Electrical Bill

[MnFish1]

I just checked for the last year and my electric bill averaged $160 per month. Our house is 2300 sf with a pool and all electric. The fish tank represents about $20 of my electric bill iirc.

Curious - where do you live? Probably best to post these statistics in Montly bill/Gallon of water. And whether its a fowler or a reef tank. There is no way you can be running a 150 gallon tank for $20 a month - unless its a FOWLR tank with no need for heat or lighting. (my guess is that you live in a climate that doesn't require much heat or cooling) and that you have a simple set up - if not - interested in your method.

 

[jtl]

Curious - where do you live? Probably best to post these statistics in Montly bill/Gallon of water. And whether its a fowler or a reef tank. There is no way you can be running a 150 gallon tank for $20 a month - unless its a FOWLR tank with no need for heat or lighting. (my guess is that you live in a climate that doesn't require much heat or cooling) and that you have a simple set up - if not - interested in your method.

My sig has tank info and where I live. My monthly bill for the tank is less than $20, more like $15 considering the hourly usage and power settings. I have the usual stuff: led lights, skimmer, return pump and a pair of powerheads but I have no need for a heater. My electric rate is 12 cents per kWh. I have run these figure many timse over the years and repeatedly said that the electricity cost of keeping my reef tank pales in comparison to other expenses. Just for the record I thought your post was a little caustic, just because you pay more doesn't mine others are lying about their electric charges. Maybe you didn't mean it that way.

 

[Sailingeric]

Here in the Portland Oregon Metro area, the rates we pay

• Up to 1000 kWh: 6.850 ¢ per kWh
• >1000 kWh: 7.572 ¢ per kWh

I have noticed our power bill has gone up some but we also got a large freezer about the same time I started the fish tank. I am planning on getting a Killawatt this weekend just to see how my tanks cost us. I suspect it is not too bad, plus I probably spend more per month on fish goodies than I do power. The one thing my wife and I did when moved in our house 4 years ago is to replace every light bulb in the house with LED bulbs. My kitchen alone has 15 can lights and replacing out the 75 watt bulbs in there with LED saves us a fortune and we are not roasting under the heat. I suspect I could leave every light on in my house for 24 hours and still use less power than my kitchen would have in one hour if we had not replaced the bulbs.

 

[MnFish1]

My sig has tank info and where I live. My monthly bill for the tank is less than $20, more like $15 considering the hourly usage and power settings. I have the usual stuff: led lights, skimmer, return pump and a pair of powerheads but I have no need for a heater. My electric rate is 12 cents per kWh. I have run these figure many timse over the years and repeatedly said that the electricity cost of keeping my reef tank pales in comparison to other expenses. Just for the record I thought your post was a little caustic, just because you pay more doesn't mine others are lying about their electric charges. Maybe you didn't mean it that way.

I did t mean it that way. What I meant is that if you have tiered pricing you may be paying more. I just checked my apex I use 11 kWh per day. Depending on the season and the day holidays etc which are higher the base rate is .02-.22 $ per kWh. If your household uses more energy than the lower tier those rates will be higher. I calculate my monthly cost based on the highest tier because I think that tank is a luxury not a necessity. I have 2 similar tanks about 400 gallons total. I spend between 100 and 200$/ month for the tanks

 

[jtl]

I did t mean it that way. What I meant is that if you have tiered pricing you may be paying more. I just checked my apex I use 11 kWh per day. Depending on the season and the day holidays etc which are higher the base rate is .02-.22 $ per kWh. If your household uses more energy than the lower tier those rates will be higher. I calculate my monthly cost based on the highest tier because I think that tank is a luxury not a necessity. I have 2 similar tanks about 400 gallons total. I spend between 100 and 200$/ month for the tanks

I don't have tiered pricing.

 

[MnFish1]

I don't have tiered pricing.

I also meant to say the major cause of energy use in my tank is the lights and heater. When both are on the energy use is 791 watts. When neither are on the it’s 143 watts.

 

[Jay Norris]

Hi, I also live in Florida, South Florida, and our electric bill for our house is around $650 tp $700 a month on average, we do have 4 refrigerators, 1 keg dispenser, 1 ice maker for the outdoor bar area, 2 pool pumps, a sprinkler pump, and my aquarium, I just changed out all my M/H - VHO lights and went with the Mitra LX7206 lights. Will be curious to see what the difference is in my A/C bill, now that my 1.5hp chiller will not be running as much, and the Fish Room A/C unit will not run as much either.

 

[jtl]

Hi, I also live in Florida, South Florida, and our electric bill for our house is around $650 tp $700 a month on average, we do have 4 refrigerators, 1 keg dispenser, 1 ice maker for the outdoor bar area, 2 pool pumps, a sprinkler pump, and my aquarium, I just changed out all my M/H - VHO lights and went with the Mitra LX7206 lights. Will be curious to see what the difference is in my A/C bill, now that my 1.5hp chiller will not be running as much, and the Fish Room A/C unit will not run as much either.

That seems really high, I have two a/c units, a pool pump and irrigation pump, 50 gal hot water heater, two computers running 24/7 and of course my aquarium equipment. The house is 2400 sf and my largest bill last year was $204 in August. We did get rid of every incandescent light in the house which helped. We also keep the house about 79 in the summer but with the humidity removed it feels almost too cool coming in from outside.

 

[Jay Norris]

That seems really high, I have two a/c units, a pool pump and irrigation pump, 50 gal hot water heater, two computers running 24/7 and of course my aquarium equipment. The house is 2400 sf and my largest bill last year was $204 in August. We did get rid of every incandescent light in the house which helped. We also keep the house about 79 in the summer but with the humidity removed it feels almost too cool coming in from outside.

Hi, That is what I thoughts as we had FPL come out to the house. It is due to all the electrical appliances, and my aquarium, thus the reason for changing out my M/H lights