Kill a watt, Kill-a-watt Fish room tests

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CoryWM

CoryWM

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 13, 2008
368
11
48
Everett, Washington
www.tankgeek.com
Hello All, I briefly searched and couldn't find any kill a watt tests on aquarium heaters etc. On google or this site. So If you're building a fish room, you'll find this info very handy. It is by no means 100% accurate, however, you can use my data how you see fit for your fish room.

Kill-A-Watt EZ Model #4460

After plugging it in briefly to a few devices, it is now set on a 100 watt aquarium heater. I've read posts on here before where people watched to see how often their heater turned on etc. Hopefully this'll provide some more accurate information.

My 80s dehumidifier, run for 5 minutes. Was using 650 watts. I will setup a few day run on this soon.

However, by reading the amps, and converting. 7.4 amps, I had calculated that the dehumidifier was costing me roughly $50 a month.

In the short 5 minute test. It was showing me it would cost $28 a month.

I hope to continually update this with different Aquarium products.

100 watt heater
Fluval Fx5
Fluval 305
Eheim 2026
Dehumidifier
AV-50 Air pump
Shop light running 1 bulb.
Aquaclear 110 Hang on Back
Oil filled electric heater.

I know it's gonna cost me a lot to heat my fish room. I however want to know exactly at what point is it cheaper to heat whole room vs each tank etc.

At the moment I'm having temperature swings in my garage. 80 during the day, with sun beating down on it. 68 at night, when it's 35 degrees outside. Only a dehumidifier running for heat, and a few heaters.

Plan to evaluate electric heater vs 100 watt aquarium heaters.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when a single 100 watt heater specs come in.
 
Zfishies;4123310; said:
i dont get it???
Click to expand...

For instance. can you tell me how much energy a 100 watt aquarium uses each day?

How often it's on/off etc, determines how much energy is uses. So when you run 20+ fish tanks, you need to know whether a aquarium heater is costing you $15 a month or $1 a month. Things that run 24/7 are easy to calculate. However things that are internemittent are very hard. Such as heaters.

Also devices that have different modes, use different wattage. How about a box fan set to low? etc.

I'm merely trying to put together some information for people concerned with electricity useage for their aquariums.
 
this will be good info.

I am talking to some electricians right now to verify that my fishroom will be safe electrically.

I run three setups (150g, 65g and 50g) all in my finished basement with a few lights and a bathroom etc.

total amperage if everything is running at once is just under 12 amps (about 1420w), its a 15 amp circuit that runs the basement.

I am told that on a 15 amp circuit, for continuous use, you don't want to go more than 80% of the circuit capacity or 12 amps in this case.

so I believe I am totally safe, but want to make sure.

no aquarium is worth the risk of a fire :)

I wont be adding any more setups so this is it.

does anyone have electrical experience on the board that can lend some insight?

surely I am not the only one who has loaded up a room with tanks before haha :)
 
CoryWM;4123335; said:
I'm merely trying to put together some information for people concerned with electricity useage for their aquariums.
Click to expand...

And there are many of us which highly appreciate you sharing the results of your efforts!!!


So... your meter measures accumulated use over the course of a day?...

For example... it will monitor how much current an aquarium heater uses in a 24 hours period... noting when it is on (consuming energy) and when it is idle (not consuming energy) and displaying a total daily usage?

From what I understand these are very costly meters. I've bugged my father (electrician) and uncle (electrical engineer) to either make me one or let me borrow one for a few years now :P
 
After looking at reviews etc. This model I got, was only $25 from home depot. It will record data and keep averaging it until you stop it. So obviously I'll get better and better results the longer it is plugged in. So initially my tests will be 1 day each. Then 1 week each etc. Hopefully I can update with winter time info, vs summertime info etc.

It'll be fun to find out what is costing me an arm and a leg and what isnt.

I've seen this meter for as low as 18.99 + shipping on some deal sites. However it was an impulse by today. Cause my tanks on my lower rack were only 70 degrees this morning.. So I need to get stuff into action!
 
Cool cant wait for updates. Actually if I knew how much it cost to run my tanks, I'd probably be sick to my stomach.
 
CoryWM;4123364; said:
After looking at reviews etc. This model I got, was only $25 from home depot. It will record data and keep averaging it until you stop it. So obviously I'll get better and better results the longer it is plugged in. So initially my tests will be 1 day each. Then 1 week each etc. Hopefully I can update with winter time info, vs summertime info etc.

It'll be fun to find out what is costing me an arm and a leg and what isnt.

I've seen this meter for as low as 18.99 + shipping on some deal sites. However it was an impulse by today. Cause my tanks on my lower rack were only 70 degrees this morning.. So I need to get stuff into action!
Click to expand...


Share a link or a product description... for $25 I'd pick one up also post results...

If we got a few of us doing so I'm sure we could unravel some interesting information pretty quickly...
 
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