A Reefer's electric bill!

Jimbo662 · Jun 5, 2014

Is she a shopper? if so, equate her monthly shopping to your monthly hobby! :wink:

Mtnbikedan01 · Jun 5, 2014

I'm lucky my wife doesn't say a thing about the bill but I have to pay it all. Before I moved in with my wife her electric bill was $20. Insane !! Add a 200 gal reef and a guy who like to sleep in the cold and our last bill was $150.

dodger745 · Jun 5, 2014

Mtnbikedan01 said:
I'm lucky my wife doesn't say a thing about the bill but I have to pay it all. Before I moved in with my wife her electric bill was $20. Insane !! Add a 200 gal reef and a guy who like to sleep in the cold and our last bill was $150.

$150 sounds amazing to me! Lol

Fallling · Jun 5, 2014

I'm in Los Angeles... just got my DWP bill and it was $315 with about $180 contributing to the electric (it's billed every 2 months). I don't have central AC and rarely run the window unit in the bedroom unless it's really hot. Before the tank, it was running about $250 total. My tank is 125 gallons (with LED/T5 lighting) plus sump and 30 gallon refugium, but I also have a 5000 gallon koi pond with a monster pump to run the waterfall about 10 hours a day. All in all... I don't feel too bad. The way my bf and I split stuff up is that I pay a bit less in rent but then take care of all the utilities so that it evens (or was even before the tank... I pay a bit more now but it's my tank). Mostly, I try to avoid questions about how much I paid for a new piece of equipment or new shoes = )

Chefzilla · Jun 5, 2014

On average our water and power here in los angeles every 2 months averages $1300 :'( BUT my tank only consumes about $40 a month max

goodtimes · Jun 5, 2014

Our electric is on a budget at $82 month. We run a/c all summer also. The bill only went up $12 month by adding a 55 gallon and a 34 gallon. I chose equipment that uses less watts and designed the system accordingly. It's just mixed reefs with mostly softies and Lps though. I know several locals that claim there billed dropped $200-300 a month when they got rid of their reefs.

Chetrod · Jun 5, 2014

LOL My wife used to pay the power bill and I blamed kids and AC for the over 300 dollar a month bill. In Fl. AC usually runs all year. I had 3 175W MH and two VHO's 72" long running on the tank. A job change came a long we reassigned bills I ended up with the electric bill. I changed pumps and lights Bill is now 215.00 - 190.00 She's mad now.

dodger745 · Jun 5, 2014

It's interesting to see how much difference there is in energy cost throughout the country.

reefmaster12345 · Jun 5, 2014

I had a terrible situation. I had a 500 gallon system in my living room and it would sort of radiate. The chiller was inside causing the room temp to rise and that caused the water to get hotter which created a looping effect because then the chiller would run longer and the room would just get hotter. That dragged on to the water evaporating faster and the dehumidifying units kicking in as well as the AC. All together my bill came out to about $450 a month for that single floor as I have 3 panels and meters separating each floor in my house. That particular floor would reach 96 degrees in the summer with no AC on. Without that tank normal room temp would never go above 75.

dodger745 · Jun 5, 2014

reefmaster12345 said:
I had a terrible situation. I had a 500 gallon system in my living room and it would sort of radiate. The chiller was inside causing the room temp to rise and that caused the water to get hotter which created a looping effect because then the chiller would run longer and the room would just get hotter. That dragged on to the water evaporating faster and the dehumidifying units kicking in as well as the AC. All together my bill came out to about $450 a month for that single floor as I have 3 panels and meters separating each floor in my house. That particular floor would reach 96 degrees in the summer with no AC on. Without that tank normal room temp would never go above 75.

So more evaporation causes the AC to run more often due to higher humidity?

prsnlty · Jun 5, 2014

You are a perfect case for LEDs!

Jackie

1reefluvr2 · Jun 5, 2014

Since I allways payed all the bills my ex never had a clue. I had my 150 reefwith 120 gallon sump, 2 , 5gallon reef tanks koi pond chiller on tank . My electric bill was 1200 a month. Yes ac would be on during the summers so normal bill was 840-860 I live in paso robles California . I ran all mh, with four mp60's two retun pumps. 1 hp chiller. And two waterfalls for ponds

prsnlty · Jun 5, 2014

I am the wife and I pay the bills, glenn never even sees them. I tell him how much we saved but the upgrades and he is fine with that :) However, he doesn't always know how much those are costing lol

Jackie

racin2438 · Jun 5, 2014

With 3 tanks, it adds approx.....45.00-----55.00 to our bill.

But we run all LED and Kessill lights.

vwcrash · Jun 6, 2014

with 65 gallon and 30 gallon tanks running LEDs on both adds about 40- 50.00 to 300.00 electric bill here in so FL

AZDesertRat · Jun 6, 2014

Let me suggest something I did here.

Purchase a Kill A Watt meter. I have two now and they are invaluable when calculating power usage. You can get one for $20-$30, I suggest the newer EZ model since it has more features such as being able to plug your electrical rate in and seeing actual $$ pop up.
http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.html
http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q
http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388

Each time I have made a change in lighting, pumps, chiller, fans, heater, whatever I plug it in to the Kill A Watt before and after so I have actual number to look at so I can see if the cost of a new device is/was justified by the power savings. Things like converting MH/VHO lighting to LED was a no brainer and the largest power savings I made for the tanks but even things as simple as more efficient powerheads can add up. A 10-20 watt savings 24/7/365 adds up over the life of a pump or powerhead and you can actually compute the payback period.

Sacohen · Jun 6, 2014

She doesn't pay the bills. I do so she has no idea how much the electric bill is or if it has changed.

dodger745 · Jun 7, 2014

AZDesertRat said:
Let me suggest something I did here.

Purchase a Kill A Watt meter. I have two now and they are invaluable when calculating power usage. You can get one for $20-$30, I suggest the newer EZ model since it has more features such as being able to plug your electrical rate in and seeing actual $$ pop up.
http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.html
http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q
http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388

Each time I have made a change in lighting, pumps, chiller, fans, heater, whatever I plug it in to the Kill A Watt before and after so I have actual number to look at so I can see if the cost of a new device is/was justified by the power savings. Things like converting MH/VHO lighting to LED was a no brainer and the largest power savings I made for the tanks but even things as simple as more efficient powerheads can add up. A 10-20 watt savings 24/7/365 adds up over the life of a pump or powerhead and you can actually compute the payback period.

Interesting! We used to sell those things where I work (lowes) but I'm thinking we stopped carrying them

shred5 · Jun 7, 2014

She don't care as long as I am happy, right now I have 3 tanks... Mine really don't add much to my bill though... When I ran halides it was big.. Halides are my favorite light but I don't run them because of the costs...

I try and buy energy efficient equipment. I bet my main tank adds less than 20 onto my bill... It does not matter if energy efficient equipment cost more it pays ofr its self over time...

Plus she enjoys the tanks too somewhat.. Nothing like me but she enjoys them...