The electric bill

[nasomi]

I've only been doing this for 4 years now, I have 3 tanks and I'm planning my 4th, the largest yet. While I was doing it, I got to thinking, what is this going to do to my electric bill?

As of now I have a steady bill of about $250-300/mo. Not solely due to tanks, but still, I'd have to think they're a contributing factor. As a kid, I remember my parents constantly saying "TURN OFF THE LIGHTS". As a parent, I find myself saying the same thing. But is it really a big deal to leave a 60w bulb on for a half hour, when compared to the power consumption of a tank?

So I thought I'd break it down...

On my 135g tank I have two rena xp3 filters, two 300w heaters, and a powerhead. And lets not forget the dual 160w ballasts. Now, I know not everything is on all the time, but it's pretty easy to see how much things are on. The filters run 24/7 @19w each. The heaters are on a lot as well, as I keep my house at 64f in the winter. When the kids complain I tell them to put on a sweater or stand outside for a few minutes, and then they can come back in and it'll feel very warm. So I'm estimating 12hr a day the heaters are going to keep the tank at a steady 79 degrees. Obviously this will be less in the summer. The powerhead runs around the clock at about 80w. My lights are on, two 10k bulbs and two actinic bulbs on different schedules. The 10k are on from 5pm-9pm and the actinic are on from 9pm-11pm, in addition to 6am-8am.

It's math time!

Filters: 19w * 2 = 38w * 24hr = 912 watt hours per day or 27360 watt hours per month
Heaters: 300w * 2 = 600w * 12hr = 7200 watt hours per day or or 216000 watt hours per month
Powerhead: 80w * 1 = 80w * 24hr = 1920 watt hours per day or 57600 watt hours per month
Lights: 160 * 1(at a time) = 160w * 8hr = 1280 watt hours per day or 38400 watt hours per month

All that is the same as leaving 5 100w light bulbs on, 24 hours a day, 30 days a month, all the time.

Currently my electric bill is $0.0869 per kilowatt hour. This will be going up March 1st, 2013.

Filters: 27.36kwh * 8.69 cents = $2.37 per month
Heaters: 216kwh * 8.69 cents = $18.77 per month
Powerhead:57.6kwh * 8.69 cents = $5.00 per month
Lights: 38.4kwh * 8.69 cents = $3.33 per month

Added up that's $29.47 per month to run a 135g tank. The biggest hitter is obviously the heater, which will all but disappear in the summer months.

My 75g is about half of that since it has one heater, one filter, lesser lights, and no powerhead, so roughly $15. My 15g is probably about a dollar to run. Still, added up it's about $45 for the two tanks, which is a decent chunk of change.

I'm designing a 560g tank built into the wall as I finish my basement. Big tanks require proportionally big filtration. To achieve 10x or greater turnover, I'm looking at a 1hp 8000gph pump that will go into a refugium which will house 6 300w heaters. The pump alone will be 1250w 24 hours a day 30 days a month, that's $78.21 per month for the pump. A 1/2hp pump rated just under 4000gph is 759w, 24 hours a day 30 days a month, that's still $47.49 per month for the pump only. Add heaters, powerheads, lights, and this could easily come near $100/mo in electricity only.

So for those considering big tanks, these are constant charges that you will have every month in addition to the cost of other aquarium maintenance.

[SePPii]

Very good information!!!


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[oscaroo]

are you setting it up? 100 dollars is not that bad... if you dicide to not do the 500+ get at least a 240... If I had free money I would have tanks much biger than my 120...

[duanes]

Sounds about right, for my 12 tanks (with 3 sumps, (4 tanks per sump))electric and water is about $250. per month in winter, about half that in summer.

[jasbiker4]

Very good info indeed. Thank you

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[Jc1119]

One of the nice things about living in Florida. No heaters but a few days a year

[rodger]

I thought this was a good read for all of us. I am building a 675 that I am hooking into the hot water heater for tank heat. It will pay for the install in a year even though the initial outlay will be about $400. I recently went to LED from power compacts on my 240, dropped electrical on lights by 2/3. I run two 1800 GPH pumps on my sump for the 240. I am considering running one only part time on a timer, just monitor my water quality better. On the new tank my pump decision will be made off of energy usage. We have to look at the REAL cost of what this hobby costs. Stop looking at purchase price so much. Can you decrease water changes by having pothos in the tank? What about a slab of styrofoam on the back and ends of your tanks for insulation? Thanks for the post
Rodger

[virgil2090]

good idea about the tank insulation....i also have been switching lights to LEDS as my funds allow/checking sales.

[aldiaz33]

$0.0869 per KWHr? Wow that is cheap. We are on a tiered system, but my tank always pushes me well into the highest tier at $0.29561. Not too long ago, our highest tier was at $.40/KWHr, but thankfully it's gone down.

Out of curiousity, what pumps are you looking at that draw so many watts?

Assuming you aren't pumping water from a basement sump and don't need a high head (high pressure) pump, you should be able to get your desired 10x turnover on around 300 watts if you choose energy efficient (low pressure) pumps. Depending on what you are keeping, I actually think 10x may be overkill. I have just over 2X on my tank and my water parameters are always great. I'm definitely on the lower end, but I think anywhere between 4 and 6x is usually plenty.

[majorhavok]

$0.0869 per KWHr? Wow that is cheap. We are on a tiered system, but my tank always pushes me well into the highest tier at $0.29561. Not too long ago, our highest tier was at $.40/KWHr, but thankfully it's gone down.

Out of curiousity, what pumps are you looking at that draw so many watts?

Assuming you aren't pumping water from a basement sump and don't need a high head (high pressure) pump, you should be able to get your desired 10x turnover on around 300 watts if you choose energy efficient (low pressure) pumps. Depending on what you are keeping, I actually think 10x may be overkill. I have just over 2X on my tank and my water parameters are always great. I'm definitely on the lower end, but I think anywhere between 4 and 6x is usually plenty.

$0.40 per kwh?!?!?! Thats gotta be like WAY over the baseline allowance rate! I'm glad they dropped it though. Yikes! Although I don't know how they figure "baseline" and it's probably something painfully few people can adhere to.

I'm in california too.. Here are the rates:

http://www.sce.com/NR/sc3/tm2/pdf/ce12-12.pdf

baseline kwh = 0.04275 summer or winter. They tier you up (pun intended) but max out at 300% and charge 0.27707 per kwh.

Big incentive to keep your household usage way down or pay big time.

This thing is AWESOME for figuring out where your power goes. I have two of my tank setups on one of these guys and you can put it in kwh meter and it tells you realtime what your equipment is running. As OP said, heaters are the big culprits and I was surprised how little my LED's dropped my wattage over flourecents.. about 10-15 watts.

http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation.../dp/B00009MDBU

Kill-A-Watt!!