Reef Tank Energy Savings

[Triggreef]

The current pump is a Dolphin Amp Master 1/15 HP pushing 3500 GPH. The replacement pump is Deepwater Aquatics BLDC10 DC Brushless Pump. The detailed reader will notice that I'm replacing a 3500 GPH pump with a 2650 GPH pump. I'm doing this because I currently dial back the pump using valves, quite a bit, too. I can spend less money on a more energy efficient pump by buying a pump with a lower flow rate. Well, at least that's my thought process.

And, you're right about the fitting. The plumbing was designed for this so it won't be too bad.

Fell off this thread but wish I saw this. Those deepwater pumps are ridiculously awesome. I'm sure you'll be fine with the 10, but I would have suggested the slightly bigger one, just because you can turn it way down. The controllers are great too.

 

[bwmalloy]

Sooo, since my last post on here, I changed tactics, thanks to mcarroll. As fate would have it, the website I ordered the BLDC pump from was out of stock. Thank goodness. I changed to a much smaller and cheaper AC pump and changed out my flow pumps instead. I went with a Quiet One 400 and bought 2 new Tunze Turbelle Stream 3 units. Keep in mind I have 180 gallons to push. The Quiet One pump simply pushes just enough to get return water back into the tank and the Tunzes provides all the circulation and flow I can handle. Works great. I got a little lucky, too. Because of the pluming in my tank, I was able to actually leave my old Dolphin in place, turn a few ball-valves and simply "plug" the Quiet One in a return tube. Now, I have the Quiet One in place and working just fine with the Dolphin still in place and ready as a backup if needed. Just a few switches in ball-valves and change what it is plugged in and I have a super easy backup. The Tunzes are great but I haven't figured out the programming on these, yet.
With these changes combined with an LED change, I should be saving around $400 per year.

 

[mcarroll]

With these changes combined with an LED change, I should be saving around $400 per year.

Wow! Not a bad final tally!!!

 

[oldpaddy]

I've been thinking about putting together a thread with ways that we can conserve some energy. As into this hobby as I am, now and then i certainly have thoughts of throwing in the towel after seeing my electric bill. I mean really I have 58 solar panels at 315w each and sometimes i still have a $200 electric bill, like this month for example. I have to remind myself we've had a little snow and the days are at their shortest sunlight right now but man there has to be a way to save a little. I don't even have halides!

I do have 3 fairly large systems going though with the smallest being about 120g total.

But let's make a list of some creative ideas. Obviously there is the lighting debate but there's certainly a give and take with that.

I'll start off. A few things that I've found to help, even though my bill probably does not instill much confidence in my energy saving skills. Lol.

1. I'm switching to all deepwater aquatics dc pumps little by little as i can afford it. They have been extremely efficient and reliable for me for about 2 years now at least.

2. I began to use gravity for my media reactors as i have 4 between my tanks. So that is 4 separate pumps I've completely eliminated. The only caution with this is to use some screen where the hose siphons from so you don't suck up livestock. And keep the siphon end near the top of the water so if you lose power you don't end up siphoning too much into your sump.

Let's hear some helpful ideas...

It's disgusting how expensive electricity has become where I live. Our average non summer bill is $350-400. Ten years ago it was half that and that was without all the crummy led/cfl light bulbs and "energy efficient" (aka crummy) appliances.

As far as keeping the usage down on a tank/s, you got me. I can't think of one item I could take out or replace without lowering efficiency.

 

[Triggreef]

It has doubled in the last 10 years. That was actually my deciding factor in going solar, because its guestimated to double again in the next 10 years. I'm losing now but in about 6 more years I will have made a great decision. I hope. lol :/

 

[mcarroll]

It's disgusting how expensive electricity has become where I live. Our average non summer bill is $350-400. Ten years ago it was half that and that was without all the crummy led/cfl light bulbs and "energy efficient" (aka crummy) appliances.

As far as keeping the usage down on a tank/s, you got me. I can't think of one item I could take out or replace without lowering efficiency.

It has doubled in the last 10 years. That was actually my deciding factor in going solar, because its guestimated to double again in the next 10 years. I'm losing now but in about 6 more years I will have made a great decision. I hope. lol :/

Wow....what rate are you guys currently paying???

 

[oldpaddy]

Wow....what rate are you guys currently paying???

I'll have to look it up, but regardless it's deceiving. My most recent electric bill was around $400. Approximately half was a "delivery" charge. So my electricity usage was around $200, but they charged me another $200 to get it to my house.

 

[Anthony kolodziej]

This is something I have put a lot of thought into recently. A lot of my system is in the basement in Wisconsin, so during the winter I am paying a boat load to heat it all. I chose to do a number of things to try to save anywhere I can. Current system is about 400 gallons and will grow a bit from there likely to about 600 total water volume before too long.

