How much electric does your tank cost you?

agame2021 · Oct 14, 2021

Just curious to see everyone’s in put on this one.
how much does the electricity for your tank cost you a month?
What is the most expensive piece of equipment electricity wise?

blaxsun · Oct 14, 2021

$49CAD/month. It's a toss-up between the pair of Schego 300-watt titanium heaters or the three G5 Radions in terms of most expensive aspect of the tank. @ 0.1423 kw/h.

Cory · Oct 14, 2021

Definitely the lighting. 400w x 4 metal halide.and 4x 80w t5s. Pumps and uv sterilizer and apex. Probably cost me 60$ a month for my tanks electricity costs. And thats at .07 kw/h

Gtinnel · Oct 14, 2021

The last time I figured out my electricity cost per month I determined that it was roughly $45 where I live. It's going to change pretty drastically based upon the time of year for me because I use outside air for my skimmer, so during the winter my heaters have to run a lot more often. The price paid will also change based upon your price per kWh where you live.

I use roughly 400 kWh per month for my tank. The lights and heater are almost all of the usage with the heaters being the most ecspecially during the winter. I'll also go ahead and mention that my tank is a 125g because obviously the size of the tank effects the cost too.

I actually just looked and my cost per kWh has gone up enough that apparently it costs me around $60/month. Now I wish I wouldn't have looked at your thread LOL.

Catch22 · Oct 14, 2021

4kwh on mine so about $130 a montg

Cabinetman · Oct 14, 2021

My 560 gallon with 110 gallon frag tank cost me $93.70 a month according to my apex at .16 kh

alton · Oct 14, 2021

$15 a month for my 120, 9 months out of the year. From December to March it helps me warm my home, so no charge.

agame2021 · Oct 14, 2021

Gtinnel said:
The last time I figured out my electricity cost per month I determined that it was roughly $45 where I live. It's going to change pretty drastically based upon the time of year for me because I use outside air for my skimmer, so during the winter my heaters have to run a lot more often. The price paid will also change based upon your price per kWh where you live.

I use roughly 400 kWh per month for my tank. The lights and heater are almost all of the usage with the heaters being the most ecspecially during the winter. I'll also go ahead and mention that my tank is a 125g because obviously the size of the tank effects the cost too.

I actually just looked and my cost per kWh has gone up enough that apparently it costs me around $60/month. Now I wish I wouldn't have looked at your thread LOL.

Lol I guess I should have put in a warning or something

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 14, 2021

Hundreds of dollars. Was one of the main reasons to shut it down.

SillyReef · Oct 14, 2021

A thing very often overlooked. Also why I don’t run sump in basement, just a heat drain.

Camaro Show Corals · Oct 14, 2021

Cabinetman said:
My 560 gallon with 110 gallon frag tank cost me $93.70 a month according to my apex at .16 kh

What lights are you running?

mdb_talon · Oct 14, 2021

Approximately 4 times as much as i tell my wife it adds to the bill.

agame2021 · Oct 14, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Hundreds of dollars. Was one of the main reasons to shut it down.

How many tanks we talking?! A shop full?! Dang!

mrlavalamp · Oct 14, 2021

The past months averages my tank comes in at $0.55 a day, so just about $17 a month.

Everything is on smart powerstrips so I can see exactly what each piece of equipment costs.

That will probably jump up in the winter now that I need to start heating.

homer1475 · Oct 14, 2021

About $40 a month @ 80G.

Definitely has to be the lights(T5's), but I've never actually figured it out.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 15, 2021

agame2021 said:
How many tanks we talking?! A shop full?! Dang!

One 120 gal, with sumps etc. in basement.

Lots of electricity for mh lighting, several big pumps (iwaki 55RLT on skimmer, 2 x 40 RLT return pumps, and loads of heaters.

X-37B · Oct 15, 2021

I would estimate $50 for my 120 with 2 250 watt MH and 2 OR3 light bars.
My 45 frag system runs 1 250 watt MH.
Adding a 150 watt MH to my remote fuge soon.
I do not run heaters in my systems from May through end of September.
Most all my equipment is Tunze so low watt pumps compaired to others.

ZoWhat · Oct 15, 2021

I would say you can pretty much count on about a 50-75cents per gallon in electricity costs monthly.

It's a good rule of thumb

reefnfun · Oct 15, 2021

Approximately 80 bucks a month for me. I have a basement sump with a reeflo hammerhead pump to get the water back upstairs. 2X400W 1 250W MH upstairs. Downstairs 4X250W MH for the tank and sump. Basically they are for heat. I have Duke Energy. They sent me a notice and asked me if I wanted flat rate electricity. It is not budget but flat rate. You do not settle up at the end of the year. If you use less they do not credit you. If you use more you don't have to pay. I signed up immediately. I thought this is almost to good to be true. They had my usage analysis on the offer. It was 7 bucks a month more than the budget plan. 7 bucks a month was definitely worth the peace of mind that I do not have to worry about power. The electric company is very smart. I am sure I am not pulling one over on them. I do not abuse it either. I love the letters they send me with the graphs. Efficient house graph on the bottom, Average house graph in the middle and my house the graph is almost off the chart lol.