smidey Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Heres a positive look at a popular topic from the saltwater area, does anyone know how little money it costs for power to run a 150-200L freshwater tropical tank? the marine guys are talking around $600 a month! I only noticed around $20 a month for mine, any one agree or disagree? Smidey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I would agree with that easily. The reason that they have more is because they have much bigger tanks, much bigger/more lighting, much more equipment and much more other stuff..... All a 150L freshwater tank realy NEEDS is a heater and a filter, and if its planted then lights... Nothing to the scale of the saltys IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I realise what they have to run is enormous, what I was curiuos about was how little power we actually use. I now have two filters, a canister 1000l/hr & the 900L/hr factory hood model, twin 3 foot lights & twin 150w heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 some of their lights are multiple 250W etc each so that would up the cost a bit id imagine. your average filter only uses around 20W, and your heater isnt on all the time so its not using too much. most of the freshwater stuff is very low wattage and unless youve got multiple set ups you wont often notice an increase unless you have the tank in a really cold place and the heater is on all the time. its pretty easy to work out how much your tank would be costing you, just find out how much your charged per kilowatt (i think thats it) and then work out how much power your using and how long each piece is on for. can be a bit tricky for heaters though. im running about 900L worth of tropical tanks at the mo, its quite a lot of equipment but only seems to cost me around 30 bucks in winter for the lot. i would estimate the total watts of my equip to be around the 1500 mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 unless youve got multiple set ups you wont often notice an increase unless you have the tank in a really cold place and the heater is on all the time. Are you talking about me?? lol ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 HAHA! no but your top fish room could be a good example :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 im running about 900L worth of tropical tanks at the mo, its quite a lot of equipment but only seems to cost me around 30 bucks in winter for the lot. i would estimate the total watts of my equip to be around the 1500 mark yeah some of the marine tanks the light along is around 1200Watt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I dont think the 600 dollars is just for the tank power bill. My bill has gone up about 50$ a month since setting up a marine tank. What i have noticed is when i use to get the bill for electricty every second month it was about the same as what i am now paying monthly. Good old price increases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_elmo Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 how do you work it out? are the watts of the item count how many watts they use an hour? so a 300watt heater uses 300watts per hour? then a kilowatt is a 100watts? i'm paying 22c KWh and this is what i worked out my tanks are running 3 X 300watt heaters on 24 hours 232watt light on 10 hours a day 48watt light on 14 hours a day 40watt light on 14 hours a day 20watt Eheim 2028 filter on 24 hours 48watt Fluval Fx5 filter on 24 hours 15watt Fluval 304 filter on 24 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 then a kilowatt is a 100watts? 1 Kw = 1000watts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Based on freshwater only, at a temperature of 22˚C, total consumption for a small tank (38L) is about 150kWh a year. A medium tank (114L) 150 - 200 kWh per year and a large aquarium (208L) 200 - 400kWh per year. This is using basic equipment only and merely an average to give you an idea. Exact usage requires an ampmeter, which measures actual energy used and not the energy based on the max output, as some equipment does not run full time (eg heater). watts/1000 x hours x kWh cost x 30 = 30 days cost of aquarium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowfax Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 & notice an extra $30 a month, has anyone put polystyrene on the back of their tanks to try & keep some heat in? wondering if its worth the effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_elmo Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 with caryl formula my filters and lights is costing me about $36.59 a month excluding the heaters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 The guys with 600+ power bills are usually running remote sumps under the house or in basements plus this is their total power bill so who knows what else they are running. I helped break down a marine tank owned by a local doctor, his power bill was around $2000 a month!!!! But he had 3 teenage kids a lit outdoor tennis court and large heated outdoor swimming pool. My marine tank is around 800l and my monthly power bill is around $220, this includes water heating but not heating the house. I have around 800w of light and another 300-400w of other gear running. It sound like a lot but when you consider a fan heater uses 2000w or so, and lots of people run them all evening its not so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/electrical_costs.php This has a calculator that works it out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Polystyrene can make a big difference. One of my tanks is enclosed on 3 sides by solid wood and the other is exposed all sides except the back. The enclosed one keeps a much more even heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Jackson Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Hi Evil_Elmo, On the figures you posted below and assuming the heaters only run half the time, give or take. you're using around 16.5 kWhrs or units per day, at 22cents per unit, thats $3.63 per day. Much cheaper than motor racing or proffessional beer drinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_elmo Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 thanks Graeme i was thinking my tank costs around about the $100 a month mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Once new a discus nut who did his whole fish house in poly and ran off a thermostatically controlled generator, he claimed it saved him mega dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU1 Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Are those thermofilters a good way to save power? My tank is about 250-300L whaich i'm in the process of setting up, want a new filter anyway (or off trademe ) And was thinking that say 50watts or so (If thats their power consumption) is better on all the time than a 300W heater and a 15-20W filter. Whats your view on this? Anyone had experience with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU1 Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Just red that the heating capacity element is 180w How are anyones experience with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Jackson Posted September 9, 2006 Report Share Posted September 9, 2006 Haven't used the thermoheater but regardless of how you heat any volume of water to a set tempurature, its going to use the same amount of energy. IMO, an element emersed in the tank itself is about as efficient as you can get. Good insulation around the tank to prevent losses is probably the best cost saving measure, unless you can come up with a solar system that doesn't cost the earth to build. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted September 14, 2006 Report Share Posted September 14, 2006 One idea I was thinking of is that since we will be going solar sometime soon for hot water was to make a heat exchanger for hot tap water and aquarium water which was thermostatically operated. With the tank only using about $40-50 a month (worst case in winter) in power for heating the payback time would make that largly unviable since in winter the solar hotwater cant keep up and you use the electric boost element anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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