k9outfit Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 (edited) :boom: Back at it again... We've been having an ongoing "discussion" :cuss: about our monthly power bill. I say my tanks can't be using THAT much power, other half claims it's my tanks :tongue: . Our monthly consumption is in the order of 3,000 kwh ($700.00+) :shock: . So, pleeeeease, anyone with 20+ tanks, could you please let me know your monthly consumption - along with possibly size, number & water temp. of tanks, and set-up (i.e. fishroom, tanks spread over the house, ambient room temp. etc.), so I can judge for myself if just maybe, it is my tanks????? Sure would appreciate any input I can get! Edited to add that we have had a parallel meter installed to check for acuracy; the meter readings were the same.... Edited May 19, 2007 by k9outfit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 :boom: Back at it again... We've been having an ongoing "discussion" :cuss: about our monthly power bill. I say my tanks can't be using THAT much power, other half claims it's my tanks :tongue: . Our monthly consumption is in the order of 3,000 kwh ($700.00+) :shock: . So, pleeeeease, anyone with 20+ tanks, could you please let me know your monthly consumption - along with possibly size, number & water temp. of tanks, and set-up (i.e. fishroom, tanks spread over the house, ambient room temp. etc.), so I can judge for myself if just maybe, it is my tanks????? Sure would appreciate any input I can get! Edited to add that we have had a parallel meter installed to check for acuracy; the meter readings were the same.... I say popycock..no way is it your fishtanks I have been monitoring my power consumption verry closely... I have 5 tanks going at the moment and I started with two going at this time last year... I have 3 -300watt heaters, 1-220watt heater and 1-100watt and 1-50watt heater... 4-aquaclear filters and 3 sponge filters on seperate air supplies.. I have a combined 260watts of lighting to boot at the moment that is running 10hrs daily... My average electric bill has been for the last year aprox 120 dollars a month... I am actually quite proud of my consumption because I have been watching and comparing last years consuption to this years via the bar graphs epcor prints on their bills... each month has been lower consumption then last year even with the addition of the tanks and the equipment... What I did last year that has been a great help was over the last 12 months I have changed out every Incodecent bulb I have in and out of my house to flourecent... From my little understanding of electricity the only high consumption item relevent to fish keeping are the heaters and once the tanks are at the opperating temperatures the heaters just dont come on ofter or for very long, unless your fish area is extremly cold! Lighting would be expensive if it was mega wattage on every tank.. but howmany people of mega wattage on top of every tank.. I say tell your hubby that he should look at other cuprits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Well you definitely have something drawing a lot of power. But I'm running 24 or 25 tanks A hiblow air pump an assortment of power filters and heaters. The heaters probably add up to over 2000 watts , and the lights about 500 watts total, and my power is under $200. I'd be checking things like the fridge, freezer, and dryer for high consumption. Also how are you heating your house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blainep Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I'm running 24 to 26 tanks at any given time, various lights, filters and heaters. In the winter, my power bill will get as high as $225. Most of the time it hovers around $200. Unless your are running huge tanks at high temps in cold rooms with enough light to run a hydroponics setup, the aquariums are not the electrical culprit ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 I agree with the others, there must be something else at play here. If you want to present your other half with some solid numbers, use the formula that Shwaine posted in the link below. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=82454 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 ........ and if you want to get fancy, you can do up a spreadsheet like the one in the link below. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y225/Burt...Consumption.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Those were good examples by the person that calculated them on that link RD.. The only bad example was the Heater. It is the wild card in the equation! I would be very surprised if most heaters were running more then a hour a day in the winter and likely even less in the summer if at all... So the costs would be smaller then stated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ehren Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 I found that the number one power consumption from most house holds, is computers. If you leave a computer on for a day, it equals the same amount as leaving all the lights and appliances on in your house! Fish tanks are small and effecient, compared to computers. But I find a lot of people do not know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 The only bad example was the Heater. It is the wild card in the equation! I would be very surprised if most heaters were running more then a hour a day in the winter and likely even less in the summer if at all... So the costs would be smaller then stated. This of course would depend on temperature of the room and the temperature of the tank. A tank kept at 86 in a 70 room will use a lot more heater time than a tank kept at 75 in a 72 room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Actually computers are very efficient and use next to nothing for electricity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 (edited) I certainly hope so, other than my monitors going into sleep mode, at least one of mine is on pretty much 24/7. The link below should help clear that issue up. http://www.techreviewer.com/viewpage.cfm/ui/040226130555 Edited May 20, 2007 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureNut Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 My PC is on most of the day and our power bills have never been over $100/month, and that's with 4-5 tanks running in the house. I'd say consumption that high is indicitive of some HUGE problem with one of your appliances or something. I think you can get a little meter thing that measures the kW/h consumed by an appliance. You could plug your power bar into it from one of your tanks and get an idea of how much it uses. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arixonbarnes Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Who do you get your power through and what is the rate per kw they are charging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooUrns! Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Are you sure no one is stealing power from you? $700/mo. seems incredibly high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9outfit Posted May 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 (edited) Thanks for all the input peoples! To answer a couple of questions, we're with Epcor, on an acreage, and last bill were paying ~.85 / Kwh. Can't see how anyone would be stealing power; think we'd notice a long extension cord running from house or garage. Also, no grow-op here... everyone knows I can't grow plants to save my soul. According to the link RD posted, my tanks downstairs would probably cost in the order of $150.00/month, calculating at the rate of my heaters running at 6 hours/day, and $0.10/ KWh. At least I now have some ammunition! Unfortunately, the other half doesn't believe the calculation's realistic. Guess I'll just have to get an electrician in and let an unbiased person - who actually knows what they're doing! - sort it all out. The other half has been going around checking circuits with an amp meter, but unfortunately, I'm not convinced the numbers shown are necessarily correctly interpreted, since and at every circuit, breaker, or power bar, there's a MAJOR outcry over the X# of amps currently being drawn by whatever. If the interpretation were accurate, then according to those numbers, our power bill would be half as much again! I've given up assisting, since I'm getting tired of the ongoing hairy-attacks. Edited May 21, 2007 by k9outfit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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