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Electricity Bill


Hans-Moleman

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from a tankless 43$ a month, to 3 tanks and $190+ a month.

1 x 70 W, 2 x 250's, 1 x 175, and 1 x 400, Not including actinic supp. and pumps, as I think those take up a good 30-40% of that bill.

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In terms of Metal Halide and Power compact- Would metal halide be more expensive to run than Power compact given the same amout of Watts. Maybe the intensity could make a difference?

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Hey hans. what kind of setup are you interested in. LIttle power compacts, a heater, and a few pumps shouldnt increase your electricity bill that much. Cut back on other things...like your refrigerator or lights. THen you can use this electricity for your tank. You can always go to the store everyday for some ice for your "icebox". Just kidding. If you have small electric items then your bill shouldnt increase that much...I think. The big tanks with the metal halides and chillers often require small nuclear power plants to run them.

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I am running a 12g nano with 56w of light on about 10hrs a day. I also want to get another tank around 40g with 130w of light with a skimmer, pump, and etc....Is it alot more exp. to run a 40g? I am not getting metal halide.

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Originally posted by Hans-Moleman

I am running a 12g nano with 56w of light on about 10hrs a day.  I also want to get another tank around 40g with 130w of light with a skimmer, pump, and etc....Is it alot more exp. to run a 40g? I am not getting metal halide.

The bigger the tank the easier to take care of it.

Im having problems with my 10 gallon and im also setting up a 40(I can't wait :) )

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I would think that it may increase your electricity bill a bit since starting a larger tank requires larger pumps, filters, lights, etc. that all consume more electricity. Although your lights are on for 10 hours, everything else is on for 24 hours. You could always go onto reefcentral.com and ask them to see how much they pay for their tanks. I think the forty is much different from the nano, everything is just that much bigger and powerful. Good luck to you though. Cant wait until I buy my damn house so that I can start my dream 100 gallon. I finally talked my wife into letting me have one. Its going to rock!

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There is a nice chart on the Reef Central web site that will give pretty much what your tanks is costs you in terms of how much your power costs compared to how many watts you are usiing. My little saltwater and freshwater cost me about $2.50 per month.....

 

Steve

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Depends on what your utility is charging per Kilowatt Hour. Assuming you have SCE and you're still paying for the utility bailout (former Govenor Davis' slush fund?) then it's probably going to be high. but even at ten cents per KWH a 400 watt Metal Halide, at 12 hours per day, will cost you about 48 cents per day or 14.40 per month.

 

The formula for_400W is - Cost per KWH X .4 X Hours per Day = Cost per day. For a 150 watt ( x .15 x) it's only an extra 5.40 per month. If you can afford a Latte at Starbucks once a month then you can probably cover it.

 

P.S. Don't put a 400W Metal Halide over a nano cube- A 150W is more than adequate :)

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Back when I had 3 roommates it was cool as they thought the A/C was causing the power spikes from 5 tanks...

 

Now I'm at 3 tanks and the power bill sucks but it's a necessary evil... :)

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