Electric bill is killing me

[BeanAnimal]

The internal pump efficiency is somewhat misleading. In this case, he needs the extra heat anyway. So downsizing the pump wattage only shifts the energy usage to the heater. In other words, running a larger return pump has no downside in this case, as a Watt is a Watt and the submerged pump imparts all of its energy into the water

[viggen]

Any way to install all of the filtration stuff under the tank? You could use a much smaller pump & also keep everything inside the house where I am sure the temp stays more constant???

I use a velocity T4 on my 210g which as many claim does put heat into the tank & gives me 800-1000 or so GPH at 6ft head. It's around 140w & is silent

& like someone else mentioned depending on what you keep in there you might not need any of the other lighting. Good reflectors for the MH's is very important & if it's not a reef tank that's all you need.

When we added our hot tub my bill went up $20-40 a month

MY last bill here in Ohio was just shy of $500 however I do not have gas & it's been really really cold. I pay under $.10 a kwh... forget the exact number.....

[Acrotrdco]

What's the dimension of your tanks? What kind of corals do you keep in that tank? Any photos?

[moondoggy4]

I just put a Kill-A-Watt on my FAU and the fan alone was 400 watts. Kill-A-Watt is a must get the new one it has more options for figuring out your usage. PS the heater is a 55,000 BTU gas fired.

[Anemonebuff]

Spas are energy hogs as well.

I switched from 3x175 watt MH+2x40 watt actinics to 125 watts of LED. The summer will be a time to notice it more due to less A/C usage in the basement where the tank is. My heater(300 watt) runs a little more in winter now, but that was expected. I already show that I am ahead by a few hundred $ on my usage, just since mid November. I will know my real savings in August when my balanced budget is readjusted. I pay $256 a month on balanced budget. I have also replaced many of my bulbs around the house with 8 watt LED bulbs. IME they are brighter than the 60 watt incandesents and 18 watt CFLs they replaced. I also plan on replacing some A/C units around the house this summer.

[Garage1217]

Originally Posted by BeanAnimal

The internal pump efficiency is somewhat misleading. In this case, he needs the extra heat anyway. So downsizing the pump wattage only shifts the energy usage to the heater. In other words, running a larger return pump has no downside in this case, as a Watt is a Watt and the submerged pump imparts all of its energy into the water

He is running an external iwaki from what I gather and with his rating of around 1500gph I assume it is an MD-70RLT which is not submersible so not much heat is being directed in the tank. And also, A watt is most definitely not a watt when it comes to heat transfer. Massive variables to account for when it comes to heat transfer into the water of a tank. I can put a 250W heater inside an insulated container, within the sump and a 100w heater will be a lot more efficient for example. Going to a pump that is more efficient and submerged will help keep heat in the tank better than an external.

On the note of that pump, if it is the one he is running, it is rated at 2.8A @ 115V which equals around 322W. At that draw and the OP's stated .29 cents a kwh, he is paying $818.09 a year or almost $70 a month to run the iwaki. If he went to an internal, it would help put heat into the tank and he could run my personal fav efficient return pump the wb5000 which I have tested to draw 58W / rated at 60W and has 1300gph of flow. For example, at 60w this pump would only cost him $152.42 to run per year if he does not mind sacrificing a few GPH.

Also the more he cuts, the more it will help to get him to the next lower tier so his overall bill will lower.

On another note, some ideas... Not sure what you keep your tank temp at, but I have never had a problem with corals at 75F. You could use your heaters on a ranco set for 75F. Set the spread for 1 degree which means the heaters will kick off at 76F. If you get the balance right and the heaters only have to maintain the temp around 75F you will save quite a bit of cash on heating. Worked wonders for me. I did an efficiency writeup on this awhile back, I had an issue which caused me to be heating my tank to 82-83F. In short, the difference between keeping the tank at 82 and 75 was SIGNIFICANT money wise. After getting it back down over time to 75, the savings were impressive. Do not have time to dig up the data after all of my blabbing but the post is located here...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1809131

[reefsurfing]

Originally Posted by cakemanPA

I switched to LED lighting, SRO skimmer (efficient pump), and water blaster return pump. I no longer need a chiller and I run a heater sporadically.

BINGO +1

my bill dropped 50-100 dollars

I went with the Tunze return pump instead, 42watts, love it.

[Crusinjimbo]

Running the 3 175w MH for ten hours a day consumes a bit over 5KWH. I don't think the problem is the tank.

[Crusinjimbo]

Running the 3 175w MH for ten hours a day consumes a bit over 5KWH. I don't think the problem is the tank.

[Kahuna Tuna]

Been playing with numbers and it looks like for a minimum investment in equiptment and insulation I can save some serious cash and repay that investment quickly. The tank is an energy hog as is but there is definately room for improvement. The spa is another matter and I'm afraid we are going to have to look at the possibility of shutting it down and draining it next winter. Thanks again everone for your help.

[BeanAnimal]

Yeah.. reality kinda sucks sometimes. Look at it this way. If the SPA costs $500 a month to run and she uses it 10 times each month, that is $50 per relaxing dip.... She could visit a local SPA and relax in a spa and have her mud mask for that!

[RGibson]

Garage 1217 were did you buy the wb5000 pump?

[Garage1217]

Lots of places / forums sponsors carry them. For example, aquacave.