So many times we blame our lighting for high electrical cost. Although it can be a factor, it is not always the only thing wasting energy. Yes if you have a 150 gallon tank and run 3 x 400 watt metal halides on old magnetic ballast with a 160 watt VHO you could be looking at $580 a year electric bill just for lighting. What started this post was I have an Urchin Pro Skimmer that I just recently changed the pump on (mag3) and accidently used a Mag. 7 instead of a Mag. 5 that I had laying around. Although the skimmer worked very well I noticed my temp in my tank went up. So I decided to change pumps and while doing so I noticed on the side of the pump 65 watts / 1.5 amps. So I placed the pump in a bucket of water and took an amp reading where my meter came up with 1.34 amps which at 120 volts = 160 watts or in dollars 24 hrs a day x 365 days a year @ 10 cents a KWH = $140 a year versus if it drew 65 watts like advertised $56.94. As pumps get older they become less efficient and draw more power. Another item on our tank is magnetic ballast. As they get older they breakdown and get hotter wasting more money and electricity. Oh and back to lighting if we swap out the 400ws for 250ws in the 20k range with no actinic lighting = $301 or a savings of $279 per year over the 400 waters.
Oh yea CPS has said they will raise our rates next year to pay for more solar and wind power.