1. Pink foam board insulation and rolls of insulation around any tanks I could including underneath where possible.
2. Covering any open water I could. Basically anywhere I don't have corals. This is helping save on evaporation which not only cools, but also raises the humidity in the basement and causes my dehumidifier to run more often aka more electricity.
3. Heating itself. I decided to implement a home hot water recirculating system to heat my system instead of running a pile of electric heaters. I am in the process of implementing this, but it cost me ~$500 to acquire everything for the build(pump, solenoid, ranco temp controllers, valves, pex, insulation, etc.). Based on what I am paying now to heat the system I estimate the new setup will pay for itself in 16-24 months. Gas is cheap and my hot water heater is currently heating water all day long that I don't use, so repurposing that heat on the tank will save me greatly.

There are a few added benefits to this system as well. I would like to keep my system at a higher temp, but haven't because of the added cost. I will now be able to bring my temperature up a couple degrees. It will obviously reduce my overall need for electricity, which is nice because I am working with only so many circuits in the basement. I can only use some of the newly available load however, as some of the electric heaters will still be in place as backup should the hot water heater go down. The electric heaters themselves, they are cheap and prone to failure/breaking/shorting/etc. Not having a handful of them running all the time just waiting to fail will give me peace of mind. Not to mention replacement costs when they do fail.

I had a set up where I used my boiler to heat the tanks , like you I had about 650 gallons with a pair of 210 gallon tanks , 2 40 breeders and a 150 gallon stock tank . it worked awesome and saved me about $200 a month in electric

 

[Triggreef]

Wow....what rate are you guys currently paying???

I'm at like .096 p/kwh but like he said above the delivery charge is about the same as usage. Even with 58 solar panels at 315w each, my last couple bills have still been over $100. Without the panels it would have been around $600.

 

[mcarroll]

Crazy! I'm paying about 10¢, live in an average-size, all-electric, swiss-cheese-like house that was built about 1980, with the original wood-frame windows, in a place where winter happens, where summers swelter and the HVAC is a heat pump ....and going from memory I've never seen over $350/mth. "Around $300" would be a more typical high bill. Wonder what the difference is??

 

[oldpaddy]

Crazy! I'm paying about 10¢, live in an average-size, all-electric, swiss-cheese-like house that was built about 1980, with the original wood-frame windows, in a place where winter happens, where summers swelter and the HVAC is a heat pump ....and going from memory I've never seen over $350/mth. "Around $300" would be a more typical high bill. Wonder what the difference is??

I can't speak for anyone else, but I live in Massachusetts, which has lost its mind with all the increased taxes and regulations over the last 20yrs.

 

[becks]

Could you not look at improving the insulation of the basement to keep heatloss to a minimum?

 

[Triggreef]

Crazy! I'm paying about 10¢, live in an average-size, all-electric, swiss-cheese-like house that was built about 1980, with the original wood-frame windows, in a place where winter happens, where summers swelter and the HVAC is a heat pump ....and going from memory I've never seen over $350/mth. "Around $300" would be a more typical high bill. Wonder what the difference is??

I have 3 separate systems and the smallest one is 120g. the largest is 360g. I also have a wife and 2 kids that leave every single light on in the house more often than not. Even though I have almost all LED lights through the house I'm sure that still takes a toll. A 1.5 hp pool pump on 12 hours a day from may to september, and 2 forced air furnaces/heaters in the winter, as well as 2 central air units outside that are both 220v I'm sure doesn't help.

I struggle everyday lately with the thought of shutting down 2 of my reef tank systems. But its so difficult. I'm too involved and they are just getting to the point where the coral sales almost totally pay for the tanks. Maybe not once electricity is added in. lol.

 

[Triggreef]

Then I see my saraggasm trigger in the system I want to shut down, and my ornate leopard wrasse, and my potters angel, and... I just can't.

 

[TylerS]

This is an interesting topic!

Lighting: Pretty simple -> go with LED. Exact brand and model etc. can have some debate, but LED is better for efficiency, that's well proven. MH or T5 will heat up your house causing your home AC unit to run a lot more. Passively cooled is better.
Pumps: Use the smallest return pump that will meet your needs. Run it submerged so it heats the water with its waste heat. Make up the flow difference with in tank powerheads.
Plumbing: Haven't seen anyone mention this yet. Optimize your return line plumbing. The friction losses in the pipe could cause you to need a larger pump and run it at a higher setting than necessary. Upsize the return line from the pump outlet (if the outlet is 1" use 1.5" return plumbing).
Insulation: Reduce heat loss through the sides of the tank/sump/refugiums if possible by surrounding the walls with rigid pink foam. Acrylic insulates better than glass so go with that if you don't mind the potential for scratches (maybe just on sump or fuge). You could insulate the inside of the tank stand, or if you have a fish room insulate the drain lines and return lines to/from the tank (and insulate the fish room).
Evaporation: Limit evaporation as much as possible by covering things (but make sure dissolved oxygen is ok). Evaporation uses a surprising amount of energy (which has to be replaced by your heaters).
Heat: Direct heat from burning something will inherently be more efficient than converting electrical energy to heat energy. This is why most people have gas furnaces and water heaters instead of electric. But this is hard to do in an aquarium...

 

[oldpaddy]

This is an interesting topic!

