Omg Electric Bill!

[Jdubz]

We got our second bill today and i diddnt think tanks used so much power!!

The bill was just shy of £300! in 3 months

I'm going to turn one tank off and give it to my GF son so he can have a bigger one at his dads (he has a 15l biorb)

Taking one 40w light off the 4 foot tank and cutting the hours its on for (they are on pretty much all day,from when i get up to when i go to bed) now it will be running 2x 40w...

lets see if it gets cheeper...

Bloody fish are expensive!!

And heres me wanting to sort out the filter!

 

[karigupi]

We got our second bill today and i diddnt think tanks used so much power!!

The bill was just shy of £300! in 3 months

I'm going to turn one tank off and give it to my GF son so he can have a bigger one at his dads (he has a 15l biorb)

Taking one 40w light off the 4 foot tank and cutting the hours its on for (they are on pretty much all day,from when i get up to when i go to bed) now it will be running 2x 40w...

lets see if it gets cheeper...

Bloody fish are expensive!!

And heres me wanting to sort out the filter!

Ouch!! Not sure I want to look at mine now.

 

[Marclau]

wow, how long do you leave the lighting on for if left on most of the day??

Do you have any algae problems??
I have my daylight lights on from 3pm - 9pm a (6 hrs) and then blue moonlights on for 90 minutes..........

Before that, i had the daylights on for around 8 hrs and started getting an algae problem.......

 

[holidayinn]

Use the link below to guage an idea of how much the tank's usage of electricity actually costs. I just worked out my 6 footer costs about £400 a year!!!

[URL="http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...rical_costs.php"]http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...rical_costs.php[/URL]

Edit - Actually closer to £200, had everything on for 24 hrs!!!

Anyone know how long a heater typically stays on for?

 

[Night61]

i have been switching all my tank lights over to energy efficient bulbs by bright effects i think that's the company name. the bulbs only use like 7 watts of power for a 40 watt bulb plus they are supposed to last 7 years. the bulbs are nice and bright too.

this ten gallon had one normal bulb in it and one energy effcient bulb. the side on the right is the energy efficient and look how much brighter it looks.

anyways not sure if that helps but every little bit right.

 

[Curiosity101]

You could get a timer for the lights... that'd cut things down a bit

As for working out how much stuff costs, maybe invest in one of those counter plugs. You set the price per kWh and then let it run for about a week. Look at the costs, times by 52. Then you have your total.

 

[minxfishy]

Yep its gets expensive, one reason Im down from 7 tanks to 3, the bills were massive!!

 

[pippoodle]

WOW thats a hell of a lot of money

i've got 8 tanks running lights on 12 hours a day and double filters in most tanks and my quarterly electric was £184.27
I pay £63 per month direct debit

switch supplier hun definately something wrong there

i have computer running about 14 hours a day tv on all day aswell and light on in kids bedroom , bathroom and hall all night

my tanks are rio 240 , 4ft 210 , 120 , hex 75 , hex 55 , rekord 60 , rena 30 and a 18x10x10


I HAVE only got heaters in 2 of the tanks

 

[saz326]

Water bill Quick check inspired by "Watchdog" on the bbc. Check that if you're bill is in metric - that you are on a metric meter. Some people have been overcharged because ethey have been on a metric meter but been charged in imperial.

 

[pippoodle]

i got a water meter too lol and that bill is £97 a quarter with all the water changes aswell as showers , washing maching 3 times a day

 

[WhiteDevil]

What do you englanders/europeans pay per KW?

Im in chicago, illinois,usa, the sales tax capital of the world and I pay around 100 bucks every month for electrical service.

100 for water every 2 months

 

[mike os]

only £300 for 3 months... want to swap?

just electricity is about 125 a month for the fish......

 

[Jdubz]

from 11th feb to 12th May We used 1825 units...

not sure if that is normal

11th feb-29th march
943 units @ 12.59p each

30th March-12th may
882 @ 11.52p each

 

[Athena]

That's an awful lot of money!

There's no real need to have tank lights on all day. If you have live plants in them, then yes, they do need roughly about 6- 8 hours a day. But other than that you could get away with having the lights off all day and just put them on for a few hours in the evening.

Those energy saving bulbs seem really good - I shall have to enquire about those next time I'm in my LFS. Thanks!

Athena

 

[pippoodle]

12.12 p and 10.56p and i used 1302 units total

suppose that could make some difference in total