Electricity Usage, Your Thoughts?

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cassharper

cassharper

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 16, 2007
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Mansfield, Texas
I know this won't be an eye opening experience for most, but I was figuring how much my tanks cost me a month and was surprised at how little each one made a difference (the number of them however, was a bad thing). I figured I would share a little.

Lets take the 55g in my living room. 96w of t5 HO lighting running for 8 hours a day, a 150 watt heater running approx 12 hours a day (that's a way liberal estimate, since my house is mid 70's and the tank is only kept at 80), and a rena Filstar XP3 running 24 hours a day at .11/kw hour. (mind you this is .03 higher then the national average of .08... I know I'm getting screwed!)

The grand total a month? $7.56. My highest being a little above 10 and the lowest being a few cents (naturally lit beta tank with an air driven sponge filter).

Ponds get more expensive, with some conservative estimates of 24/hr a day pumps (the lowest being in the realm of 145 watts... about 8-10 dollars a month by themselves). Same can be said for sumps and wet/dry's depending on their pump volume.

This got me to thinking, is there any way I could cut down on this if I wanted? I could go back on lighting, but I like my plants so that's a no go. I could dial down the temp, or take the heater off altogether... I keep SA's in come of the tanks who like their semi-warm water. Plus, my cold nature means in the winter I would have to put them back on anyways. Then I got to thinking with filters, so I did a little research. My little Rena Filstar Xp3 draws 22w of power. When I looked up the holy grail of low power filters: the eheim classics, the comparable (can't remember exact model) model drew how much???


20 watts. That's just a few cents cheaper a month!

While we are here, what are some ways you've brainstormed cutting back on electric use (let's face it, we all have some).
 
Install a solar panel system and watch your meter spin backwards during the daylight hours.The initial cost is high but it pays for itself with drastically lower bills. If you get a large enough system the power company will end up paying you! :)
 
Before expecting a paycheck from the power company, you better check with them first. Most flat out refuse to pay for power that you put into the grid, and those who do pay only do so for the most squeeky of wheels.

My power savers are not running heaters. Since I am in Florida, there isn't a huge need for heaters. My other big power saver was to put an energy hog system on a timer. The pump and filter runs three times a day for two hours each. That system has a wet sump and a wet/dry. There is a tiny pump that runs 24hrs to keep the media wet and oxygenated.

Another tank that had a power hog for a pump, I replaced the pump with a low head pump that uses about half the electricity. I now use the power hog for water changes since it is a high head pump.
 
Most fish will be ok at the same temp as your house is so no heaters. And bubbles do nothing so no air pumps. And then don't go over board on filtration. And if you are concerned about oxygen level with no pump then throw some low light plants in there and call it a day. I think one of the biggest cost for aquariums is maintenance and feeding. Some people change water way to much like every other day. While water is cheap, the chemicals you have to add everytime and the current used to heat that water up does cost a bit. And then food- if you have bigger fish that eat pellets then use dry dog or cat food, like fish farms have been doing for 10's of years or if you feed live then dig a pond and buy a sein and put your nettings in the pond and they will breed. I used to have a pond that i put a couple hundred mosquito fish in at early spring and they last me all summer and actually a few even make it thru winter.
 
hybridtheoryd16;2147011; said:
I think one of the biggest cost for aquariums is maintenance and feeding. Some people change water way to much like every other day. While water is cheap, the chemicals you have to add everytime and the current used to heat that water up does cost a bit. .
Click to expand...

This is a great point. Prime ain't cheap stuff. Also, if your water is below temp, then the tank heater will heat it up. If it is, then your water heater (good chance it's an electric 1) is.

Install a solar panel system and watch your meter spin backwards during the daylight hours.The initial cost is high but it pays for itself with drastically lower bills. If you get a large enough system the power company will end up paying you! :)
Click to expand...


For some people this is a great idea, for others not so much. Arizona, California, New York, and a few other states offer between 25 and 50% tax credits on installation and a yearly tax credit based of kW hours you produce. But for most of use we have to foot the $10,000 (minimum!) start-up cost ourselves. I have seen these things push $50,000.

