Aquarium power consumption

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
If anyone is interested after insulating the sump on 5 sides, the main tank on the back and bottom, and the 1" PVC as well as lowering my tank from 77 to 75 degrees I've dropped the cost of my tank running from $35.36 a month to $17.33 per month. Almost 50% of my monthly cost of running my tank. That means my heating portion of running my tank has been reduced from $25 a month to about $7, a 72% reduction in heating related costs. If I decide to insulate the sides and a portion of the top I could reduce it a bit more.

Took about two hours of work to get the foam cut and $34 dollars at Lowes ((2) 1" 8' x 4' foam boards, (2) 1" pvc 3/8" thick insulation strips, and a roll of carpet tape).

Granted, this is only after one day of running the tank, I'll get a much more accurate reading after the Kill-A-Watt accumulates a weeks worth of data.
 
Good info, thanks for the update.
 
Excellent results, especially when you consider the saving on the heat alone. These savings will only be more important come winter when the ambient temperature drops.
 
After 277 hours of usage I'm down to $15.89 per month.

The real reason for the update - I found out that my thermometer on the tank is reading what I want the tank to be at - 75 degrees when in actuality the tank is at 82 degrees. I added three other thermometers that I had around to get an actual accurate reading. So I'm going to drop the tank an addition seven degrees - which will dramatically reduce my power consumption even more. I really don't even want to know how hot my tank was before I reduced the temperature and eliminated one of my three heaters. I've got the heaters set at 75 degrees so one or both are potentially malfunctioning.

Double check that your tank thermometers and heater thermostats are functioning properly.
 
Modest_Man said:
After 277 hours of usage I'm down to $15.89 per month.

The real reason for the update - I found out that my thermometer on the tank is reading what I want the tank to be at - 75 degrees when in actuality the tank is at 82 degrees. I added three other thermometers that I had around to get an actual accurate reading. So I'm going to drop the tank an addition seven degrees - which will dramatically reduce my power consumption even more. I really don't even want to know how hot my tank was before I reduced the temperature and eliminated one of my three heaters. I've got the heaters set at 75 degrees so one or both are potentially malfunctioning.

Double check that your tank thermometers and heater thermostats are functioning properly.
Click to expand...

This is where a quality controller can come in handy like a ranco.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
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