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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.Originally Posted by mathias
Just Lurking around!!!
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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.
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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.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.
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
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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
Gary
125 SPS, 75 gal. LPS/softie reef, 9 gal. Nano
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
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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
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