vlangel Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Ok, so this morning I had an air conditioning company come out to quote installing AC in our home. That would not be much of a surprise to anyone except that we have lived in this house since 1986 without AC! However last October I got seahorses and with their need for cooler water and my 10+ year old chiller, we decided it was time. I just wondered how many other hobbyist made a major home investment change to accommodate their fish? Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I am having solar panels installed to help with the cost of electricity. A few months ago my electric bill was close to $400. I have two guest houses that help contribute to this bill but when I mentioned the bill they blamed the cost on my fish tanks, lol. My tanks have been set up, except the new one long before they were there and I've never seen the bill that high. So solar seemed like a way to get the cost down and make a lil money on top. Link to comment
GHill762 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I am having solar panels installed to help with the cost of electricity. A few months ago my electric bill was close to $400. I have two guest houses that help contribute to this bill but when I mentioned the bill they blamed the cost on my fish tanks, lol. My tanks have been set up, except the new one long before they were there and I've never seen the bill that high. So solar seemed like a way to get the cost down and make a lil money on top. easy way to tell if your tank is to blame, use a kil-a-watt meter on your fish tank and see what it's actually costing you. Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I know it was the guest houses, before my bill averaged around $90-$100. They were running electric heaters instead of using the propane furnace to save from having to fill there tanks. Where would one get a kill a watt meter? Is this like a multi meter? I have one of these. Link to comment
seuadr Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Google Kill a Watt there are dozens of them. it plugs in line between your outlet and equipment and just counts the kilowatts used by the plug. with a 40 gallon, i'd be surprised if you are using more than 1200 watts. Link to comment
GHill762 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I know it was the guest houses, before my bill averaged around $90-$100. They were running electric heaters instead of using the propane furnace to save from having to fill there tanks. Where would one get a kill a watt meter? Is this like a multi meter? I have one of these. kill-a-watt is a meter that goes between the outlet and the devices you want to plug in, it allows you to measure the amount of energy you use, you can then multiply that by your electric rate and see what it costs. it would probably take a few of them to get all your equipment.. Link to comment
SchnauzerFace Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Running a fish tank uses a lot less electricity than I thought until I started calculating the electricity actually being used and multiplied it by my kWh rate. Chillers and halides will have a noticeable impact, but most equipment is sirprisingly efficient. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Hate when people blame the tank just a quick escape Link to comment
vlangel Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 Running a fish tank uses a lot less electricity than I thought until I started calculating the electricity actually being used and multiplied it by my kWh rate. Chillers and halides will have a noticeable impact, but most equipment is sirprisingly efficient. Well then, at least my electric bill should go down when we get the new AC installed. It's probably cheaper cooling the whole house with a high efficiency AC than using my ancient chiller alone on the seahorse tank! Ha ha! Link to comment
GavinW Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Tanks are pretty damn inexpensive to run(electricity wise!). I biebe marine depot has a calculator. Not as accurate as a meter, but gives you an idea. People always blame them but they are wrong! Link to comment
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