Reefing and my electricity usage.

[RayD]

Check this out. I just got this report from National Grid. Guess my house isn't exactly eco-friendly.

I run three 250w metal halide lights on two systems plus T5's on the big system, plus all the pumps, controllers, etc etc ..

_________________________________________________

 

[JayM]

Wow, guilt-o-watts.

The hilarity of that is that they don't take into consideration that you COULD have electric heat......

 

[jayman10134]

::124% MORE electricity really isn't that much.....

 

[ReeferMedic]

That's a huge difference Ray!

I'd like to see my house compared to my neighbors. Well, maybe I'd be better off not seeing that report. I run almost 2,500 watts of halides for 8 hours every day, 2,000 watts of heat in winter, an ac that pretty much never shuts off during summer(in the fish room), multiple return pumps, closed loop, power heads, along with electric hot water, clothes dryer, and stove, and pool pump in summer again. ::

 

[JayM]

^ What he said, plus a 46 and 50" plasma, super-stor circulator, and a bank of assorted non-green computers running something or another 24/7

 

[pvh]

Shouldn't the electric company be happy that you are spending that much?

 

[JayM]

no, because they do not have the generating capacity to supply it, and it is way too hard to get a new plant approved - anywhere.

 

[snowmaker]

We are probably their BEST residential customers. Of course they love us..
Back when Maine was regulated by the Public Utility Commission - PUC, Central Maine Power had to plead the case to have rate increases. The reason one year:
We could not generate enough to meet demand and had to buy from out of state. Permission to increase rate granted.
The very next year:
We generated more than demand and therefore sold less to cover more costs. Permission to increase rate granted.
It would seem that we are better off being unregulated, but the downside to it is that CMP is no longer required, by law to purchase back any power that is generated privately. Beyond any private individuals fortunate enough to be generating more than they use at home, there were a number of small businesses generating excess power (many small lumber mills for example), that now shut down their generators off shift, when they use to run them around the clock.
I'm not positive the laws are still the same as I stopped paying attention to these issues a while ago.

 

[Gardiner]

I installed TED(The Energy Detective) in my house. Does a good job of estimating monthly electric bills. It also ties into Google, and Google trends my data. Here is a pic so far of today.

You can see the small spikes when my heaters kick on. The large spike is when I got home from work last night.

As you can see from my historical data, it has helped.

 

[cobraz]

Now you see why I downsized from 200 Gal of water - I went from a T4 Pump, 2 x 250MH, 4 54W T5s, 2 300 Watt heaters, 2 Mag Pumps, 2 Tunze 6101s, Sedra, and 5 MaxJet 1200s and 4 x 24W T5 fuge light, 1/4 HP Chiller, CO2 Reef JR controller and ACII controller.....

To a 29 Gal Bio Cube 3 MJ 1200 and 4 36W PCs and 1 250 W heater. My bill dropped over $ 75.00 a month.

My coral buying dropped also...no room

 

[shawn]

The tank is about half my monthly electric bill. For me, electricity has been by far the most expensive part of the hobby - and I tried to choose energy efficient options from the outset. Unlike other aspects of the hobby, no matter how disciplined you are you can't stop spending unless you get out.

 

[Sean Irwin]

Since we can't really skimp on the tank equipment, my girlfriend and I have been working hard to eliminate excess energy consumption, mainly by turning off "energy vampires" when we're not at home and purchasing energy star appliances whenever possible. Our bill has been steadily decreasing and reached a new low of $45 dollars last month. Of course living in a tiny apartment and not having washers/dryers helps too. ; )

 

[JohnK]

NSTAR loves me.

They're going to be really upset when the downsize happens

 

[jrmx635]

electric

I have a decent size house,3 kids,wife,mother,240 gallon,3-175 halides,4-54 watt t-5,reeflo,blueline and tunzes,2-300 watt heaters and a small pond here and I only use around 1100 kwh monthly.
I switched everything to flouresent lighting to help bring the number down.
I have to say I really can't believe that is all I use.
My bill is around $160 normal months and $200 tops during summer with 3 air conditioners.

 

[dcforester1]

My electric is well over $200/mo. I gave up drinking in 01, smoking in 02. I aint giving up the reefer man. I used to spend much more than that on a Friday night. The way I look at it, Im saving money.

 

[snowmaker]

Ha, Ha,
I was thinking about what was spent out partying recently too... before home ownership, a one or two hundred dollar night out seemed pretty reasonable (at the moment ).

My electric is well over $200/mo. I gave up drinking in 01, smoking in 02. I aint giving up the reefer man. I used to spend much more than that on a Friday night. The way I look at it, Im saving money.

 

[Gonereefing]

hahaha...good way to look at it. i love the hobby and get a ton of family enjoyment out of it. I have spent money on many a foolish thing over the years with little or no extended enjoyment. Love reefing....higher electric bills be damned.

 

[Kenny B]

I love it !!! When I think about the past, $200-$300 nights out partying with the guys or some hot chick, and weight against what my hobby costs me a month. It's cheap entertainment.

 

[NeverlosT]

Then I think about taking my motorcycle to race at the track for one weekend:
Track Tires - $500
Track Fees - $500
Parts since I tend to crash - $$$
Gas - $50
Food - $100

Or I glance at the bikes, downhill, XC, road, singlespeed, etc. $$$$

or the climbing gear, or the scuba, or the mountaineering stuff...

lets face it guys, life is expensive, and I dont even have a wife or kids!