Another alternative, go look up the wind maps. If you have big yard and local ordinance permits, for $4,000 you can erect a turbine that will equal a full solar system costing over twice as much.
 
I researched pumps quite a bit and I was trying to find out wich one used the least amount of watts and had the most gph at 4ft head height. I came to the conclusion that the rio pumps were the most energy efficient although they might not have the greatest reputation in terms of reliability.

Head Feet --------------------------0___1___2__3__4___5 --Watts
Rio 50 (2 5/16"x2"x1.5") -Flow (gph) _69 _40 - - - - - - - - - - -5.3
Rio 90 (2 5/16"x2"x1.5") -Flow (gph) _85 _54 - - - - - - - - - - -2.8
Rio 180(2 5/16"x2"x1.5") -Flow (gph) 120 _85 _45 - - - - - - - - 3.4
Rio 200(2 1/2"x2.5"x1.75")Flow (gph) 138 _85 _31 - - - - - - - - -6
Rio 400(2 1/2"x2.5"x1.75")Flow (gph) 144 100 _57 - - - - - - - - 6.5
Rio 600(2 1/2"x2.5"x1.75")Flow (gph) 200 138 _85 _31 - - - - - -9.5
Rio 800(2 1/2"x2.5"x1.75")Flow (gph) 211 171 133 100 60 - - - - 12
Rio 1100(4.25"x2.5"x3.25")Flow (gph) 360 320 - - - - - - - - - - -22
Rio 1400(3.9"x2.5"x3.2") -Flow (gph) 400 367 333 290 243 - - - -27
Rio 1700(5.1"x2.7"x3.7") -Flow (gph) 642 620 486 418 352 165 -23
Rio 2100(5.1"x2.7"x3.7") -Flow (gph) 692 666 600 486 375 315 -25
Rio 2500(5.1"x2.7"x3.7") -Flow (gph) 782 720 666 580 529 439 55

Sorry for the formatting, just go to the website HERE

This is where I gathered info on other pumps:http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i1/Powerhead_test/powerhead_comp.htm
 
wow, that is pretty good energy use for the output, I was always bummed that they never came out with a larger model though...
 
Quiet One pumps are pretty energy efficient for the smaller ones. There are a few larger models that are energy hogs where Mag Drives are more efficient. It is important to check the pump curves for the brands that you are considering to determine models that are suitable for your system. Then compare the energy consumption of the different brands.
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/2323/Quiet-One-Pumps/quiet one qp13/0

QP11 Quiet One Pumps, 800 mfg#, 14W, .24 amps, 1/2" barb
QP12 Quiet One Pumps, 1200 mfg#, 26W, .47 amps, 1/2" MNPT
QP13 Quiet One Pumps, 3000 mfg#, 40W, .60 amps, 1" MNPT
QP14 Quiet One Pumps, 4000 mfg#, 50W, .75 amps, 1" MNPT
QP15 Quiet One Pumps, 4000HH mfg#, 120W, 2.8 amps, 3/4" MNPT
QP16 Quiet One Pumps, 5000 mfg#, 110W, 2.5 amps, 1" MNPT
QP17 Quiet One Pumps, 6000 mfg#, 140W, 3.2 amps, 1" MNPT
QP18 Quiet One Pumps, 2200 mfg#, 41W, .5 amps, 1" MNPT
QP19 Quiet One Pumps, 9000 mfg#, 145W, 1.4 amps, 1 1/2" MNPT
QP21 Quiet One Pumps, 14000 mfg#, 270W, 2.75 amps, 1 1/2" MNPT
 
Multiple air driven sponge filters and multiple air lift tubes for HOB style filters (this may sound like we're going backwards but I'm talking large HOBs here) give good filtration and needed aeration.

Fish need their required temperature ranges for good health, so insulate the warm water tanks on sides, back & bottom with lids to cut down on evaporative cooling but still have gas exchange.

Pay attention to water chemistry, small corrections are cheaper than starting over.

Passive solar water heating is possible from a window with good sun and an insulated sump to balance water temps.

Buy in bulk if the numbers work out right for you. Both chemicals and food.

And if you can't afford them don't keep them :(. It's not fair to the fish and may cost you more in the long run in med.s or dead fish.

Dr Joe

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