Need Advice: Electrical bill increasing due to heating tanks during winter

[fishyreview]

Nobody did the math, and I can't help myself.

RE: The idea that a 100 W heater can drive your electric bill up by $100 a month.

100W X 24 hours in a day X 30 Days (ish) in a month = 72000 Watt Hours /1000 = 72 KWH.

We have relatively expensive electricity here in Southern Indiana and we pay about $0.13 per KWH. So if a 100 watt heater ran continuously without ever shutting off, it would cost $9.36 per month.

And don't forget that if your one heater is running all the time it might get stuck on and cook your fish this summer.

More heaters will only use more energy until you have enough BTUs to heat the water to the desired temperature. The 250W heater is running constantly, so you probably need at least 400W running constantly just to get up to your (rather high) desired temp. That means you should probably have a couple 400W heaters and let them cycle on and off.

I've been working on the garage problem for a few years now, so I understand the problem. I heat it with gas now and still boost the temp in my sump with electric heaters.....and there's almost 40 tanks, now, too....

 

[12 Volt Man]

We have relatively expensive electricity here in Southern Indiana and we pay about $0.13 per KWH. So if a 100 watt heater ran continuously without ever shutting off, it would cost $9.36 per month.

thanks for the math, thats why I was asking how much is electricity in the area of this tank.

we need to establish that it is actually the heaters that are causing the super high bill, and not other things in the house..

if one 250w heater, even running constantly, which would use 180 kilowatt hours per month if on 24/7, costs a ton, electricity in the area must be a fortune per kilowatt hour.

it will be interesting to see how much it actually costs.

 

[taz1269u2]

I didnt even notice the bill go back up when I set my 200 back up,but its in the house using a 200 watt heater,the whole house bill is only 80 bucks,

 

[12 Volt Man]

888fish needs to see how much the electricity costs and we can easily to the math to figure out how much the heaters are costing to run.

there is no sense in not adding another heater if the tank is not costing very much to heat, and the electricity bill is coming from other things in the house..

for most people, aquariums cost very little in terms of hydro to run, its the heating of the house, the fridge, stove, space heaters, washing machines etc etc that make up the bulk of the bill.

however, I realize that electricity is more expensive in california, so...this may not be the case.

but we need to know how much it costs. otherwise, this whole thread could actually end up being insignificant in terms of costs to run the tank..

 

[Bb66cuda]

Here where I live in California the electricity rate starts .12 per KWH but can raise to .42 per KWH

 

[12 Volt Man]

okay, so in your household, if you had a tank with a 250w heater running constantly, it would cost you (.250 KW)(24h)(30 days) ($0.12)= $21 per month to run at the cheapest rate.

if running constantly.

in reality, given the rate increases at peak times etc. if it ran constantly it would probably cost you something like $25 per month.

 

[FSM]

Here where I live in California the electricity rate starts .12 per KWH but can raise to .42 per KWH

That's insane. I think it costs around 8 cents here.

 

[dawnmarie]

That's insane. I think it costs around 8 cents here.

Welcome to California, we pay 14-21 cents per Kwh all year. Oh yeah , and the power goes out at least once a month for a few hours. I am curious about the difference between a glass heater and titanium.I'll have to look into that.

 

[Red_Belly_Pacu]

Yea, electricity cost is high in California. Once summer comes for me, the price per month on electricity goes down because my heaters are not on that much. In my area in California, price for electricity is going up by almost 3%. But I heard that gas for the home for the home is going to go down.

 

[irishfan]

Ill continue this old thread..if you are in the apartment situation this can work out well. Granted real estate in New england, especially apartments, trumps that of most areas, and my rent is high, but I do get free gas. Therefore I keep the place warm all the time. Haha I have windows open when its 15 out, but my heaters havent been on since the summer, maybe once or twice a day I see the light go on for 5 mins. Keeps my bill nice n low...if I were in a house tho I would be looking for many ways like ou guys...am envious that some of you have such big tanks and so many, but would be worried about the cold or garage