How do you calculate power consumption ?

flamenco-t · 12/09/2007, 05:52 PM

I just bought a kill-a-watt. How do you add up the power consumption using KAW ? Do you take measurement by pressing KW/H over 24 hours span and use that figure and multiply by 24 hours in a day and 30 days in a month ?

Here's my problem...

I have 4 tanks running currently

240 Gallon freshwater
Mag 12 - 110 watts
Koralia 4 - 12 Watts
MJ1200 x 2 - 40 watts
Brothers - 300 Watts heater
2 Air pump - 10 watts total
Natural sunlight

75 Gallon Reef
Ocean Runner - 38 watts
KOralia 3 - 10 watts
MJ1200 - 20 watts
Sedra 2500 Skimmer - 35 watts
Fuge Light - 6 watts
4 x 54 watts T5 running 6 hours a day

20 Gallon Nano
Quiet One 1200 - 25 watts
MJ1200 for Aqua C remora - 20 Watts
Tunze 6025 - 6 watts
Koralia Nano - 3.5 watts
Coralife 96 watts 50/50 PC - 96 watts running 6 hours a day
Fuge Light - 8 Watts

10 Gallon QT tank
Aquaclear 110 - 14 watts
MJ1200 for CPR Back Pak - 20 Watts

Mitsubishi DLP tv running 5-6 hours per day at 250 watts and 6 watts on stand by mode

I have ran AC and Heater a total of 4 days this month since the weather have been really really nice outside, keeping my house temp at 70-74 degrees. According the my energy bill, the average daily high temperature for the billing period is 67 degrees

De-humidifier running half a day at the most ( I set it to where relative humidity at constant 50%) 80 watts...

This is all on a 1 bedroom apartment and my bills have been ranging from $ 150- $ 185 since the beginning of fall season.

Of course, I do laundry once a week and normal usage, but I never have a $ 185 electricity bill in the last 12 years I have been on my own. At any given time, I always have 1- 2 tanks from 40-75 gallon. But the 240 freshwater shouldn't use that much electricity...

Something fishy to you ?

stan

PSam · 12/09/2007, 06:35 PM

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php

pvtschultz · 12/10/2007, 09:01 AM

A kilowatt (kW) is 1000 Watts. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a kilowatt for one hour (notice how the kW and h are on the same "line"). If it were kW/h it would be kilowatts per hour which isn't a SI unit of measure for anything useful.

For you main tank:

Mag 12 110W for 24 hours = 110W x 24hr = 2640 Watt-hours. Divide by 1000 (there are 1000 Watts in a kilowatt) and you get 2.64 kWh of electrical use per day. There are 365/12 days in a month so that equals 80.3 kWh of electrical use for the month. At WI's consumer friendly $0.10/kWh that comes to $8.03 just to run your Mag 12.

For fluorescent lighting, 4 x 54W = 216W of electrical use. For Halide lighting, there is about a 25% loss in a magnetic ballast. So a 175W MH uses about 220W of electricity at the outlet.

For my current setup:

Mag 12 for 24 hours
Mag 5 for 24 hours
Heater for ~4 hous
2-175W MH for 10 hours
Skimmer pump for 24 hours

The electric bill comes to $33 per month at $0.10/kWh (it uses 330 kWh per month on average).

Your main tank uses 123.8 kWh per month (not including the heater), your 75 uses 117.4 kWh per month, your 20 uses 62.3 kWh per month, and your QT uses 24.5 kWh per month. That comes to 328 kWh per month in aquarium usage. Take that times your electric rate to get the contribution of your aquatic friends. Your TV is using 250W x 6hr x 30 days x 1kW/1000W = 45 kWh per month. Now you are up to 373 kWh there. Look at your last bill and check what your total electric usage was in kWh and what the going rate is for each of those kWh and compare that to what I just gave you. Let us know if we are coming close or not.

