Power usage and waste

[alton]

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.

[Big_Pun]

yea this is the reason I stop using mag's. I run all sicce syncra's, there was a 3 degree drop in temp when I swapped out my mag7 for it. my reactors and skimmer are all syncra's also. it's amazing how much heat is given off with old high wattage equipment.

[rrasco]

And keep in mind we have some of the, if not the, lowest energy costs in the country. I used a big pump to mix my salt mix a few weeks ago due to re-purposing my smaller mixing powerhead; the water must have been 95* the next day.

I wonder if older pumps draw more power for the same reason that car heaters do, don't remember if its the core or blower that as resistance builds up due to age it requires a higher draw of energy to keep it operational.