Ever Wonder What It Costs To Run A Reef Tank?

ppurcell · 03/12/2007, 07:45 PM

If you are like me, you are under constant pressure from the Chief Financial Officer because the electric bill is sky high.

Because of this pressure and to satisfy my own curiosity I have been wondering what I spend on a monthly basis to run my reef tank. Until I purchased and used the Kill A Watt I never really knew what each device that I rely on costs me to run per day, per month or year.

I pulled the cost per kilowatt hour from my electric bill (actually looked it up on the web) and built a simple spreadsheet which I exported to HTML to record the values mesured by the Kill-A-Watt.

I attached a link to the dynamic version of the spreadsheet below. If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet or would like to borrow the Kill-A-Watt meter, please PM me with your email address.

Dynamic Spreadsheet - Reef Tank Electricity Costs (only works with Internet Explorer w/SP1)

jimmyPx · 03/12/2007, 08:32 PM

Very nice, just don't let my wife ever see this

Konadog · 03/12/2007, 09:22 PM

A Kill a watt meeter is a great tool! Helped my prove that the tank didn't use as much as thought, but it did cost me a new refrigerator

ppurcell, do you have the excel version of your spread sheet?

T Man · 03/12/2007, 09:32 PM

I prefer to live in denial, it's just too hard to face! Nice job on the spreadsheet though! TinMan

ppurcell · 03/13/2007, 06:25 AM

Thanks, guys. I put the spreadsheet together because my wife was convinced that the tank was responsible for at least $100 of our $200+ electric bill. I was quite happy to report that the number is less than $50. Of course, now I have to track down what is using the remainder... should be fun.

Konadog, I do have a spreadsheet that I can email you. PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy.

kjord97 · 03/13/2007, 10:46 AM

That is awsome, I will pm you for a copy. I know that my 48 gal does not use to much electricity. when we loose power, i just plug the tank into the 400 watt power inverter built into my toyota tacoma. I run everthing but the lights.

ppurcell · 03/13/2007, 06:51 PM

Here is a link to an on-line version of the file which you can use to update with your own settings or download a version that nobody else is modifying!

Reef Electric Cost Calculator

Looks like there is a problem with my ISP serving out .jpg files. Here is another copy of the file from Photobucket:

clevername · 03/14/2007, 06:17 AM

ppurcell its good to see a local reefer. I live in aurora area, where do you go for fish?

Reef55 · 03/14/2007, 07:16 AM

I wanted to know mine as well... so I have a program logging all my devices from my Aquacontroller into a MySQL database, and this page shows my actual usage of each device, and extrapolates the cost per month and for a year.

http://www.mspreef.com/reef/cost.asp

ppurcell · 03/14/2007, 10:56 AM

That is cool. Is the database page something you wrote?

Unfortunately, I have a ReefKeeper 2 that doesn't report that information and I have a lot of devices that are not plugged into it anyway.

Reef55 · 03/14/2007, 12:46 PM

I wrote the page that I linked to. For devices that are on 24 hours a day, the AQ does not log them in the database, the page just performs the calculation. For devices that are on standard timers (so not controlled by the AQ), I have a timer in aquanotes running for the same times just for logging purposes.

The reefkeeper has a serial port, might be possible for you to connect to it with a hyperterminal and have it return current status information.

ppurcell · 03/14/2007, 01:19 PM

I'll have to check into that. Supposedly the new version of the firmware supports data logging. But I haven't seen anything that indicates if you take advantage of that function if you give up the temperature sensor in trade since it uses the same port.

