Help with aquarium running costs

[Pond9]

I need to know how much my tanks running are costing me so I can tell my wife exactly what they cost lol. I have a 90,75,55,and55. I'm running 3 aqua clear 110, 2 aquaclear 70, one sunsun 304, 2 250 watt aquaeon pro heaters, 2 200 watt aquaeon heaters, 4 small air pumps, 4 aquaeon led 48" lights. I would greatly appreciate the help I can't figure it out. I estimate my water bill on changes at $5 dollars a month.

 

[eddiegunks]

Figure out how many watts all your stuff is using perhour. Add em all up and them divide by your kilowatter per hour cost.

You need to know how much power the pumps use. You already know the heater usage.

Obviously heater costs may rise in the winter and fall in the summer.

Wait till she finds out how much the fish you have cost.....

 

[Pond9]

Thanks I appreciate it. Electricity is greek to me lol. Yea I keep fish price secretly LOL

 

[Pond9]

It's roughly 1000 watts all together so does the watt usuage on the stuff mean per hour? I'm clueless on this lol

 

[eddiegunks]

Just remember kilowatt is 1000 watt.

So your above heaters are using almost 1kwh. So it looks like the heaters are costing you about $.08 per hour. ( up to your first 500,000 watts. Then it increases according to your bill above). So if you use over 500k then it will coat you a bit over $.10 per hour. )

 

[Pond9]

Just remember kilowatt is 1000 watt.

So your above heaters are using almost 1kwh. So it looks like the heaters are costing you about $.08 per hour. ( up to your first 500,000 watts. Then it increases according to your bill above). So if you use over 500k then it will coat you a bit over $.10 per hour. )

If the heaters turn off at temp setting then they are not using electricity the whole time right?

 

[eddiegunks]

If the heaters turn off at temp setting then they are not using electricity the whole time right?

Correct. I should have reiterated that point.

I was just using them as an example because we knew their usage. Once you find out the pump usage then you can apply the above example to your pumps.

 

[mr cichlid]

Majority of my tanks in one room. I save money by having one blower supplying all with air and close door half the year using space heater. The space heater is 600watts and i eliminated 8 heaters that averaged 250watts each. One day i will order quiet energy efficient blower from www.jehmco.com inshaAllaah to save even more. Advantage: hobby is nearly free once established when house is over 70°, fish used to temperate fluctuation and are less susceptible to changes for example cold water change, never worry about heater spike cooking fish or breaking, save money, can put different fish different distances from space heater to adjust their temperature, wife doesn't have tanks scattered throughout home...disadvantages: fry grow slower and less spawning when heat off, God forbid there was ever a malfunction it effects all tanks and small tanks could experience fatal temp drops if window or door forgotten opened in winter.

 

[skjl47]

It's roughly 1000 watts all together so does the watt usuage on the stuff mean per hour?

Hello; Yes I believe it does.

Hello; Let me take a stab at this. Bear in mind I slept in my recliner last night and not at a Holiday Inn Express.
So you are burning 1 kW ( 1000 watts) each hour = 1 kWh. That is 24 kWh each day. That is 168 kWh every seven days. That is 720 kWh every 30 days.
Lets figure at $ .1048 per kWh as this is the hobby on top of other electrical use.
720 times .1048 = $75.45 every 30 days = $905.47 or so each year .

I know power usage will vary with seasons and that has not been factored in. However much will depend on a couple of things. Your heaters should use less power during the summer as the ambient temperature is commonly warmer. (you do not list your location and I am assuming a temperate location.)
The however question is- Do you use AC to cool the house in the warm months? If so your heaters may cause the use of as much or even more electricity during the warm months than the cold months. How? Say the tanks are kept at 80 degrees F and the house is kept at 70 degrees F. This means the AC unit is fighting the tank heaters over this 10 degrees of warm water all cooling season long. So it may sort of even out year around.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I would add that the summer months in most places uses electricity while the winter months uses natural gas. Electric is much more expensive than gas.

Moreover, the tanks are full of water and my understanding is that the way the AC works to cool the air is to remove the moisture (water) from the air (that's basically what a condenser does.) Tanks create higher humidity which makes the AC work harder... even if the temp in the tank is exactly the same temp as the air.