How many KW do you use?

mpderksen · 10/19/2016, 07:30 PM

I got a fun toy, called a Kill-A-Watt. $30. Plug it in, then plug in any device, and it calculates energy usage it even averages over a period of days/weeks. This is great for a tank that cycles lights, heaters, chillers etc.
So I ran my whole system through it for the last few days. Turns out I'm running about 175 KW/month. However, due to being a pretty high user in general, I'm in what PG&E calls Rate 3. So that's $0.399/KW. So my tank is costing me ~$68/month in electricity alone.
I have an appointment with a solar company that "promises" to lease a system for $0.15/KW, which would drop that to ~$26/month. That's more palatable.
I'm curious if anyone else knows their usage, to see if I have especially inefficient equipment. It's a 75gal, and I run leds for both the DT and the fuge, so no big MH. While $26 is "okay", if changing something to lower the usage to, say, 100KW/month, even at $0.15/KW, might be worth considering.

Squampton · 10/19/2016, 08:00 PM

I don't know what the tanks use, but none are large, and all use LED lights.

For last month our total electric use was 443 kW.h @ $0.08290 /kW.h $36.72, so I can't imagine the tanks use much of that.

ReefsandGeeks · 10/20/2016, 06:14 AM

My calculated KW.h per month for the tank is 120/month. I pay $0.14 per kilowatt hour, so that's about $17/month for electricity for me. That's on a 65 gallon tank with LED lights. I based that off the rated wattage for all of my equipment times how many hours a day it runs for the lights and heater. The heater eats up a good bit more in the wither and less in the summer obviously so it does vary. With a Kill-a-watt meter, it would be interesting to see how much your heater runs in winter vs summer.

10/19/2016, 07:30 PM	#1
mpderksen Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Manteca, CA Posts: 1,853	How many KW do you use? I got a fun toy, called a Kill-A-Watt. $30. Plug it in, then plug in any device, and it calculates energy usage it even averages over a period of days/weeks. This is great for a tank that cycles lights, heaters, chillers etc. So I ran my whole system through it for the last few days. Turns out I'm running about 175 KW/month. However, due to being a pretty high user in general, I'm in what PG&E calls Rate 3. So that's $0.399/KW. So my tank is costing me ~$68/month in electricity alone. I have an appointment with a solar company that "promises" to lease a system for $0.15/KW, which would drop that to ~$26/month. That's more palatable. I'm curious if anyone else knows their usage, to see if I have especially inefficient equipment. It's a 75gal, and I run leds for both the DT and the fuge, so no big MH. While $26 is "okay", if changing something to lower the usage to, say, 100KW/month, even at $0.15/KW, might be worth considering.

10/19/2016, 08:00 PM	#2
Squampton Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 28	I don't know what the tanks use, but none are large, and all use LED lights. For last month our total electric use was 443 kW.h @ $0.08290 /kW.h $36.72, so I can't imagine the tanks use much of that.

10/20/2016, 06:14 AM	#3
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	My calculated KW.h per month for the tank is 120/month. I pay $0.14 per kilowatt hour, so that's about $17/month for electricity for me. That's on a 65 gallon tank with LED lights. I based that off the rated wattage for all of my equipment times how many hours a day it runs for the lights and heater. The heater eats up a good bit more in the wither and less in the summer obviously so it does vary. With a Kill-a-watt meter, it would be interesting to see how much your heater runs in winter vs summer.