Light bill

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Take the wattage of the equipment being used and multiply that by the number of hours they will run per month. Divide that number by 1000 to get the kilowatt/month. Then multiply that by the amount your pay per kilo/hr. There is NO way to add anything that uses electricity to your home without the bill going up, unless you get rid of the exact same usage or more elsewhere in the home.
Example: 1 HOB filter using 15watt/hr running 24 hrs a day for 30 days will use 10.8kw/h in a month, times $0.30 per kw/h=$3.24 increase per month. Not that your paying .30 per kw/h, just grabbed that number. Do this for all your equipment and you'll have your increase.
 
I beg to differ. Me and my Fiancée moved in with my mom her light bill was running around 425. I setup 7 fish tanks and a constanlty running AC and 2 people taking showers and it went down to 310 If you dont use a certain amount they'll charge you for it.[/QUOTE]

Hello; This does not sound exactly right. I know that utilities have a minimum charge. For example I pay a set amount for up to the first 2000 gallons of water even if I use less. I do however pay more for additional water.
My electric bill is based on the amount used and that amount is cited on the bill each month. I do not know what the minimum amount is, but can see a clear difference month to month that is reflected on the amount used.
Could it be that somehow before you moved in with your mom that she was using much more electricity than is being used now?
 
it all depends on your setup. I have 9 20gal, 75gal, and a 240gal running at the moment and my bill stays around $150. Everything but the 240gal is run off of one big air pump which costs around $10 a month to operate and i have led lights on most of the tanks. Get a kill-a-watt and test your equipment to find out exactly what it costs you. I can setup another 10-20 tanks on my air pump without adding any more power costs except the leds. Im in south Louisiana so i very rarely use heaters. If it does get very cold, i put a space heater in the fish room.
 
My heaters at 600 watts is number 1 in winter...not so much during summer. My filters run about 220 watts is #1 over all actually...I only turn on my lights about 2 hours a day so that's not a big contributor.

Power bill about $90 in winter and $60 in summer for my fish tank alone.
 
I beg to differ. Me and my Fiancée moved in with my mom her light bill was running around 425. I setup 7 fish tanks and a constanlty running AC and 2 people taking showers and it went down to 310 If you dont use a certain amount they'll charge you for it.

Just looked at the CT light and power site and according to their rates, to get a bill for $425/month you would need to run a 4 burner stove and the oven 24 hrs a day for 20 days to use that amount of electricity or the equivilant. Not trying to be argumentative but I think that you might have some of your facts wrong. Yes there is a minimum for the service being supplied to your house, that's why there is a rate per kw/h and a rate for the transmisson of the power. No where in the US can any household use more power and have their bill go down. If that were possible the power companies would go bankrupt.
 
Filters are low wattage, I believe the AC70 to be only like 7watts. Heaters are up there but here in FL mine doesnt kick on much. Lights can run your bill up a bit but flourescents are pretty energy conservant. I have 4 tanks, 2 of which have 300wt heaters and a turtle tank with a 60w heat bulb among the higher wattages. My electric bill is never above $100 bucks and have had it as low as $48. The tanks don't seem to sway the charges. The killers are AC, fridge, and drier.
 
When my Dad abandoned us and we shut down his marine reef the bill dropped by about 600 dollars.

those special marine lights cost a fortune to run!
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com