# Homes, Whats your Hydro like?



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hey hey guys...

We are having a bit of an issue. We found this great apt near a school and shops and my mum. But one of the problems is that the hydro is not included.

This would mean I would have to get rid of a lot, if not all of my tanks. I was curious if you guys could let me know how much a tank drains on the hydro bill in general?

I could rehome a lot of my fishies but I really dont want to... But i'll do what I have to do I guess.

Bob is also a big air conditioner freak. He cant live without it. When I grew up we never had one since it was so $$$ Still the same nowadays?

For FYI.

I have about 11 tanks, running maybe about 14 lights of different types. (reptile lights too)
about 7 powered filters


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

I will have to look at mine more carefully. I'm running around 8 tanks, mostly small ones (3x10G, 2x20G, 2x12G, 1x46G), all with heaters, power filter, and lighting. I think hydro was higher in Winter time, due to heaters turning on more often. I'm estimating at most $50 more for each month from running these tanks.

I think power filters draw very little power. Heaters and intense lighting system can add up quite a bit.

However, nothing beats clothes dryers!!


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Ooohhh thank you for the estimate.. These people dont even know yet that I have tanks D:

I am unsure on how to tell them... I usually play the whole, if you dont ask...I dont tell game.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

With my systems, the last estimate I remember was $15-$20 / month and that included a dehumidifier.


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

about $20 mth. for me I run 2 to 3 tanks but I use a lot of big filters and tons of light. 

about 300W of light 12 hours a day total 
4 eheim 2217 filters one fluval 305 filter. 
2 150W and 2 200W heaters. 
Several powerheads 
(god knows what else) 

If you run simple setups with low light (no plants for example) little bioload(less filters) you should not notice a huge increase in your electric costs.

SW and reptiles is another story I don't keep SW or reptiles so I really can't comment on those types of systems. 

I found that resealing my doors and windows did more of an impact on my utility costs then the tanks did. Consider what else you can do around the house to keep costs down.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hmmm thanks you guys. I think I am going to be more worried about this air conditioner..

My mom's prolly gunna yell my head off tommorow lol.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

I have no idea. I just run what I run. I watch the dryer though...usually try for of peak hours. Doesn't coat any different yet, but lessens the demand.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Our 112g tank w/ Geisman light, return pump & other misc. pumps to run GFO, skimmer, etc... as well as heaters, cost us $50.00 per month.

We have a kill-a-watt meter by which to measure.

Chris, I think you are underestimating your usage, your tank/sump/frag tank, are all much bigger than ours!


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

When I had my 2 40gal and 1 30 gal running, it added to about $45 more a month. (assuming that your tanks are not all dec'd out with high tech electricity eating monsters).

As for the telling the landlords, why not just throw the question of what's your pet policy out there. Without telling them you have tanks. 

When I asked my landlord, he just said no dogs/cats/weird animals.....so i assumed fish was fine.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Yea... I think thats a good idea.

My mom knows the lady and apparently spoke with her yesterday. Everyone knows me in the family as the one with all the pets.. So...not sure what mom said or what went down.

I'll find out tomorrow.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

im sure everything is fine, most landlords are ok with fish keepers. 

but fingers crossed for ya.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

i have a 50, 45, 29, 2x20 and 2x10 running. it costs about $100


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

so from the looks of it, its about $50 for about 100 gals of water.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> Chris, I think you are underestimating your usage, your tank/sump/frag tank, are all much bigger than ours!


It's not always about the size 

I don't think I'm too far off, my estimate is about two years old. So based on the current rates I could be off. I had a Kill-A-Watt meter but sold it off. Everyone told me not to get a hot tub as well due to the electricity but noticed a very minimal increase in our rates once we switched it over to 220v setup.

Electrically I'm running

3 x 250w MH Icecaps 6 hrs per day
2 x 40w NO 4 hrs per day
Mag18 24hrs per day
Mag12 24hrs per day
4 Koralia4 24hrs per day
Euro-Reef RS250 24hrs per day

I don't run heaters on my setup after I had two Ebo J's explode in my system. My system cools off at night down to 77 and during the day it peaks at 80.

Daily Running = 1151w (1.151kw) per day considering everything was running 24hrs (750w + 80w + 145w + 110w + 66w + 60w)

I don't have time to do all the calculations right now but here are more numbers....

MONTHLY CONSUMER RATES (Whitby)
Effective May 1, 2009

Commodity - Fixed (RPP) Rate (x 1.0601 loss factor)
First 600 kWh $0.057
Balance above 600 kWh $0.066
Monthly Service Charge $17.71/month
Distribution Volumetric Rate $0.0137/kWh
Network Service Rate (x 1.0601) $0.0052/kWh
Line and Transformation Connection Rate (x 1.0601) $0.0053/kWh
Wholesale Market Service Rate
(x 1.0601) $0.0052/kWh
Debt Retirement Charge $0.0070/kWh
Rural Rate Assistance (x 1.0601) $0.0013/kWh

If anyone is really worried about electrical issues maybe this is not the right hobby for you as it does come at a cost. If you love the hobby you'll find a way to make it work.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Hitch said:


> so from the looks of it, its about $50 for about 100 gals of water.


I don't think you can base electrical costs on water volume. It will come down to how much equipment you are running on your system.

Some individuals will go bare minimum equipment and others are techy geeks that will have more electronics in their aquarium than some of the cars on the road.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

UnderTheSea said:


> Some individuals will go bare minimum equipment and others are techy geeks that will have more electronics in their aquarium than some of the cars on the road.


I resent that statement 

Jess, I really think your tanks don't consume a lot of power - power filters generally run under 10w of power consumption - to put it into perspective an Eheim 2217 draws a mere 20W, an AC110 14W of power. A single AC mini draws 6w of power. If it becomes a real issue, you can also just run multiple tanks on air pumps.

I'd more worried about the 365 days a year AC.....


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Ya thats the big one.. I -might- be rehoming a few fish but I really dont want to. IF anything I will condense the tanks as much as I can untill we get moved. 

I know the AC must eat a lot of electric for sure. Its not an energy smart one either.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

hahaha Eric, I knew someone would pickup on that statement. When I first got into the hobby I tried to pimp out everything, make everything high tech and then the more I read from advance hobbyists, the more I heard to KISS (keep it simple stupid). I may go a little more techy with my new setup. Teedering on whether to go with a calcium reactor and doing the research on controllers now.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Does a dehumidifier work? maybe I should get one...


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Sunstar said:


> Does a dehumidifier work? maybe I should get one...


Works like a charm, before getting it my humidity was running at about 60%+ in the summers, now only 50%


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