Electricity

[Ocicat]

So I made the mistake of reading the "Cost for your [acronym:90997161ab="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:90997161ab] Setup" thread...

I am prepared for the initial costs of equipment, rock, etc, but I was surprised by some of the estimates of monthly costs, particularly electricity. Will my electricity bill really jump dramatically if I get a large (ie, 120-[acronym:90997161ab="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:90997161ab]) tank? Is this a factor of lighting choices more than anything else, or are the pumps, skimmers, etc, equally responsible? I think I'm hooked on this already, but I do want a clear idea of what I'm in for!

[seaham358]

It will jump up... I have a 125 with a return pump, skimmer, heaters then a fuge with lights for that!!! It all adds up. If your run [acronym:883d7eb9d2="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:883d7eb9d2] lighting I would say your going to use more electricity then someone using [acronym:883d7eb9d2="Very high output fluorescent"]VHO[/acronym:883d7eb9d2] lighting.
If you really like the fish and the corals you will just have to bite the bullet and pay the extra cost that comes with the hobby.
I don't have exact numbers but I would say that my bill is up a extra $30-40 a month with the 2 tanks..

[greenmaji]

the price of electricity really isnt that bad usually (depending on the market) in most areas its 8 cents per kilowatt hour.. thats like 2-500watt [acronym:6ce512a215="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:6ce512a215] bulbs burning for 1 hour..
It can be calculated before hand to give you a grip on what your going to be paying before the bill shows up.. but it can add up..
The big consumers of electricity in a house are central air and heat and water heaters [acronym:6ce512a215="In My Experience"]IME[/acronym:6ce512a215]; so it depends on how efficient those systems are as to how high your bill will be.. [acronym:6ce512a215="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:6ce512a215]

[fishfreek]

We have an electrcity calculator that will help you estimate the cost increase. The biggest cost increases would be with high output lights. On a 120 [acronym:39d50438ee="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:39d50438ee] tank if you set it up with a reef its not to unreasonable to expect 500+ Watts of light over the tank. Given most of our lights are on 10-12 hours a day that can add a few $ to the monthly bill.

[ellisz]

I have been looking at electricty costs as of late since my electric bill is over $300!

I bought a device call kill-a-watt. I measures you killawatt/hr usage. My cost per hr is $0.077. This is what I found:

Display Tank 75 [acronym:e315305cb0="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:e315305cb0]
2x250 [acronym:e315305cb0="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:e315305cb0] with 2x54 T5
2 moonlights
2 maxijet 1200
2 Seio 620
1 DJ switching timer for [acronym:e315305cb0="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:e315305cb0]'s
This is is costing me about $15 month

Sump
1 300 watt heater
2 Mag 7's
1 maxijet 1200
1 Mak4(PCX40)
2 20 watt [acronym:e315305cb0="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:e315305cb0] bulbs for refugium light
1 top off pump
This is about $15 month

I did not measure the [acronym:e315305cb0="Broken or cut pieces of coral which will eventually grow into a new animal"]frag[/acronym:e315305cb0] tank lights, heater, [acronym:e315305cb0="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:e315305cb0] and dehumidifier yet. I figure the tank is costing me about $40 on the low side.

Just an [acronym:e315305cb0="For your info"]FYI[/acronym:e315305cb0], I leave my [acronym:e315305cb0="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:e315305cb0] on all the time and the [acronym:e315305cb0="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:e315305cb0], router,modem and monitor cost about $8 month.

[acronym:e315305cb0="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:e315305cb0]

[gfishguy56]

These days the extra electricty cost is nowhere near as painful as filling up my SUV with gas very week...

[AndyH5512]

Isnt that the truth, Gfishguy.....