Electricity cost of lighting help

[Catbus]

I'm trying to convince my mother to invest in an LED unit or two because I'm not liking my Halide right now.. it's a one bulb fixture with pcs and most of the halide light gets blocked out by the center brace the over flow and the return pump lines leaving little light to actually go into my reef.. That being said I hear LED is the way to go apposed to getting another Halide unit with 2 bulbs + I hear LEDS are more electricity efficient.

I need your help figuring out this, it seems as if I'm doing it wrong lol

 

Question for you guys is: is the 150 wattage of my bulb the total amount of watts it takes to run the halide? (+additional 130 from PCS)

I've been trying to do the calculations for about an hour now and I am getting stumped right now the kWh I'm coming up with is .9 for the Halide and 1.105 for the PC (pc running 8.5 hours and the Halide running 6) and then proceeding to use the formula

 

 

"(Wattage × Hours Used Per Day) ÷ 1000 = Daily Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption

 

1 kilowatt (kW) = 1,000 Watts

 

Multiply this by the number of days you use the appliance during the year for the annual consumption. You can then calculate the annual cost to run an appliance by multiplying the kWh per year by your local utility's rate per kWh consumed" -http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/appliances/index.cfm/mytopic=10040

 

then I multiply .9*365 and get 328.5 kWh/year which works out to be like 30$ a year for the halide anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I feel as if I'm overlooking somthing

[iball1804]

30$ a year sounds about right.

[xxmurrxx]

Looks like your calculation is correct.

Also with the LED's there is no bulb replacements for hopefully 5 + years. (But factor in after they are dead a new unit / led's must be purchased)

[Trogdor447]

haha your trying to justify this based on an annual cost? Not a bad gig... you have the proper mathematics

 

1kwh is 1000 watts

 

for example.. we wont even get into efficiency and that sort of disaster here on ya.. A computer power supply 500 watts... we'll just assume that is a 'normal' load... and 100% efficient.

 

500watts = 500 watts per hour x 2 hours = 1 kwh

 

to run your computer for 10 hours a day will consume 5 kwh x your per kwhr rate

 

I'll use mine for example 5 kwh x .079 = 39.5c per day to run x 30 = 11.85 a month to run my computer.

 

This is assuming that it is a 100% load at 100% efficiency in truth your electronics don't run 100% efficient, in standard they will run about 80% efficient. To obtain 500watts of output would be 625 watts of consumption per hour. In truth my computer might be using 50% of its power on normal use - When the video card is up and its cranked to full - it will use probably 90% of its power

 

If you want to really truly know what your MH is costing you.. Purchase something of this nature

http://www.microdaq.com/p3-international/k...-watt/index.php

 

then you can do your great calculations with out having to worry about efficiency etc.

[SRGaudio]

+1 looks correct to me... That is the same reason all this CFL energy efficient crap is BS at the household level. an average 60W light bulb costs like $.03 per day to run, but the govt is now going to force you to do better than that

 

 

If you are trying to show a cost savings, factor in the cost of bulb replacement of ur MH and PC every 9 months

[saltwatercoral]

MH:

higher electric bill (small i know but still higher)

Purchase a Chiller

Chiller electricity

Bulb replacmants

 

Led:

Cheaper electric bills

no chiller needed

No electric from the chiller needed

No bulb replacments

 

simple and to the point!

 

LED WINS!!! (Go with Aqua Illumination)

[Jstn]

MH:

higher electric bill (small i know but still higher)

Purchase a Chiller

Chiller electricity

Bulb replacmants

 

Led:

Cheaper electric bills

no chiller needed

No electric from the chiller needed

No bulb replacments

 

simple and to the point!

 

LED WINS!!! (Go with Aqua Illumination)

If you lack central air you may still need a chiller with hot summer days, so i wouldn't really count that argument.

[Red Sea Reefer]

By my calcilations you are useing about 2 kw a day. Thats 700 kw a year. My electric rate top out at 0.30 cent a kWh so that would be $220 for me, What are your electric rates? Also another cost factor is bulb replacement. LED's last for 10 years. Savings from bulb replacement alone pays for LED's regardless of electric rates.

[Catbus]

All very helpful responses.. was just looking for reasurrance and correction if needed to present haha

so I have it all out on excel ready to go

I feel kind of proud of it

again I apreciate the responses I got, thankyou!

 

I'll let you know how it works out

[thewire]

LED is fine..but those damn CFL. It's bull#### about no replacement on CFL..how many CFL i have it replaced already..

 

Beside electric cost, you have to factor in all other factors:

 

1) cost of water for evaporation, halide more evaporation

2) cost of RODI filters to make more water

3) less heat in the summer.

 

However, as of now, I think LED application is good for smaller or mid size tank. As for big ass tank you may need some heavy initial investment.

[pismo_reefer]

When I had the coral farm going, w/ the 3x 400w MH's/ventilation/pumps/heaters/etc.....

The light bill was RIDICULOUS high....

[NoFo83]

$62.23 a year with your lighting schedule and at 10 cents a kWh. You could possibly save around 40$ a year with LEDs. Do you have a chiller?

[AZDesertRat]

My electric bill dropped $30 to $50 a month when I switched from 2x250w MH and 2x140w VHO to 2x AI Sol Blue LEDs. Both my Kill A Watt meter and utility companies Smart Meter confirmed this.

The hours per day have remained the same but the house is cooler, the AC unit runs less, I got rid of the chiller and fans, the temperature of the tank is the same 78-80 , the evaporation and water loss have gone down and everything is happy.