electricity bill help

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Charney

Charney

The Fish Doctor
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Nov 15, 2005
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Somerville NJ
Hi guys I have had roommates for years and finally bought my own place and moved out on my own. I have all my tanks with me, that I have had pretty much at all the other times. This is my first full month in my place and my electric bill is almost equal to the total bill when I had three other roommates, in a four bedroom house with my tanks. Could anyone offer guidance to figure out if it is my tanks running up the bill or running two ACs? I pretty much have to run my ACs24/7, which are both set for 80, due to the heat wave. I have a dog and a cat.
The ACs are two sharp energy star 8.000 BTU
the tanks:
90g: with T5HO running two 48 inch bulbs running eight hours, a co2 tank with solenoid, a rena xp3 and rena xp2, and two 200 watt heaters (which I can't imagine have turned on this summer)
26g: AC 70, Rena xp1, t8 single 24 inch bulb (8 hours), heater
50g: AC 70, small power head, four 48 inch T8 bulbs (running 8 hours)
75g: Rena xp2, AC 110, heater, 48 inch dual T5NO (running 8 hours)
125: fx5, 2 AC 110, two heaters, T5NO dual 48 inch buls (run 8 hours)
all lights are run for 8 hours a day
Reason I stopped listing heater wattages is bc I am pretty sure they aren't turning on. Due to ambient temps the tanks are all warmer then heater settings.

Any advice would be appreciated. I love my tanks, but right now I am stretched thin btw all the various bills. Would hate to have to reduce the number of tanks I have.
I am hoping it is just the ACs and the heat wave. Thanks for the input.
 
did you check the meter when you moved in and checked it against the bill? mine was off by about 100$ my first bill.
check the bill and see if it was an actual reading. sometimes they "estimate" and if you're using less than they expected you can get a bil that's too highl.
 
Running them lights and the two ax's really running the bill up cut back on the lights u have for the tanks those are a killer bc when I had my reef tank I notice a change in my bill

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You definitely have alot of stuff running. I would unplug the heaters if the room stays at 80. Even though they may not be on, they still
Use electricity when plugged in. I would still say the air conditioners are the biggest cause of the high bill though.


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Im running 4 full tanks with filters, heaters, pumps, uv sterilizers, and AC 24/7....my bill just came today $88
 
I feel you. I went away on vacation for 2 weeks and had a friend watch my tanks. I found out when I came home that he left the lights on the whole time despite me telling him to leave them off! After cleaning algae off of all my tanks I later received a $500 electricity bill! The one before that was $90 but I have alot of setups. The fish were all fine as far as I could tell but I was more than a little annoyed. To top it all off, one of the bulbs on my metal halide fixture burned out after being left of for 2 weeks. They aren't exactly cheap either.

To contribute to the thread, try leaving the lights off unless you have plants in the tank. The fish could care less as long as there is ambient light in the room.
 
The T5 lights use up a lot of electricity which is why I use LEDs. AC sucks power wise but u gotta keep the animals cool

THE GOAT
 
AQUAMONSTER said:
The T5 lights use up a lot of electricity which is why I use LEDs. AC sucks power wise but u gotta keep the animals cool

THE GOAT
Click to expand...


LEDS are great but also expensive to purchase. If I could afford nice LEDS for all my tanks then I would go that route without a doubt.
 
That sounds a little impossible to me, 2 weeks and the person used 400.00

bassfisher91 said:
I feel you. I went away on vacation for 2 weeks and had a friend watch my tanks. I found out when I came home that he left the lights on the whole time despite me telling him to leave them off! After cleaning algae off of all my tanks I later received a $500 electricity bill! The one before that was $90 but I have alot of setups. The fish were all fine as far as I could tell but I was more than a little annoyed. To top it all off, one of the bulbs on my metal halide fixture burned out after being left of for 2 weeks. They aren't exactly cheap either.

To contribute to the thread, try leaving the lights off unless you have plants in the tank. The fish could care less as long as there is ambient light in the room.
Click to expand...
 
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