Cost of Running a tank?

[J_acon]

Does anyone knows how to work out the actual cost of keeping a tank running? or does anyone actually calculates the amount of Watts a filter, heater and ligths will use?

 

[smithrc]

if you need to worry about that - you cant afford the fish in it

(that means i dont know - but i guess its not a lot (i hope i'm not in for a shock!)

 

[Dubby]

You have got the answer in your question
Take the wattage of lights, heater, powerhead/filter. Multiply each with the number of hrs it is used every month. Add this together and you have the watt hours. Divide this by 1000 to kilo watt hr. 1KWH=1unit...... Is this what you are after?

 

[Stryker]

Average filter motor is 7watts soooo (deep breath)

Over 24 hours thats a 168watt hour. Over 365 days that is roughly 61 killawatts which in laymans english is 61 units. Here in the UK we are charged around 4p per unit? so thats around £2.50 per year for the filter.

Heater? hhhm who knows, that depends on the typical air temperature vs the maintained tank water temperature and heat loss through the glass.

I'd be amazed if the heater cost more than £2 per month.

Lights is the easy one. Assuming lights on for 12 hours per day here are the yearly units (killawatts used) for various popular wattages

15w 131kwh units
30w 262kwh units
100w 438kwh units

HTH

 

[J_acon]

Mmm so

Filter = 32 watts x 24
3 Lights = 120 watts x 12
Heater = 300 (Not sure, watts a day)

Total = 2508 Watts a day

2.5 Kilowatts a day * 365 = 912.5 * $0.12 AUD = $110

Did i got it right? I am trying to proof to a friend that Fish are the cheapest pets to keep.

 

[Nina7777]

in the us my electric bill went up 1.50 per month when i added my four tanks.

 

[finius]

If you're worried about the electrical cost there are some fish that actually generate an electrical field. It's may be possible that you could somehow harness their energy and run your tank off of that.

 

[wuvmybetta]

If you're worried about the electrical cost there are some fish that actually generate an electrical field. It's may be possible that you could somehow harness their energy and run your tank off of that.

They don't cost much at all J_acon. My husband tried to blame all of the tanks for our high electric bill, turns out we had a slab leak under our house and that's why it was so high

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Watts are written on the appliance.

The power company charges by kwh, so divide the watts by 1,000 and then do the hours, months, and years and multiply by how much they charge per kwh. At least that's how it should work... though I can't get it to.

By reading what was just said, the watts already incorporates hrs, right?

So if my equipment took 200W, it'd be 200Watts/1000KiloWatts *24hrs*30days*$0.10?

 

[J_acon]

Kewl, now i add another tank and there is no excuse against it. Muhahaha

 

[my_fallen_angel]

i think im going to make my mum read this thread!!

She blaims the high electricity bill on me all the time from the fish tanks!!

she got cranky cause i just bought a 2 gallon with a fitler and a heater, so nows shes going on about the bill getting even higher!!

 

[Dubby]

So if my equipment took 200W, it'd be 200Watts/1000KiloWatts *24hrs*30days*$0.10?

Thats correct, assuming that 200W is your average consumption for all your equipment put together. Obviously the lights are not on all the time and so is the heater...

Here in the UK you have the option of getting charged lower at off peak times (night). So if you are on such a tariff then the calculation needs to be refined.

 

[smithrc]

i was just about to mention 'economy 7' - cheap nighttime electricity aswell

 

[Tempestuousfury]

My physics teacher showed us how to do this to show our parents that the high power bills aren't our fault.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Since getting my fish tanks, my electricity bill hasn't changed from my most recent bill as compared to my bill this time last year (same time of year, no fish). The only bill I noticed that went up was my water bill which increased by about $40 over 4 months (mind you, over this period was when I was cycling, with fish and was doing 2 25% water changes on some days).