Most energy/power suck equipment?

[alfredt]

Currently have a 29 gallon lagoon reef.   Wife just got laid off and want to reduce our electricity cost and just break down my tank. Spending about $100/mo on electricity.  I'm not sure If I'm ready to get out of the hobby so was thinking of going smaller, like 5-10 gallons.  I have LED Hydra 26HD as my lighting. I'm guessing that might be the most energy used or maybe the 200w heater?

I definitely will be going with zoas, rock anemone, BTA anemone and 1 clown.  I'm not sure how much I'll be saving if I go smaller?  Need some advice.....

[mcarroll]

Pumps run 24/7, so look at them first.

 

Use a power calculator like the one from EPA to calculate how much all your stuff uses:

https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/appliances-and-electronics/estimating-appliance-and-home

 

Holy moly their defaut screen for the calc is set up "aquairum equipment"-- I've never been to the site before and didn't type anything!! 😆:

 

A KillAWatt meter is a great idea too.

(I've seen these at Harbor Freight.  Not sure if any other local places carry it.)

 

TWO EXAMPLES...

 

Your HydraHD is 95 watts....just assuming full power for 12 hours, here's what you get:

 

For comparison, this would be the power usage for a 38 watt return pump:

 

Being on 24/7 makes a huge difference.

 

A heater's power usage has to do with relative humidity and temperature in the tank's room, so can't be predicted without a measurement from something like a KillAWatt.

 

And your lights really need a KillAWatt to rate too since they probably vary power usage all day long as sunrise/sunset cycles progress.

 

 

[mcarroll]

On 10/10/2019 at 4:08 PM, alfredt said:

Currently have a 29 gallon lagoon reef.

If you want to keep it and run it more economically, you need more right-sized equipment.  Oversized gear can almost be counted on to use more power to do operate at the same level as a right-sized piece of gear would operate.

 

For example instead of a 95 watt light, you can EASILY run that tank with a Current USA Orbit IC (Model 4105: 1 strip, 27 watts) or IC Pro (Model 4225: 2 strips, 54 watts).

 

Instead of running a 200 watt heater, you should be able to use a 100 watt or 150 watt.

 

Holler back with what other gear you have if you want more right-size suggestions, but I'm sure you get the idea.

[Ratvan]

4 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Pumps run 24/7, so look at them first.

 

Use a power calculator like the one from EPA to calculate how much all your stuff uses:

https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/appliances-and-electronics/estimating-appliance-and-home

 

Holy moly their defaut screen for the calc is set up "aquairum equipment"-- I've never been to the site before and didn't type anything!! 😆:

 

A KillAWatt meter is a great idea too.

(I've seen these at Harbor Freight.  Not sure if any other local places carry it.)

 

TWO EXAMPLES...

 

Your HydraHD is 95 watts....just assuming full power for 12 hours, here's what you get:

 

For comparison, this would be the power usage for a 38 watt return pump:

 

Being on 24/7 makes a huge difference.

 

A heater's power usage has to do with relative humidity and temperature in the tank's room, so can't be predicted without a measurement from something like a KillAWatt.

 

And your lights really need a KillAWatt to rate too since they probably vary power usage all day long as sunrise/sunset cycles progress.

 

 

That's a really useful little calculator 

[jservedio]

Edit: Oops - sorry for the necro post, Amelia resurrected it and I didn't bother to look at OPs date....

 

I'll mirror what @mcarroll is saying - your return pump is likely the biggest use of electricity, mine accounts for about 1/3 of total power usage. That said, the electricity used to run my 20g here in NC ranges from $6-8/mo depending on season due to how long the heater runs. My 2g pico by contrast cost $1.50-2.50/mo in electricity while it was running.

 

I would be willing to bet your 30g uses less electricity than my 20g since I likely have the same water volume as you with a 10g sump and the fact I'm using 10 year old equipment. There isn't a lot of room for savings in electricity when it comes to a nano.

 

If you are to the point where a few dollars a month in electricity is the difference between staying in the hobby or not, you should probably break down your tank now and put it on hold for a while. The hobby isn't going anywhere - putting food on your table and keeping a roof over your head are far more important. The consumables for a tank, the initial investment, and livestock are going to wildly outstrip any negligible difference in power usage between a 30g and 10g tank.

 

  

On 10/23/2019 at 2:11 AM, mcarroll said:

If you want to keep it and run it more economically, you need more right-sized equipment.  Oversized gear can almost be counted on to use more power to do operate at the same level as a right-sized piece of gear would operate.

 

For example instead of a 95 watt light, you can EASILY run that tank with a Current USA Orbit IC (Model 4105: 1 strip, 27 watts) or IC Pro (Model 4225: 2 strips, 54 watts).

 

Instead of running a 200 watt heater, you should be able to use a 100 watt or 150 watt.

 

Holler back with what other gear you have if you want more right-size suggestions, but I'm sure you get the idea.

The difference between 50w and 100w for a light is $16/year at 8 hours - it'd take 25 years for the light to pay for itself, not to mention you can just run the other light at 50w. A 100w heater is just going to run twice as long as a 200w heater, it'll just turn on and off less. There really isn't savings here - at least not more than a few cents a year.

[Tired]

Try a weaker return filter, rearrange some things to allow for better flow. Look at other things- I doubt your tank is your main power drain.

 

10 gallons is about minimum for a clown, but I'm not sure it'll cost you much less in electricity. Hell, keep the bigger tank, and maybe you can get some of your corals to multiply to sell.