03/12/2007, 07:45 PM	#1
ppurcell Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 2,911	Ever Wonder What It Costs To Run A Reef Tank? If you are like me, you are under constant pressure from the Chief Financial Officer because the electric bill is sky high. Because of this pressure and to satisfy my own curiosity I have been wondering what I spend on a monthly basis to run my reef tank. Until I purchased and used the Kill A Watt I never really knew what each device that I rely on costs me to run per day, per month or year. I pulled the cost per kilowatt hour from my electric bill (actually looked it up on the web) and built a simple spreadsheet which I exported to HTML to record the values mesured by the Kill-A-Watt. I attached a link to the dynamic version of the spreadsheet below. If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet or would like to borrow the Kill-A-Watt meter, please PM me with your email address. Dynamic Spreadsheet - Reef Tank Electricity Costs (only works with Internet Explorer w/SP1)

03/12/2007, 09:22 PM	#3
Konadog Master of the 16 hour day Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: East Long Beach, So Cal Posts: 13,151 Blog Entries: 4	A Kill a watt meeter is a great tool! Helped my prove that the tank didn't use as much as thought, but it did cost me a new refrigerator ppurcell, do you have the excel version of your spread sheet? __________________ Save the Reefs................................................................Save the world! -Ken Current Tank Info: Currently tankless, and loving it!

03/12/2007, 09:32 PM	#4
T Man ~PPPPPPP~ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Emerald City Posts: 1,045	I prefer to live in denial, it's just too hard to face! Nice job on the spreadsheet though! TinMan __________________ He that can have patience can have what he will. ~ Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: click the "TzFuture" folder in my profile

03/13/2007, 10:46 AM	#6
kjord97 Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Chaptico, Md Posts: 248	That is awsome, I will pm you for a copy. I know that my 48 gal does not use to much electricity. when we loose power, i just plug the tank into the 400 watt power inverter built into my toyota tacoma. I run everthing but the lights. __________________ 180 Gal Deep Reef 40 gal sump, Octopus 200 Skimmer, 3 x 250 MH XM 10K 150 Gal 31" Tall Reef 35 Gal sump, Octopus 150 Skimmer, 3 x 250 MH Radium 20K, 58 Gal Reef Tank in the wall next to fire place 28 Gal JBJ 150 HQI 24 Gal JBJ Nano

03/14/2007, 06:17 AM	#8
clevername Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Manchester, MO Posts: 1,125	ppurcell its good to see a local reefer. I live in aurora area, where do you go for fish? __________________ In process: 210gal, VARIOS-8 return, Kessil Lights, 80 gal sump, mp60's, and REGAL 200EXT 8" RECIRCULATING skimmer

03/12/2007, 08:32 PM	#2
jimmyPx Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Gainesville, Florida Posts: 95	Very nice, just don't let my wife ever see this

03/13/2007, 06:25 AM	#5
ppurcell Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 2,911	Thanks, guys. I put the spreadsheet together because my wife was convinced that the tank was responsible for at least $100 of our $200+ electric bill. I was quite happy to report that the number is less than $50. Of course, now I have to track down what is using the remainder... should be fun. Konadog, I do have a spreadsheet that I can email you. PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy.

03/13/2007, 06:51 PM	#7
ppurcell Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 2,911	Here is a link to an on-line version of the file which you can use to update with your own settings or download a version that nobody else is modifying! Reef Electric Cost Calculator Looks like there is a problem with my ISP serving out .jpg files. Here is another copy of the file from Photobucket:

03/14/2007, 07:16 AM	#9
Reef55 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: MA Posts: 316	I wanted to know mine as well... so I have a program logging all my devices from my Aquacontroller into a MySQL database, and this page shows my actual usage of each device, and extrapolates the cost per month and for a year. http://www.mspreef.com/reef/cost.asp

03/14/2007, 10:56 AM	#10
ppurcell Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 2,911	That is cool. Is the database page something you wrote? Unfortunately, I have a ReefKeeper 2 that doesn't report that information and I have a lot of devices that are not plugged into it anyway.

03/14/2007, 12:46 PM	#11
Reef55 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: MA Posts: 316	I wrote the page that I linked to. For devices that are on 24 hours a day, the AQ does not log them in the database, the page just performs the calculation. For devices that are on standard timers (so not controlled by the AQ), I have a timer in aquanotes running for the same times just for logging purposes. The reefkeeper has a serial port, might be possible for you to connect to it with a hyperterminal and have it return current status information.

03/14/2007, 01:19 PM	#12
ppurcell Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 2,911	I'll have to check into that. Supposedly the new version of the firmware supports data logging. But I haven't seen anything that indicates if you take advantage of that function if you give up the temperature sensor in trade since it uses the same port.