power saving

[korith]

Noticed another thread where the topic of electric bills came up. I noticed my electric bill go up since I moved a few months ago. Been slowly bringing it down.

First thing was to start being a bit more energy efficient. Changed the lighting hours, using the natural light during the day as well which really helped. Funny thing I don't use the light in my living room often, since lights on some of the tanks come on during the evening hours.

Think the biggest thing that helped was to take out all the small hob filters out of all the 5g, 10g and 20g tanks. I've got 4 air pumps running sponge filters in 8 5g, and 2 10g and 2 20g tanks.

Have plastic and glass tops on all the tanks as well, helps keep the heat in and really cut down on the evaporation. I was gone for 3 weeks during December and only had about 1-2g of water loss in the 40g's.

Anyone else change things up to ease the electrical bills?

[korith]

Oh forgot to add also have 2 xp3 and a xp4 canister filters, they replaced the older canister/hobs I had on those tanks.

[Zilla]

Not really, but then again I don't use power sucking lights or equipment either.

What helps our electric bill is by not using things like the dryer which is a huge power hog. I also put other things like the TV's and other electronics on power strips so that when I shut them off, they are actually off instead of being on stand by.

[j0hnh0lmes]

For a major difference in bills:

Change to electric thermostat for your A/C (If you have manual)
Windows in the house (if they aren't energy eff. rated)
Add insulation to house where needed

This will drop your bill more than anything you can change on your tanks IMO.


What helps our electric bill is by not using things like the dryer which is a huge power hog. I also put other things like the TV's and other electronics on power strips so that when I shut them off, they are actually off instead of being on stand by.

This is also a wonderful way to save. I do the power strips strategy myself and it saves us 20-40 dollars a month. If you add strips to things like microwaves & your computer it will also help, but not as much.

[Wild Turkey]

This isnt just for equipment but for kind of everything in the house, if you notice your bill is unusually high there are two things i would check first:

2. Make sure there arent any old electronic devies that are pulling more power than they should. A device like "kill-a-watt" is a godsend

1. make sure your meter is correctly calibrated, that means calling the company. Be prepared, some peoples meters are off in the companies favor by a ways, and they have to pay you back the difference, "Noice!" Except if it turns out its a little in your favor, you could end up owing :(

This way, you make sure that all your doing without in the name of saving energy is actually gonna help you like it should.

If anyone is still using incandescent light bulbs in your house lights I would replace those with energy saver cfls asap, they use something like 1/5th the energy or less.

For tanks, you cant really adjust the heating usage, you gotta use what you gotta use so to speak, but filtration and lighting is where you would save electricity.

For filtration, i agree sponge filters are going to use way less energy if you can manage to get proper filtration with them.

For lights,

I wouldnt use cfl lightiing on a large tank because you need twice as much wattage to grow the plants than say, t5s. T5 bulbs probably give the most bang for the watt, however they are so expensive you could debate whether they would actually save you money after replacing the bulbs a few times.

With that in mind, its probably "cheapest" to go to the hardware store and use t8 shop lights or something similar when you calculate maintenance cost in with cost from energy usage.

But of course thats just my opinion; I actually do use a lot of electricity between the tanks and running 3 computers and accessories, and "silly" things like filtration for my dogs water dish:hmm3grin2orange:


This is a great question/thread Im anxious to see what other people are doing to save $

[tanks4thememories]

This isnt just for equipment but for kind of everything in the house, if you notice your bill is unusually high there are two things i would check first:

2. Make sure there arent any old electronic devies that are pulling more power than they should. A device like "kill-a-watt" is a godsend

1. make sure your meter is correctly calibrated, that means calling the company. Be prepared, some peoples meters are off in the companies favor by a ways, and they have to pay you back the difference, "Noice!" Except if it turns out its a little in your favor, you could end up owing :(

This way, you make sure that all your doing without in the name of saving energy is actually gonna help you like it should.

If anyone is still using incandescent light bulbs in your house lights I would replace those with energy saver cfls asap, they use something like 1/5th the energy or less.

For tanks, you cant really adjust the heating usage, you gotta use what you gotta use so to speak, but filtration and lighting is where you would save electricity.

For filtration, i agree sponge filters are going to use way less energy if you can manage to get proper filtration with them.

For lights,

I wouldnt use cfl lightiing on a large tank because you need twice as much wattage to grow the plants than say, t5s. T5 bulbs probably give the most bang for the watt, however they are so expensive you could debate whether they would actually save you money after replacing the bulbs a few times.

