OUCH!!!!!

[Texreefer]

my first full month of running my 90 gal and my electricity bill went up $176.00 :o :blink :wacko ... this i without installing my halides yet :( ..well folks, this may be too much for the wallet to handle, i can't afford 200 a month..

[JeffCo]

Yea, I know how you feel, mine went up to over $500 for last month.

[Instar]

I suggest you redo the way you have things plugged in if that's the case. A couple of pumps, pc's and all equipment for a 90 shouldn't do anywhere near that much damage to your electric bill. Also recognize that the power company had a large rate increase and billed for some new equipment or some unusual charge. Everyone's bill around here went up about 50%. I have many systems running and it doesn't break down anywhere near that much per system. It is very easy to exceed the wire size in surge protectors because the cheap ones are 16 gauge wires so these should be restrung in your replugging if you decide to do that.

[RNall]

It is very easy to exceed the wire size in surge protectors because the cheap ones are 16 gauge wires so these should be restrung in your replugging if you decide to do that.

I'm not an electrician, so forgive me. Do you mean that the load of everything plugged into a cheapo surge protector may exceed the rating of the wire used in said cheapo surge protector? If so, wouldn't this cause a surge protector/wire failure? If you draw too many amps trough an under rated tiny wire, it melts. To me it sounds like you could increase your insurance bill due to the probability of fire but how does this increase your electric bill? Same kWh used, etc, right? Like I said, I'm obviously not an electrician....

Thanks!

[alton]

This time of year CPS adds or increases there sur-charges to your electric bill. As much as $80. If you live in schertz you should have GVEC and there bills use to run two months behind? I don't know if they still have there billing set up that way? Check your kilowatts used and compare it to the previous months to see how much more wattage your aquarium is actually using, then multiply by .08 cents a KW.

[caferacermike]

Let me say that living in Austin in not summer months with a 125g fresh, a 20g planted, a 10g. a 75g salt a 20g nano salt and a huge workshop behind the house running in the evenings with 2 400w lowbay MH's. I pay about $130 total a month. In the summer my bills jump to $220 but that's with the AC runnning 24hrs in a 70 year old house set at 78F.

I'd bet it is due in part to the AC for the house and when I visisted you had a small window unit keeping your awesome reef room cool, I'd bet that was a source of $$ flow. Those things suck some juice.

I noticed the site here has a great electricity calculator and I did up my tank and it looked to be about $36 of my bill for my 75g.

My specs,
350Wmh 230w PC (30W 24hrs) with PC 12 hours and MH 6 hours.
Eheim 1262 return pump
Euroreef skimmer
Tunze surging powerhead and controller
2x seio 620 streams
2217 eheim canister


Now I know you have a bit more stuff in your reef room but from what I saw I can't imagine it was $175 a months worth. Thinking about it some more I know I run almost 1,300w of lighting everyday for 12 hours and the highest I've ever seen my bill was $240 and that included trash, water and sewer.

Use the calculator and let us know the results.

[Instar]

If you draw too many amps trough an under rated tiny wire, it melts.

Well that's good in theory at least and yes you can start fires especially with a couple salt bridges. The wire gets hot and it pushes the surge strip past the rating close to failing if you over do it. It could melt and cause all kinds of problems if its way over done. You can get away with some overload but, when the wire gets hot, the resistance goes up. That makes pump motors run hotter and that takes more power drain on your meter to turn it. At some point you really don't get much protection from a light weight strip. Basically the higher the temperature of the wire, the more it costs in dollars. Some people will find with high summer temperatures they blow breakers more often than at other times of the year that are not used for the A/C but are used for their fish tanks especially when they are in closets with outside access that gets hot. I use plenty of surge protection power strips but for equipment that has very little power consumption, if I can help it. Larger equipment should have more direct feeds. If you have a lot of equipment consider getting an electrician to run a couple extra circuits to dedicate just for your tank. Household wiring is often laced all over the place in different rooms and is not very efficient for carrying the load of a large marine system. My systems cost between 8.75 and 12.50 each as near as I can figure out the electric cost. The range is probably 5 to 20 dollars per depending on sizes and without halides. I use the central air to keep things cool not a small window unit. If it was the wrong unit for the application, that could cost a lot.

[Texreefer]

Wow , thanks for all the replies guys,, but let me clarify.. Gary, yes agree with everything you said but i had not given you all the info...( my fault).. this system is set up in my garage in a room especially built to hold all the tank equipment,, it has a 1500BTU airconditioner that is dedicated to that room,, my canopy that houses all the lights vents to the outside of the room via a dryer vent.. but it is the air conditioner that is causing the sharp spike.... would a good chiller and only using the airconditioner during the light cycle be a better idea.. or do they draw just as much if they have to run constantly

[brewercm]

I'd get rid of the A/C altogether and go with a chiller if you can pick one up at a decent price. Much easier for the chiller to bring the actuall water temp down directly than trying to cool it from ambient air decreasing the temp.

[Richard]

Cooling the air to try and cool the water is the MOST expensive way to cool an aquarium. Get a chiller and cool the water directly. Also get a 1/3hp and not a 1/4hp. The 1/3hp chillers are not much more expensive and although they draw more amps they will run less to keep the tank cooled down.

You will need to keep the air temp below 90 degrees for the chiller to work efficiently so you may still need to run the ac a bit depending on how hot that room gets.

FWIW, my electric bill went up about half that for my 215. That's with 2000 watts of lighting plus pumps etc.

[safeuerwehr]

wow....just used the calculator and it estimated my 4 power head pumps and system pump cost more to run than my lights 2 250w MH, and 2 vho

[Texreefer]

any suggestions on what the best and most efficient chillers are?

[alton]

Power calculator needs to be adjusted a little:
250 watts MH if it is a brand new mag ballast you need to divide by 87% to get the true power factor(example) 250/.87=287 watts and as it gets older the power factor will go down to as much as .7. (357 watts) I would like to see the powerhead that draws 150 watts, a seio 2600 only draws 55 watts. Also my CPS bill after sur and fuel charges is around 8 cents in the winter and 10 to 12 cents a KWH in the summer. I guess people in the county pay more?

[caferacermike]

wow....just used the calculator and it estimated my 4 power head pumps and system pump cost more to run than my lights 2 250w MH, and 2 vho

Hmmm. depends upon what you mean. Kinda like when people post water paramters but don't list what test and or units they measured.

Your pumps could run higher than your lighting. Some Mag drives use serious wattage and some of the external pumps use even more. Some large power heads use 55w and a good size return pump could be up around 125w.

That could easily be 350w. Now did you estimate running those pumps 24 hrs a day for a month? I know you didn't do your lighting for 24 hrs a day. so let me think you run your MH for 6 hrs and your VHOs for 12 hours. I'm going to give you 100w for your VHO's. In a month your lighting would demand 126,000 watts and your pumps would run you 252,000, almost exactly double.