Power usage, holy crap!

[peffy03]

Hi there, Ive posted a few times about my current tank its a 150 Gallon SC. My wife recently brought up how much our electric bill is up, and i assumed it was related to covid and the kids and i being home all day.. Today i was doing some cabling cleanup on my tank and i decided to measure specific components to see what the power usage is. Boy was I suprised
Return Pump - 1200GPH 72W
AI Prime Fuge light - 24W
3x AI Prime 16HD tank lights - 84W total
Aqua Ultravoilet Light - 18.4
pair of hydor koralia wave makers - 4W
Bubble Magus Protein Skimmer (c8 i think) - 22W
Transfer pump for UV Light 4000lph - 31W
mini PC for my Seneye (dell mini) - 27W
Heater - 400W
Pair of Jabeo wavemakers - 10-11W each

In total im using around 304W for 12 hours per day
at night when my lights go off im down to 220
this works out to 6.3 KWH per day not including my heater going on and off.

or about 77.34$ per month at californias "reasonable" electric rates. again without my 400w heater even turning on.

yuck

 

[sam2110]

Yeah but you need to take into account that low voltage DC watts is not the same as your AC wattage that you pay for. 100 watts DC is not 100 watts AC. A lot of aquarium equipment like lighting and pumps only tell you the DC wattage.

In the UK I run 3 tanks, 1 reef, 1 planted freshwater and one nano reef. All have heaters, lights, pumps, skimmers and all the other extras and my total cost is around £20 per month or around $28.

my 3000 watt hot tube only costs £50 per month to run 24/7

 

[peffy03]

All of this was measured... using an ac watt meter...

 

[sam2110]

All of this was measured... using an ac watt meter...

Fair enough, your electricity must be stupidly expensive in the US

 

[peffy03]

currently i pay .41 per kwh. the issue is california, not the USA

we have something called tiered pricing. my wife and i have 4 kids, so were always in tier 3

 

[LegendaryCG]

I do have guilt on my carbon footprint not just from my reef tanks but my heavy electronics usage as well. I’ve resolved this by being 100% wind energy subsidized which isn’t an option for everyone but is for me. I end up paying like 10$ a month more but can feel good about my decision.

 

[peffy03]

I work in IT, so we have 5 or 6 pcs, whole home audio, etc. I just wasnt expecting a 25% increase in our electric bills from a fish tank. If i add my 29G quarantine its even worse

i just ordered a new DC return pump. should use around half the power.. good way to justify new stuff to the Mrs.

 

[Nick Steele]

Wow 40 cents per kWh that’s crazy! If you lived here you would only be about $20 a month. I use to be jealous of your guys coral selection but not anymore. I’m sorry!

 

[Deschutes541]

currently i pay .41 per kwh. the issue is california, not the USA

we have something called tiered pricing. my wife and i have 4 kids, so were always in tier 3

Yikes. I'll be more appreciative of my .09 per kWh.

 

[peffy03]

i grew up in Pennsylvania.. my parents pay around .12 per kwh.. if you dont have solar in Cali, life sucks.

 

[Vette67]

This is what I get from the electric company. I think they are trying to guilt me into using less electricity. Over 20 years of receiving these reports hasn’t changed my habits yet. Maybe next month I’ll get better about using less....

 

[MJ in Boise]

Wow...41 cents per kwh? Thats insane. We max out at 9 cents. Bet you are glad all that money is going towards improving the energy infrastructure. Thanks for reminding me of one of the many reasons I left.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Suck it up cupcake. I have a 600 gallon with 1300 watts of lights over it.

 

[highest_tides]

Have you thought about putting out the money upfront for a battery backup powerwall system? Not only would you be covered when the power goes out but the main reason of these battery systems are for time of day pricing. For example, you charge your batteries on off-peak hours and discharge during peak hour prices. It pays for the cost of them in a few years then you are really saving.

I'm not a Tesla salesman but I install these systems everydays and see how hopeful they are especially for this type of situation. Here is CO...I only pay 0.10 p/KWhr alllll day and night. It's cheap and these systems are not for the savings but rather the outage.

Hope that helps. PM is you have any questions.

 

[highest_tides]

Sorry about the bad grammer there..it's huge plus with solar too just because you don't even charge your batteries off the grid prices.

 

[New Jersey REEF]

Yep electricity bill is definitely #1 for me out of other expenses in this hobby
#2 would be media for filtration and additives and salt
#3 food
#4 water bill

 

[BZOFIQ]

@ $.23 per kWh here in NYC. Not liking it a bit!

 

[sam2110]

Haha... i should have taken into account my water bill. I'm too lazy to make salt water so I drive 56 mile round trip once a week to buy salt and RO water. At £15 for 50 liters of salt and £3.75 for 25 liters RO water. On top of that i always get fast food on the way home thats around £12 and taking into account the fuel...... i hate it when someone reminds me of how expensive this hobby is.

 

[Vette67]

And here I thought what I paid was “normal” at 5.44 cents per kWh. I guess I’m on the way low side.

 

[BZOFIQ]

And here I thought what I paid was “normal” at 5.44 cents per kWh. I guess I’m on the way low side.

I wish!