It will tell you the kwh when on, which you can multiply times your on time and cost per kwh. As a reference, I pay 9.1 cents per here in the NW.
http://www.supermediastore.com/kilwateldet1.html?WT.mc_id=adwordsACCKillawatt&utm_source=cpc&utm_medium=campaign&utm_term=Killawatt&utm_campaign=cp_ACC_adwords&gclid=CLLMvJ6fgZECFQn8iAodan_n-A
It's a great gizmo to have, and I have used it for lights as well as "dialing in" pumps. It will tell you the kwh when on, which you can multiply times your on time and cost per kwh. As a reference, I pay 9.1 cents per here in the NW.
ok, i went by the wrong cost per kw.. mine is actually less.. the first calc. was at $0.12.. mine is actually $0.09...so my lights are only$12.32 per month..Scooter, my Reeflo Dart came up at about $8.54 per month!! do these estimates sound right???? my power bill is crazy high... i live in a smaller home than some of my buddies.. their bills rarely get over $100... mine is always over $250, even during the winter when i don't use the A/C or heater!!! what is causing this.. this has happened at my last 2 houses!!!! (insulation is fine)
do these estimates sound right???? my power bill is crazy high... i live in a smaller home than some of my buddies.. their bills rarely get over $100... mine is always over $250, even during the winter when i don't use the A/C or heater!!! what is causing this.. this has happened at my last 2 houses!!!! (insulation is fine)
Scooterman
Well-known member
Yes sounds good, I would think the dart would add up to be more but I didn't do the math LOL & you may run your lights 12 hours. Pumps usually add up to be more. I estimate most reef tanks cost about $30 a month, more or less If you really included every single thing ran, including PH's, etc & even any power use when making replacement water etc! Pumps eat up a lot of power, your doing fine with that one, what about the rest?
Does your electric bill come with sewer, water, trash also?
Run your tester on everything in your house.
Does your electric bill come with sewer, water, trash also?
Run your tester on everything in your house.
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
An engineer friend of mine here with a good sized tank estimated about $100 a month.
My bill went up $55 on average month over month after upgrading from a 90 VHO simple softy tank to the temp controlled 180 sps reef. Thus, my hobby probably costs $75 a month.
My bill went up $55 on average month over month after upgrading from a 90 VHO simple softy tank to the temp controlled 180 sps reef. Thus, my hobby probably costs $75 a month.
i didn't add any powerheads, heaters, lights on other tanks, topoff contoller, topoff pump....they are all small pumps though...i may try to add it all up and see what everything comes out to be.........Scooter, my elec bill is power only
update!!!....... i came up with about $36 give or take
update!!!....... i came up with about $36 give or take
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Scooterman
Well-known member
Think energy efficient, you could be doing better by design, Mike!
Yea those litle PH's will add up fast!
Yea those litle PH's will add up fast!
jesshimom
I have no fish.
Wow those are low estimates. When Scott's 150 with chiller/halides and assorted goodies was running along with my 90 our power was out of sight. The first two month bill clear of both tanks resulted in a $250 reduction. We bought new windows with the savings
I tend to pay about $100 more than any comparable house in the neighborhood with a 120G and seperate 40G frag system. When I just did a quick calc. it came up to $85 even. I like that number considering Im running 1000 watts of MH to begin with.
mfinn
Surgeonfish
When that 180 was at my house without temp control, my wife swore it was the bulk of our $250 power bill.
aquarookie
Pure Poison :)
Ron, being a math fan I just have to recalculate your lighting bill :lol:
250 times 2 is half a kilowatt per hour. Times 9 hours a day = 4.5 kw per day, times 30 days per month (or so) = 135 kw per month. If you are indeed paying 9 cents per kw, it comes out to about $12.15. Wow, that's cheap! :lol: But is 9c the starting price or the highest price? Ours goes up in increments, so the more you use the more the extra kilowatt use costs. Obviously I calculate my tank at the higher price since it is "the last thing" on the hubby's importance list.
250 times 2 is half a kilowatt per hour. Times 9 hours a day = 4.5 kw per day, times 30 days per month (or so) = 135 kw per month. If you are indeed paying 9 cents per kw, it comes out to about $12.15. Wow, that's cheap! :lol: But is 9c the starting price or the highest price? Ours goes up in increments, so the more you use the more the extra kilowatt use costs. Obviously I calculate my tank at the higher price since it is "the last thing" on the hubby's importance list.
aquarookie
Pure Poison :)
My triple 175's cost about $19 per month and my single 250 is about $9. That's if I run them 10 hrs a day. And my bill is crazy high too
sermech
Member
Come to Cal if you want to see what a tank can cost my bill can run up to 300 are 400 a month in the summer with everything on and i know others that it runs of 1000 a month.
danno14
That's Dumas!
Correct math, but this assumes 100% efficiency. The info from Sanjays website showing the actual curent draw by bulb and ballast should give a better baseline for calculation using Julias method above.
DonW
R.I.P.
My bill fell by 100 per month when I tore it down. Ron, had issues with crazy power bills and finally figured out my hot water heater was junk. Something to think about.
Don
Don
Sherman
Has Met Willis
Sermech! My central valley brethren! (Just south of Fresno here)
You guys are all making me cry. CA *STARTS* at $.12/KwH, but they break everything up into tiers, depending on your percentage over "base rate." Base rate here is completely impossible... Something along the lines of 350KwH per month, total house usage. Every member of our local club breaks into the top tier, the "300% of base rate" club. At that tier, power is $.35/KwH. I have one of the lowest power bills in the club, because I can actually keep it below $200 usually. One of our members once saw $1100 for one month. Another member sees $700 pretty much every month, for his 240g.
(Just south of Fresno here)You guys are all making me cry. CA *STARTS* at $.12/KwH, but they break everything up into tiers, depending on your percentage over "base rate." Base rate here is completely impossible... Something along the lines of 350KwH per month, total house usage. Every member of our local club breaks into the top tier, the "300% of base rate" club. At that tier, power is $.35/KwH. I have one of the lowest power bills in the club, because I can actually keep it below $200 usually. One of our members once saw $1100 for one month. Another member sees $700 pretty much every month, for his 240g.
Scooterman
Well-known member
I guess i didn't figure the power cost differences & the larger tanks these days, they do have lots of power hungry equipment so I could see why some bills are so high. The good news it will only go up from here, so conserving power isn't a bad thing.
i am moving in July to a bigger house and i'm renting also.(landlords are cheap @#@).i just find it strange that at my last two homes, it has stayed at $250 or above.. i do run the A/C ALOT during the summer, and some during the winter, but it should drop a bunch during the winter when i'm not using heat
that would put me out of the hobby
.. i would have to stick to snorkeling during the summer
