Electric bill thru the roof could it be the tank lights

[sdexcalibur1]

You know how you get those neighborhood usage papers from the electric company? Well I'm double/triple what they are and it's not even ac, pool filter time. I'm very good about being the light police. Changed out most bulbs to LEDs still have a few of the the Cf bulbs. Only use about half the bulbs in the basement. We have 2 fridges ones a year old other one about 10, few tv's which I'm sure my sons stays on more than it should,and lastly the tank. It has one 150watt MH AND 2 PC. stays on about 8 hours let's say and a dish washer that runs a min of 2 hours per wash.( I hate that thing)

The wife says it's because I never really look at the bill and ever source went up in price, but with that neighborhood usage paper I received no way I'm using 3 times as much electricity. Bills around 250.00 for a single family house with 3 people. I remember it being under 100....

 

[phg1960]

I get the same report. Asked my elderly neighbor about his report and he stated he is also 3x times his neighbors. I think it's just bull put out by the electric co. If it's not, I'm guessing that in an outage I'll be put online faster than everyone else since the company is losing more money with me offlline.

 

[dilligaf29]

i would love if my bill was that low cable boxes are probbaly using just as much as the refrigarater they are always on most people just shut the tv off i dropped my bill 35 a month just shutting cable boxes off at night yes they energy monsters along with some other electronics that are always pluged in and sucking juice

 

[s_kelley]

Can always have them come check your meter to be sure, if you haven't changed anything and suddenly it's 3x higher. Or maybe look at past bills and see if it's just you don't look at the bill

 

[jrmx635]

Buy a kilowatt meter for $20 and plug it into everything.
I found my refrigerator was drawing more than the label said it's max amps were.
That's how I knew it needed service.
I also broke down a 120 reef that had basement sump back in november,my bill went up through the January.
Then I setup a new 170 reef in February and my bill is lower than its been in 2 years.
So I have no idea how to explain that one.

 

[jrmx635]

And you'reven dishwasher is using a lot of hot water in addition to the electric.if you have electric hot water that doesn't help.
In r.I. I had rise engineering come out for a free energy audit,they tell you where your losing heat and electric

 

[sdexcalibur1]

I'm going to do the energy audit. See what they come up with. We ditched cable a couple months ago, but xboxes are on for Netflix and gaming all the time. The hot water IS electric and I'm sure that's not helping. No gas to the house I was thinking of getting a line to the house ( been saying that last 3 years).

 

[reefstarter]

you can def. do things to save electricity in this hobby . I have been picking away at things for the past year and managed to cut my bill in half . from 5-600 a month . after I get around to running my tank heaters off the boiler I am guessing I will be down to about $175 or less a month. and I run 4 250 watt halides 4 powerheads and a barracuda pump . Oh and a black box led . and sro 5000 skimmer . start nit picking things and you'll see you don't need a lot of it

 

[dz6t]

What kind of light are you running?

 

[sdexcalibur1]

Tank has a 150 watt hand 2 65 PC, ehiem 1262 return pump, skimmer and 2 vortech ph, and heater of course.

 

[Roccus]

We get the same thing too...so do my neighbors with pools and central A/C... I'm just wondering how they figured this out because of 4 people in my neighborhood we have the lowest bill... I think it's just a form letter they send out to try and get you involved in their energy Audits...

 

[this is me]

You know how you get those neighborhood usage papers from the electric company? Well I'm double/triple what they are and it's not even ac, pool filter time. I'm very good about being the light police. Changed out most bulbs to LEDs still have a few of the the Cf bulbs. Only use about half the bulbs in the basement. We have 2 fridges ones a year old other one about 10, few tv's which I'm sure my sons stays on more than it should,and lastly the tank. It has one 150watt MH AND 2 PC. stays on about 8 hours let's say and a dish washer that runs a min of 2 hours per wash.( I hate that thing)

The wife says it's because I never really look at the bill and ever source went up in price, but with that neighborhood usage paper I received no way I'm using 3 times as much electricity. Bills around 250.00 for a single family house with 3 people. I remember it being under 100....

$250 for single home is not that uncommon. This of course depends on the square footage of the house and whether if it has central air/force hot air and the amount of usage.

Before thinking about tearing down an existing tank or upgrading a tank, always do an estimated check on how much your tank system is costing you per month. You can do the math manually on excel spreadsheet but someone already did the work for you.
http://reefcentral.com/index.php/tank-electrical
Remember, the cost of electricity per KWH is the addition of your distribution cost And your supply cost. The easiest way is to just look at your bill and take the amount billed in dollars divided by the total KWH use for that month.

I can tell you that the 150W MH is not the blame. At 24cent per KWH, it cost less than $10 per month to run it 8 hours a day.

The more electricity demanding appliances are your Dryer, Dehumidifier, and the blower on your central air system. For us, keeping our house at 70 instead of 72 saves about $40 on electricity in the winter time plus the saving in our gas.

 

[dz6t]

Tank has a 150 watt hand 2 65 PC, ehiem 1262 return pump, skimmer and 2 vortech ph, and heater of course.

The light may consume about $20 to $30 a month, so there is something else draining your electricity