Lighting: Pretty simple -> go with LED. Exact brand and model etc. can have some debate, but LED is better for efficiency, that's well proven. MH or T5 will heat up your house causing your home AC unit to run a lot more. Passively cooled is better.
Pumps: Use the smallest return pump that will meet your needs. Run it submerged so it heats the water with its waste heat. Make up the flow difference with in tank powerheads.
Plumbing: Haven't seen anyone mention this yet. Optimize your return line plumbing. The friction losses in the pipe could cause you to need a larger pump and run it at a higher setting than necessary. Upsize the return line from the pump outlet (if the outlet is 1" use 1.5" return plumbing).
Insulation: Reduce heat loss through the sides of the tank/sump/refugiums if possible by surrounding the walls with rigid pink foam. Acrylic insulates better than glass so go with that if you don't mind the potential for scratches (maybe just on sump or fuge). You could insulate the inside of the tank stand, or if you have a fish room insulate the drain lines and return lines to/from the tank (and insulate the fish room).
Evaporation: Limit evaporation as much as possible by covering things (but make sure dissolved oxygen is ok). Evaporation uses a surprising amount of energy (which has to be replaced by your heaters).
Heat: Direct heat from burning something will inherently be more efficient than converting electrical energy to heat energy. This is why most people have gas furnaces and water heaters instead of electric. But this is hard to do in an aquarium...

Good post!
Regarding LED, does the voltage stay constant or does dimming it lower amount of electricity used? Not that it'll make much of a difference usage wise, but it's something I've been wondering about for a while.

 

[TylerS]

Good post!
Regarding LED, does the voltage stay constant or does dimming it lower amount of electricity used? Not that it'll make much of a difference usage wise, but it's something I've been wondering about for a while.

Dimming LED will use less energy. Most LED lights use something called PWM (pulse width modulation) for dimming which means they actually cycle on and off really fast (so fast that we can't see it). When it's dimmed it just spends less total time on. When they're on the voltage used by the fixture is generally the same, but the current is what actually changes. For example: the voltage coming out of your socket in the wall is always 120 (+/- a few %), and if a device is using more power that really just means its using more current. (Power = Current * voltage)

 

[DBR_Reef]

This is an interesting topic!

Lighting: Pretty simple -> go with LED. Exact brand and model etc. can have some debate, but LED is better for efficiency, that's well proven. MH or T5 will heat up your house causing your home AC unit to run a lot more. Passively cooled is better.
Pumps: Use the smallest return pump that will meet your needs. Run it submerged so it heats the water with its waste heat. Make up the flow difference with in tank powerheads.
Plumbing: Haven't seen anyone mention this yet. Optimize your return line plumbing. The friction losses in the pipe could cause you to need a larger pump and run it at a higher setting than necessary. Upsize the return line from the pump outlet (if the outlet is 1" use 1.5" return plumbing).
Insulation: Reduce heat loss through the sides of the tank/sump/refugiums if possible by surrounding the walls with rigid pink foam. Acrylic insulates better than glass so go with that if you don't mind the potential for scratches (maybe just on sump or fuge). You could insulate the inside of the tank stand, or if you have a fish room insulate the drain lines and return lines to/from the tank (and insulate the fish room).
Evaporation: Limit evaporation as much as possible by covering things (but make sure dissolved oxygen is ok). Evaporation uses a surprising amount of energy (which has to be replaced by your heaters).
Heat: Direct heat from burning something will inherently be more efficient than converting electrical energy to heat energy. This is why most people have gas furnaces and water heaters instead of electric. But this is hard to do in an aquarium...

I'm not so sure I agree on the T5 vs LED efficiency, and I definitely don't think that it's well proven- a lot of efficiency comparisons I see are between lights with dissimilar coverage or par/pur. But if you compare a blended, broad coverage led light (like the Philips coral care) to a comparable t5 unit then efficiency is approximately the same. MH are definitely power hogs, but most will agree that you take a hit in light quality going from MH to LED- up to the reefer to decide whether it is worth it.

 

[TylerS]

I'm not so sure I agree on the T5 vs LED efficiency, and I definitely don't think that it's well proven- a lot of efficiency comparisons I see are between lights with dissimilar coverage or par/pur. But if you compare a blended, broad coverage led light (like the Philips coral care) to a comparable t5 unit then efficiency is approximately the same. MH are definitely power hogs, but most will agree that you take a hit in light quality going from MH to LED- up to the reefer to decide whether it is worth it.

If your referring to the BRS video comparing Coral care to T5, BRS was using a transformer to get the Coral care to work in the US (since it currently only operates on 220). BRS forgot to account for the efficiency loss of the transformer. The Coral care team mentioned this in a post in their sub-forum here at R2R. LED is more efficient.

 

[DBR_Reef]

If your referring to the BRS video comparing Coral care to T5, BRS was using a transformer to get the Coral care to work in the US (since it currently only operates on 220). BRS forgot to account for the efficiency loss of the transformer. The Coral care team mentioned this in a post in their sub-forum here at R2R. LED is more efficient.

Yes, I'm aware of that problem in the testing. But that only accounts for the difference between claimed and measured watts. So the efficiency is about the same. Leds have a higher theoretical efficiency, but I don't think that that has necessarily translated into real world savings- yet.