Electricity Bill

piranha_trader

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Im just real curious how much your guys's electricity bills have gone up because of your hobby. I have just a Nano but I think my bill went up $30 bucks a month! Im thinking about another 40 gallon tank but not sure I can handle another $50 bucks tp the e-bill.

I may just set it up at work and leach of the company e-bill.

Ahhhh...recessions are such good times arent they?
 
Its pretty easy to work out your electric your tank uses..

On your electric bill, find out how much it is per 1000w (1kw) Approx - mine is approx 12p

So every 1000 watts you use, its 12p (going by my rate)



For example, lets use a 5watt powerhead filter,

Every hour this uses 5 watts,

so if you leave your powrerheaed on 200 hours that would = 12p

overall, if you left the powerhead for 1 week, thats 288 hours, x by 5 watts = 1440... thats 1440 watts per week...

so a 5 watt power head would cost 17p to run per week.




Another is your light on your tank...

For example a 25 watt light..

Every hour it uses 25 watts

So if you leave your light on for 12 hours per day - thats 300 watts per day being used, then x that by 7 = 2100 watts per week

So your light running 12 hours per day for one week it will use approx 24p (again going by my electric rate)



Do the same calculations for your other equipment running the tank and you can easily work out the cost..

Note: when calculating the heater, it is not always on so its not easy to work out.
 
Just to correct above, you are charged in kWh or kilo Watt hours. If your heater is 300W then in an hour it uses 300Whours.

A Watt is a measure of work rate, 1 watt is 1 Joule per second. A 5w filter left on for an hour uses 5Wh.
 
Just to correct above, you are charged in kWh or kilo Watt hours. If your heater is 300W then in an hour it uses 300Whours.

A Watt is a measure of work rate, 1 watt is 1 Joule per second. A 5w filter left on for an hour uses 5Wh.

yeah thats correct, i just tried to keep it simple as possible so it was easy to understand :)
 
wat is the unit of power? :p good old joke there from my physics teacher i figured out that my tank with a 150w heater, 100w lights, 20w worth of powerheads cost approximately £120 a year to run so its not that big of an addition. Also the worse offender for hiking up your electric bill will be your heaters.
 
wat is the unit of power? :p good old joke there from my physics teacher i figured out that my tank with a 150w heater, 100w lights, 20w worth of powerheads cost approximately £120 a year to run so its not that big of an addition. Also the worse offender for hiking up your electric bill will be your heaters.


Aint calculated mine fully yet but will post it when i have lol
 
Here is mine...

this is all my tanks added together

TOTAL: £77...... per year
 
After a quick estimate on most things, apparently I am spending over £700 a year on my tanks. Probably due to having over 500W of light on one tank...
 
Interesting thread :) especially as they have just put 12% on electricity here in the UK.
My electricity bill is usually about £300 a quater and I bet half of that is my tanks :eek:
I have a lrage 100g in the room that has 150watt of light 300w heater one large external filter and 2 smaller internal ones plus large double airpump.
A 25 gallon marine in the dinning room with 96w light 150 w heater 2 powerheads and an internal filter.
A 3ft breeding tank divided into 2, 40w light 150 w heater l large filter
and a 2.5ft grow on tank that again has the same set up as the above. Plus airpumps for both tanks.
I'm supprised my husband has not asked for a divorce yet!! I can just see the court hearing... reson for divorce .. MTS ( Multiple Tank Syndrome) with crazy electricity bills as the main symptom :lol: :p :blush: :crazy:
 
I shouldn't have read this thread. I try very, very hard not to think about the ongoing costs of my tanks :)
 
$30 a month is a lot for a nano tank.
I used to run a fishroom with 40 tanks and it only added about $40 a month to the bill.

lights and heaters use the most power, lights in particular.
If you insulate the back, sides & base of the tank with polystyrene foam you can reduce heat loss. A coverglass also makes a big difference. Keeping the tank cooler, say around 24C will save power.
 
this sort of thread shouldn't be allowed...

have 670W of lighting and 600W of heating already bought for my new tank :grr:
 

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