12/09/2007, 05:52 PM	#1
flamenco-t Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Dallas-Ft Worth, TX Posts: 131	How do you calculate power consumption ? I just bought a kill-a-watt. How do you add up the power consumption using KAW ? Do you take measurement by pressing KW/H over 24 hours span and use that figure and multiply by 24 hours in a day and 30 days in a month ? Here's my problem... I have 4 tanks running currently 240 Gallon freshwater Mag 12 - 110 watts Koralia 4 - 12 Watts MJ1200 x 2 - 40 watts Brothers - 300 Watts heater 2 Air pump - 10 watts total Natural sunlight 75 Gallon Reef Ocean Runner - 38 watts KOralia 3 - 10 watts MJ1200 - 20 watts Sedra 2500 Skimmer - 35 watts Fuge Light - 6 watts 4 x 54 watts T5 running 6 hours a day 20 Gallon Nano Quiet One 1200 - 25 watts MJ1200 for Aqua C remora - 20 Watts Tunze 6025 - 6 watts Koralia Nano - 3.5 watts Coralife 96 watts 50/50 PC - 96 watts running 6 hours a day Fuge Light - 8 Watts 10 Gallon QT tank Aquaclear 110 - 14 watts MJ1200 for CPR Back Pak - 20 Watts Mitsubishi DLP tv running 5-6 hours per day at 250 watts and 6 watts on stand by mode I have ran AC and Heater a total of 4 days this month since the weather have been really really nice outside, keeping my house temp at 70-74 degrees. According the my energy bill, the average daily high temperature for the billing period is 67 degrees De-humidifier running half a day at the most ( I set it to where relative humidity at constant 50%) 80 watts... This is all on a 1 bedroom apartment and my bills have been ranging from $ 150- $ 185 since the beginning of fall season. Of course, I do laundry once a week and normal usage, but I never have a $ 185 electricity bill in the last 12 years I have been on my own. At any given time, I always have 1- 2 tanks from 40-75 gallon. But the 240 freshwater shouldn't use that much electricity... Something fishy to you ? stan Last edited by flamenco-t; 12/09/2007 at 06:00 PM.

12/09/2007, 06:35 PM	#2
PSam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 3,036	http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php __________________ ..no vemos las cosas como son las vemos como somos nosotros...

12/10/2007, 09:01 AM	#3
pvtschultz Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: New Berlin , WI Posts: 1,247	A kilowatt (kW) is 1000 Watts. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a kilowatt for one hour (notice how the kW and h are on the same "line"). If it were kW/h it would be kilowatts per hour which isn't a SI unit of measure for anything useful. For you main tank: Mag 12 110W for 24 hours = 110W x 24hr = 2640 Watt-hours. Divide by 1000 (there are 1000 Watts in a kilowatt) and you get 2.64 kWh of electrical use per day. There are 365/12 days in a month so that equals 80.3 kWh of electrical use for the month. At WI's consumer friendly $0.10/kWh that comes to $8.03 just to run your Mag 12. For fluorescent lighting, 4 x 54W = 216W of electrical use. For Halide lighting, there is about a 25% loss in a magnetic ballast. So a 175W MH uses about 220W of electricity at the outlet. For my current setup: Mag 12 for 24 hours Mag 5 for 24 hours Heater for ~4 hous 2-175W MH for 10 hours Skimmer pump for 24 hours The electric bill comes to $33 per month at $0.10/kWh (it uses 330 kWh per month on average). Your main tank uses 123.8 kWh per month (not including the heater), your 75 uses 117.4 kWh per month, your 20 uses 62.3 kWh per month, and your QT uses 24.5 kWh per month. That comes to 328 kWh per month in aquarium usage. Take that times your electric rate to get the contribution of your aquatic friends. Your TV is using 250W x 6hr x 30 days x 1kW/1000W = 45 kWh per month. Now you are up to 373 kWh there. Look at your last bill and check what your total electric usage was in kWh and what the going rate is for each of those kWh and compare that to what I just gave you. Let us know if we are coming close or not.