Electricity - Ideas on Saving Money?

[kurtsshotgun]

What sort of TV is running that high? older big screen?

If it is, an LED screen can be expensive but could save you money in the long run, they're 40% more efficient than equal sized LCDs. And imo have purdy pictures =)

 

[Ramesh]

We dont have any heaters on the tanks. Frontosa water doesn't need to be the same temp as CA/SA. I'm just wondering what I can do about my filters? Currently 10% of my electric bill is from my tanks.

If you're already running with no heaters and no lights, that's about as good as it's gonna get. Filters/pumps use power, there's no way around it.

I would sell that Mag 12 and buy a Rio 20HF which pumps more water and uses half the Watts to do it. IMO they are the best water pumps around and move more water per watt that any other pumps.
They are German, fairly cheap and are very reliable.

 

[ITHURTZ]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200320201_200320201

 

[boldtogether]

If you dont heat these tanks, about the only option left would be a timer on the filters.
2hrs on, 15min off, over 24hrs would be quit a reduction. 6 hours off per day is a 25% reduction in usage.

Sometimes, and I know you dont want to hear this, you need to evaluate priorities. If you cant afford to run the aquariums(ALL the aquariums) then maybe you should consolidate fish and eliminate a tank or two. You are running these as bare bones as possible. Maybe less tanks until there is better cash flow. You will only grow frustrated with the hobby and eventually quit altogether. Nobody wants to see a fellow aquarist have to give up their hobby.

 

[Egon]

Sometimes, and I know you dont want to hear this, you need to evaluate priorities. If you cant afford to run the aquariums(ALL the aquariums) then maybe you should consolidate fish and eliminate a tank or two. You are running these as bare bones as possible. Maybe less tanks until there is better cash flow. You will only grow frustrated with the hobby and eventually quit altogether. Nobody wants to see a fellow aquarist have to give up their hobby.[/QUOTE]

X2

 

[Deepsouth]

What sort of TV is running that high? older big screen?

If it is, an LED screen can be expensive but could save you money in the long run, they're 40% more efficient than equal sized LCDs. And imo have purdy pictures =)

Yeah its an older big screen.

 

[Deepsouth]

If you dont heat these tanks, about the only option left would be a timer on the filters.
2hrs on, 15min off, over 24hrs would be quit a reduction. 6 hours off per day is a 25% reduction in usage.

Sometimes, and I know you dont want to hear this, you need to evaluate priorities. If you cant afford to run the aquariums(ALL the aquariums) then maybe you should consolidate fish and eliminate a tank or two. You are running these as bare bones as possible. Maybe less tanks until there is better cash flow. You will only grow frustrated with the hobby and eventually quit altogether. Nobody wants to see a fellow aquarist have to give up their hobby.

This is exactly what I did. I have the FX5 on a timer which should help. I also did a watts check on the xp3. They use almost double what they print on the label. The ac110s use 1/3 of what they have on the label. I checked my mag 12 and it was using only 70 watts and not the 110 it has on the label. The fx5 was exactly on its stated power usage.

 

[Deepsouth]

Sometimes, and I know you dont want to hear this, you need to evaluate priorities. If you cant afford to run the aquariums(ALL the aquariums) then maybe you should consolidate fish and eliminate a tank or two. You are running these as bare bones as possible. Maybe less tanks until there is better cash flow. You will only grow frustrated with the hobby and eventually quit altogether. Nobody wants to see a fellow aquarist have to give up their hobby.

X2[/QUOTE]

Yeah I thought about this, but the AC110s are hella effecient for what they do, so I will probably use one of these on the tank instead of the xp 3. I still may get rid of one tank and just keep one type of frontosa. Currently I have 3 different types of fronts, but my Mpimbwes are my favorite. I may sell my WC Mobas and Burundi Fronts.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

good call

 

[Deepsouth]

Instead of cutting anymore more on my aquariums I decided to get the kids new TVs for their rooms. Their older 19" TVs are using about 70 watts each and are left on all day and night. The new 19" TVs only use 25 Watts per hour, so I will save 100 watts an hour there as well. I also removed a ton of glad plugins that were empty and sucking up another 50 watts per hour. We had an old security system on the house that wasn't live or working properly that was sucking up another hundred watts. That has been disconnected as well. This might not seem like much or like nitpicking on power usage, but doing these small things will save around 300kwh per month, which is substantial. We also replaced our AC unit with a more efficient 15 seer, which should help on the bill as well.