With that in mind, its probably "cheapest" to go to the hardware store and use t8 shop lights or something similar when you calculate maintenance cost in with cost from energy usage.

But of course thats just my opinion; I actually do use a lot of electricity between the tanks and running 3 computers and accessories, and "silly" things like filtration for my dogs water dish:hmm3grin2orange:


This is a great question/thread Im anxious to see what other people are doing to save $


Agreed!! When looking for the culprit in a event I often ask "What has changed since Ive noticed event?" You speak of moving. I imagine you did not add new tanks or chance the accessories prior to moving. I also suspect you did not change their hours of operation prior to noticing the event (Event being higher electric bill than before). So in asking what has changed I have to look at the fact you moved. As mentioned above Electric companies often make mistakes I would start off having them check their figures and if the bill is noticeably higher ask them for prior residents history and possibly for a new meter. Also ask if they are estimating your usage or is someone actually reading your meter on a monthly basis. Also many areas have different rates. Besides what I have mentioned "Wild Turkey" does a A-1 job above in going through your house. once you do all of these things you should be ok...:)

PS in rural areas it is a common practice for electric companies to estimate your electrical usage on a monthly basis using prior usage as the guide. Then once a year or sometimes twice a year they reconcile the estimates by sending someone to actually read your meter. Then they hit you with an "Adjustment bill". So you could be paying for electricity based on the usage of the people who lived there before you...lol

[Dacotah7]

Having moved many things could have changed. If you have a different utility company the gas and electric rates could be different. Some appliances could have been gas fired in the last home and are electically powered in the new home. The insulation, window R-Factor, and square footage may vary. Appliances may have been energy efficent in the previous place and are not here. If you are in a multi-dwelling building, others' circuits could be wired into your meter; not likely, well not proper but possible. Are you looking only at the electrical portion of the bill, or the total bill. The gas consumption could be the culprit, if you have gas heat and it is part of the bill. Check with your utlity company, many offer a free energy survey of your home, and will make recommendations on how to cut costs. Some offer rebates to upgrade to more efficent appliances, and heating or cooling equipment.

[Taurus]

As an employee of an electric utility, it's great to see how well informed most of you are when it comes to cutting your power use. I haven't read a bad suggestion yet. thumbs2:

[Zilla]

As an employee of an electric utility, it's great to see how well informed most of you are when it comes to cutting your power use. I haven't read a bad suggestion yet. thumbs2:

Can you explain this to my electrician? He's a nice guy and I like him, but he doesn't seem to grasp the concept of phantom loads.

He says that little fuses in things like satelite reciever boxes don't suck up much juice and I agree. However, when there are a bunch of little fuses sucking up juice, it adds up to cash being sent to the electric company instead of in my bank account. LOL

[jcclark]

Small air pumps and HOB filters take very little electric.
If you check consumption rates I think you'll find the electric
heaters on your tanks use about 95% of the total electric your
aquariums use. That's the user of electric-straight electric heat.
Reduce your temps a couple of degrees, that will save more than all
the other stuff combined.
Insulation on (back and sides where you can) will also do more.
When in doubt read the specs for the motor consumption, how
many amps or watts it draws, from that you can compare what
it is really using comparitively, compare that to a heater,
like 100 watts, (1 amp) that's a lot.

[jcclark]

Fuses use no electricity. None.

[Taurus]

Can you explain this to my electrician? He's a nice guy and I like him, but he doesn't seem to grasp the concept of phantom loads.

He says that little fuses in things like satelite reciever boxes don't suck up much juice and I agree. However, when there are a bunch of little fuses sucking up juice, it adds up to cash being sent to the electric company instead of in my bank account. LOL

The one sure way to prevent any device from consuming electricty is to use a power strip and turn the power strip off when you're through using the device or unplug it from the power outlet.

[korith]

All good ideas. In an my apartment so only so much I can do. I did get them to fix the fridge door. I had to call manager of the apt complex, to come by personally and look at it. The maintenance guys had actually PAINTED over the plastic seal that is on the door, so they wouldn't have to replace it! Unbelievable!

And phantom loads with stuff that is plugged in, I've got everything on power bars, and most get turned off at the power bar when I'm done using them. The only exception being the tv which I'm too lazy to do, ends up clearing the settings if I kill the power completely.

Some of the local libraries actually have kill o watt machines by the way, you can sign out. They plug into the outlet and you plug in whatever you'd like to test into them. Shows you the actual power usage by the item.