Hippoherder Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 We just got our electric bill and the year over year comparrison ( we got 3 tanks running in the last year ) is a bit shocking. So now the hunt to discover why the bill is o large has begun. Just curious how much everyone thinks their monthly cost to keep the tanks running might be. Of course tank size, location, and equiptment are all factors...just looking for an impression - $10/month? $20? $30?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 I can email you an spreadsheet you can use to figure it out. You just need to know wattages, running time per day and the KWH price you pay. For example a 300 watt heater that runs for say 8 hours a day, and you pay 6.25 cents per kwh, will cost you $4.57 monthly, and 54.79 a year to run approx. Then there is water and sewer, this is negligable for most. I waste more water on long showers than water changes most months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIJester Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 I try not to think about it to much... between drinking and other hobbies running my tanks are pocket change and part of life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Here is a thread about this and has a few examples of how much it costs. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=18594 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgd Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Fresh setups are also usually quite a bit cheaper to run than SW. Mainly from lights but also the all the extra/larger pumps. My biggest draws are the heaters and lighting. Just as an example for you, a 400 Metal Halide running 12 hours a day is approx. $20 a month. Give or take a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 (edited) i probably have it the best out of all of us, lol. i live in an apartment, so water and heat are included in rent. in the winter i crank my 'free' heat up and keep the tanks warm that way, and in the summer i run a heater in the tanks that are closer to windows/doors on cooler days/nights. the one tank that doesn't have a heater sometimes gets down to 72/73 but the big fish in there don't mind one bit. never having to worry about a variable/changing heat or water bill is so nice! and my power bill usually runs between just 50 and 60 dollars per month, so factoring in all the lights and filters on the three tanks and the bit of power used for the sporadic heater use means a small amount of the power bill is fish tank related IMO. i do also run an air conditioner in one bedroom on a regular basis, for my chinchilla buddy one of these days i'm going to ask my neighbour, who lives on his own but has a large tv and stereo system, what his power bill is. he has no tanks and his suite is about the same size as mine. would be interesting to see the difference in our bills! Edited June 11, 2011 by BettaFishMommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 my power bill is from 30 to 45 a month. the cost of the seachem i put in my tanks is probably about 50$-100$ if asked i would say the fish cost about 100 a month to keep hosed in my apartment and feed the plants just alive lol. so fish keeping is creeper then anything else i do in my life lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 His stay was short; although I thin "MrMagic" nailed it Plug the meter into an electrical socket and plug an appliance into the Kill-A-Watt to determine the energy consumption by the kilowatt hour. Not only is this resource a great educational tool to learn about energy conservation, the Kill-A-Watt may also help you predict your monthly energy bill and pinpoint power hungry devices in your home.” The nifty thing about these metres are that they are also data loggers. Even on an intermittent device (like a heater for example) the meter will track energy usage over time. That would allow one to record a whole month of consumption, allowing you to look @ Febuary as a whole and make comparasions to other months - like August. If one were to put an entire set-up on one power bar, the kill-a-watt could give you a snapshot of consumption @ that moment. 24 hours later it will tell you the total consumption for the day. , , , and for the record - I am involved in some things waaaay creepier than fishkeeping. :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 Like someone else said, I squander more than my tanks would ever cost. I can have 300 dollars cash in my pocket Friday, and Sunday I would have 6 dollars and a slurpee cup to show for it. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted June 12, 2011 Report Share Posted June 12, 2011 Like someone else said, I squander more than my tanks would ever cost. I can have 300 dollars cash in my pocket Friday, and Sunday I would have 6 dollars and a slurpee cup to show for it. Lol you keep the cup i should try that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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