Freaking Sick Electric Bill

[Meaty24]

I am running a 180 gallon tank with the following light: 3 metal halides at 400w each, 2 T5 itinics. Also I have a chiller which throws hot air out into a relatively small apartment. Also, a power head running the chiller and skimmer. Running a calcium reactor, phosban reactor, and have two small powerheads in tank blowing water.

My electric bill one month last summer was $666 (yes, the sign of the devil). I live alone (at least I donit live with my mother) and don't use that much electricity. I can't afford that freaking huge electric bill every month. Any advice besides getting rid of the tank, which I am not doing?

PS: Con Edison is a gangster.

 

[malkz]

Keep the tank and use candles for the rest of the place

 

[GQ22]

i run only two halides using lumenarc reflectors 250 watts on my 48inch 125. This is plenty of light. I've read somewhere that 400 watts is overkill. Just need clear water, and good reflectors

 

[xc800x]

con ed is a gangster but nyse+g are no angels.. You can cut back on mh time the sun in tropics is only above corals for say 3 hours not the 8-10 we have them on for and that will cut alot of cost from bulbs running and heat troubles.Corals should be fine just watch them

 

[prattreef]

If you use good reflectors you can easily get by with 250W halides on a 180. They also produce at least a little less heat and might spare you a tad on the chiller costs too.

 

[straightjiggy10]

get LED's!

 

[Meaty24]

Will I use less electricity if I put 250W bulbs in the light instead of 400W. I know, it even feels stupid to ask.....

 

[finksmart]

Ditch the chiller. Use a portable AC.

 

[Dace]

Will I use less electricity if I put 250W bulbs in the light instead of 400W. I know, it even feels stupid to ask.....

you would have to change the ballast to a 250v ballast

 

[prattreef]

yes 250w lamps use less electricity than 400W lamps, BUT you can't just change the bulbs, you need to use 250W ballasts too.

 

[Domboski]

You can use this to help you figure out your tank usage of electricity: http://www.manhattanreefs.com/calculators

You can also check here for non-aquarium recommendations for cutting down the electricity: http://www.coned.com/thepowerofgreen/tips/052.asp . You are paying more than me and I have several tanks!

 

[Wes]

lower wattage aquarium lighting, energy efficient a/c, "green" flourescent bulbs in all your lamps/fixtures, new windows...

The list goes on and on and they will all pay for themselves pretty quickly with a monthly bill like that.

 

[NYreefNoob]

can also go with t5's a 8-12 bulb t5 set up. little less heat alot less electric, add a fan to blow across top of tank, will help keep chiller off more but will use more top off water. get a larger more efficient pump to feed a few more thing's instead of multiple pumps

 

[Thatguy96]

LED's I would have to say
Reduce light time
Ditch the canopy if you can during really hot summer days (Egg Crate the tank etc.)
Fans under the tank, most heat comes from the sump, so get fans down there that blow the heat out of the bottom stand


And remember that the high bills are going to be high no matter what in the summer because of the Rate increase, so limit all electricity usage.

You can call coned for some additional helpful hints, believe it or not they will actually try to help you

Good luck!

 

[Dace]

not to sound bad, I would check to see if your neighbor is connected to your electricity, what your running is about half of what i run and i have a 600gal system and run my 5x mh 400watt 7 hours a day and 4x 6' vho's 10 hours a day a 1hp chiller and 6x 250watt ebojagers when needed and don't come close to 600.00 dollars a month. it's more like 450.00 not including a 3000' square foot home

 

[Domboski]

not to sound bad, I would check to see if your neighbor is connected to your electricity, what your running is about half of what i run and i have a 600gal system and run my 5x mh 400watt 7 hours a day and 4x 6' vho's 10 hours a day a 1hp chiller and 6x 250watt ebojagers when needed and don't come close to 600.00 dollars a month. it's more like 450.00 not including a 3000' square foot home

+1

 

[DCG1286]

I am running a 180 gallon tank with the following light: 3 metal halides at 400w each, 2 T5 itinics. Also I have a chiller which throws hot air out into a relatively small apartment. Also, a power head running the chiller and skimmer. Running a calcium reactor, phosban reactor, and have two small powerheads in tank blowing water.

My electric bill one month last summer was $666 (yes, the sign of the devil). I live alone (at least I donit live with my mother) and don't use that much electricity. I can't afford that freaking huge electric bill every month. Any advice besides getting rid of the tank, which I am not doing?

PS: Con Edison is a gangster.

$666 ... damn that seems a bit much ... but in either case ... as suggested ... ditch the 400W ... 250W MH fixture will be just fine over your tank.

The most I ever paid ... and this is when I had a roommate ... was $225 ... I was running my A/C 24/7 (my old apt. was hot as hell even in the winter lol) ... 2 tanks ... MH and all ... I thought that was high ... but damn ... your's takes the cake.

Although you get alot of evap with the fans ... it's so much cheaper to run them. Give it a try this summer!

Con Edison sucks ... but what can you do?

 

[Tangs Rule]

not to sound bad, I would check to see if your neighbor is connected to your electricity, what your running is about half of what i run and i have a 600gal system and run my 5x mh 400watt 7 hours a day and 4x 6' vho's 10 hours a day a 1hp chiller and 6x 250watt ebojagers when needed and don't come close to 600.00 dollars a month. it's more like 450.00 not including a 3000' square foot home

I agree. I own a home too and with the house and tank and AC I have never paid more than $475.

 

[qy7400]

.... Also I have a chiller which throws hot air out into a relatively small apartment. ...

How hot is the apartment, you may be running the A/C and chiller twice as hard from the chiller dumping all the heat back into the room. While it may not be easy what are the odds of getting the chiller moved outside?

 

[Sean]

$666 seem extremely high I've had more running with less of a bill.

was your bill like this last month and if not was last month an estimated reading and this one an actual reading?
how long have you had this tank up and running and what was the old bills like?