dollars and cents....

[mathias]

Just wondering Im looking to push 4 MH on my 125 gal tank... and Im really worried if I should just go with 250watts or 400watts I would really like to just say screw it lets do 400watts but at the same time I don't want to do this if its really going to kick my butt in my power bill.... Is there really going to be that big of a difference in my power bill from running 250watts compared to 400...

[RobertG]

You betta think hard, if it is any type of concern. Although the 250W Electronic ballast by Coralvue have cut my bill drastically. Like 370$ to 270$ Alot was changed so I cant really say for sure but **** that helps me out. I changed the pump to but it pulled more power so Im feeling good about that.

[mathias]

wow so your bill went down 100 bucks.... from 400watt to 250watt?

[adaminaustin]

400W will rase your power bill..http://www.maast.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=PostWrap&file=index&he ight=1400&page=calc
-You can adjust the kilowatts/hour on the calculator to your specific region for a more accurate price. I came up with 12 hours per day @ 250W $22.69. 12 hours per day @400W is $36.61. That is not a huge difference every month.
- The big difference I saw was the heat. It will take much more to chill, (not sure if you are running a chiller or just have it in you house) and that will increase the electric bill as well.
-The other thing is you will get much more evaporation.

[captexas]

I have been debating the same issue on setting up my 240g. I currently run two 400watters over my 75g a good 10 hours a day. I have to run a chiller on the tank and it still runs even this time of year while the lights are on. I'm not sure about the lights, but that chiller made my electricity bill go up for sure. Another thing that adds up on electrical use is your pumps. Remember that your main pump runs 24 hours a day, 365days a year so it adds up. Then if you have secondary pumps on skimmers, refugiums, calcium reactors, and/or powerheads, those all add up too. Your lights are only a part of the puzzle.

The nice thing about 250watt halides is that there are more electronic ballasts available to choose from. There are only a few 400watt e-ballasts on the market currently and they have not been used long term as some of the 250s. I was thinking about doing a mix of 400 and 250watt halides over my tank, but I may just go with all 250w electronic ballast halides instead.

[AlexKilpatrick]

A couple of years ago I calculated the cost recovery time for electronic ballasts, and for 3 250''s, it was something like 4 years. In other words, you would recover the cost of the electronic ballast in four years based on savings in your electric bill. In areas like NY and California, that time would be much cheaper, but power is pretty cheap here in Texas. Realistically, the overriding power consumption on a reef tank is the lights. Everything else is minimal. Even with 3 400 watt lights, though, the monthly cost is less than a typical coral. If you can afford a reef tank, it just doesn't make sense to be worried about electrical costs.

However, if you are really curious, you can get something like this:

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/killawatt-review.html

This will tell you your exact power consumption over time, and even figure out the cost. You can plug your whole reef into it, or just pices in order to determine the real cost. I used one of these when I was futzing around with over-driving electronic NO ballasts, and I needed to determine whether I was actually pushing the lights more or not.

[brucedittmar]

if you go to reef central.com they have a calculators section on there front page that will tell you how much you use

[GaryP]

We have a new member that is really good about that sort of thing. I had a long discussion with him about it last night about my upgrade I am planning. His online name is Alton and he is an estimator for one of the big commercial electic companies here in SA. He loaned me his Light meter which I am going to be having fun with trying to figure out what to do with the new system.

Gary

[mathias]

one of my other questions would be 3MH lights or 4MH lights? its a 72 inch tank 125 gal

[GaryP]

I'm running 2 250 MH on my 125 and I get great growth. I think 4 would be really pushing it. You might run into some problems due to light shock on new corals.

Gary

[RobertG]

wow so your bill went down 100 bucks.... from 400watt to 250watt?

Sorry, Not from 400W to 250W. I was running the magnetic ballast, 250W Geissmann, since then it has dropped about 100 Bucks. I went to the coralvue 250W I got from Greg @ 360Reef Farms. Ask Greg he can tell you the difference in power consumption. I thought it was a no brainer. It has seemed to of paid off. I am running 4 0f them on my 240 8x2x2. Has a nice spread , using the coralvue pendant also. Heve been very happy. Some nice Growth also.

[matt]

Realistically, the overriding power consumption on a reef tank is the lights. Everything else is minimal.

If only this were true. Chiller, maybe 5 amps? Big pumps for circulation and skimmer, 5 amps easy when you add 'em up. I never ran a chiller, but I can tell you my AC cost really went up when I had my 110, and that's a pretty small tank, relatively speaking. I had to keep the room at 77 just to keep the tank at 84 in the summer.

[AlexKilpatrick]

Realistically, the overriding power consumption on a reef tank is the lights. Everything else is minimal.

If only this were true. Chiller, maybe 5 amps? Big pumps for circulation and skimmer, 5 amps easy when you add 'em up. I never ran a chiller, but I can tell you my AC cost really went up when I had my 110, and that's a pretty small tank, relatively speaking. I had to keep the room at 77 just to keep the tank at 84 in the summer.

I stand corrected. I had never looked at chillers until yesterday, but *wow* do those things suck down the juice. The 1/4 HP I was looking at draws 9 amps! I haven't checked the power rating on my regular fridge, but it seems like a chiller. I still think the pumps are not hugely signifcant -- the biggest RIO pump, which does 1500 gph at 4' is only 115 watts.

Now, here is the interesting question that I don't think anyone has answered. Which is cheaper -- keeping your house cool enough to keep your aquarium cool? Or running a chiller? My intuition is that it would be cheaper to run the chiller because it is a smaller area, but the chillers seem pretty inefficient.

I might try to do some experiments this summer and see what happens.

Alex

[GaryP]

My 100 cfm cooling fans only pull about 2 amps. A lot cheaper than a chiller. Of course I'm not running 400 watt bulbs either. With the humidity as low as it is now I'm having more of a problem with the tank getting to cool.

Gary

[CD]

We just started running 400s over our 75G about 8 or 9 days ago...heh...I guess we'll find out soon enough! Personally, I think the chillers are worth their weight in gold. I'm not one for keeping the AC cranked in the summer, as I get cold easily (a true Southern gal) and keep the windows open during the day...except in maybe July and August. With the outside ambient temps being so funky this time of year though, we have both a heater and the chiller set so the temp in the display stays around 78.5 to 79 degrees consistantly. As a side note, so far I haven't noticed the chiller coming on any more frequently since we hung the 400s, but then again, it's winter! ;)

Wendy

[ratboy]

Ive accepted the power consumption of certain things like lights but select my equipment partly based on power consumption to keep electric costs down. My dolphin 3000 pump pulls just over an amp and electronic ballasts as mentioned above do save energy over magnetic ballasts. Other things Im doing...

- placing MH ballasts remotely to cut down on noise and temp in tank room
- run compact flourescent bulbs (screw in kind) in all other light fixtures in the house. You can easily replace a 100+ W light bulb with a CF that only draws 7W. They arent run as often as your tank lights but it adds up.
- Currently I keep my house the temp it needds to be to maintain tank temp. I dont run a chiller but if its in the same room as the tank and your room is warm I would think you are fighting a losing battle. The chiller takes the heat from the tank and puts it into the room where it in turn heats the tank back up somewhat. If I need to run a chiller on my tank ever I would plumb it outside.
--Erik