Electricity Costs

[FishNut]

Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have a
55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
costly to run. And I have 3.

[CanadianCray]

That depends on many things. What the heaters are set to & what the ambient
temp of the room is. If it is the the heater will stay on longer. If it is a
problem find out what the low temp is for you fish & keep it near the low
rang. I also find the larger tanks are cheaper for this as they lose the
heat slower because of the large volume of water. Its prob. the smaller
tanks that are killing you. Also make sure that your canopy is well sealed
to keep the heat in. Also I find for larger tanks canister type heaters are
great because they actaully add some heat to the water from the pump so the
heater doesn't come on as often..... Another thing you could try is to add
more rocks to the tank as these will add more to the thermal mass of the
tank absorbing the heat during the day & releasing it at night so the heater
doesn't have to work as hard....

Just a few suggestions....


"FishNut" > wrote in message
t...
> Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have
a
> 55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
> Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
> costly to run. And I have 3.
>
>

[CanadianCray]

Man i should read the post before I send it I meant canister type filters.
Sorry.

"Also I find for larger tanks canister type heaters are
> great because they actaully add some heat to the water from the pump so
the
> heater doesn't come on as often"

[Dinky]

"CanadianCray" > wrote in message
...
| Man i should read the post before I send it I meant canister type
filters.
| Sorry.
|


Oddly enough, I was confused by your second post since my mind read
"filters". Funny:)

[Ryan Minaker]

That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute most
even if the heaters ran constantly.


R.
http://members.rogers.com/miniks/aquarist.html


On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:

>Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have a
>55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
>Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
>costly to run. And I have 3.
>

[Dinky]

"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
| That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
| I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute
most
| even if the heaters ran constantly.
|


I agree. I have 6 tanks, and at best guess, my power bill is only 15
bucks a month more than before I had them. The OP needs to check his
water heater, if one of the elements burns out, it will continue to
make hot water, but the burned out one will be constantly shorting,
running up the power bill. I've had this happen twice, one time it
cost me over 85 bucks in power. The other time it was a rental, so
the landlady ate the bill, boy was she ****ed.

b

[Ryan Minaker]

Too funny!

Hey, I have a question for you:
I have an ebo jagger 200 watt heater and it's been working great for 3
years. Recently I've noticed that the temperature setting is all "out
of whack" if I set the temperature to 79F it'll heat the water until
it reaches 85F to 88F.

So now I have my temperature set at 71F and the heater heats the water
to 79F. Any ideas on why my heater might have suddenly stopped being
accurate?

R.




On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:51:29 GMT, "Dinky"
> wrote:

>
>
>"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
>| That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
>| I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute
>most
>| even if the heaters ran constantly.
>|
>
>
>I agree. I have 6 tanks, and at best guess, my power bill is only 15
>bucks a month more than before I had them. The OP needs to check his
>water heater, if one of the elements burns out, it will continue to
>make hot water, but the burned out one will be constantly shorting,
>running up the power bill. I've had this happen twice, one time it
>cost me over 85 bucks in power. The other time it was a rental, so
>the landlady ate the bill, boy was she ****ed.
>
>b
>

[CanadianCray]

Yeah they sometimes just wear out. The thermostat in yours is faulty. You
need to keep an eye on it or buy a new one.

--
Craig Williams
_________________________________

www.Canadiancray.tk
"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
> Too funny!
>
> Hey, I have a question for you:
> I have an ebo jagger 200 watt heater and it's been working great for 3
> years. Recently I've noticed that the temperature setting is all "out
> of whack" if I set the temperature to 79F it'll heat the water until
> it reaches 85F to 88F.
>
> So now I have my temperature set at 71F and the heater heats the water
> to 79F. Any ideas on why my heater might have suddenly stopped being
> accurate?
>
> R.
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:51:29 GMT, "Dinky"
> > wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
> ...
> >| That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
> >| I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute
> >most
> >| even if the heaters ran constantly.
> >|
> >
> >
> >I agree. I have 6 tanks, and at best guess, my power bill is only 15
> >bucks a month more than before I had them. The OP needs to check his
> >water heater, if one of the elements burns out, it will continue to
> >make hot water, but the burned out one will be constantly shorting,
> >running up the power bill. I've had this happen twice, one time it
> >cost me over 85 bucks in power. The other time it was a rental, so
> >the landlady ate the bill, boy was she ****ed.
> >
> >b
> >
>

[NetMax]

CanadianCray has pretty much covered all the points (quite well too, so I
might find myself out of work soon ;~) _except_ for using insulation to
reduce costs (I knew I could find something if I wanted to be a pain in
the butt :o).

Some fishkeepers wrap 3 sides of their tanks with styrofoam insulation.
Paint the side facing the aquarium with black latex (the carrier in _oil_
paints will dissolve styrofoam) for the added benefit of a calmer tank
(less shadows & movement to bother timid fish) and good contrast (dark
blue is good too).

If you have a dedicated fish-room, heating individual tank with heaters
may be more expensive than just keeping the room warmer. It depends on
how your electricity rates compare with other heat sources. Generally,
running your tanks at the cooler end of a fish's range will allow you to
run safer (higher?) fish-loads (more oxygen in the water), but the fish
may grow a bit slower (lower metabolism) and be a bit less colourful. As
growth rates depends more on their menu, and the colours improve when
they are put into warmer water, it's not a big deal. Spawning tanks will
probably still need heaters, so you have more control over the
temperature to stimulate spawning (if you need to use temperature to do
so), or growing them to sexual maturity faster.

NetMax

"CanadianCray" > wrote in message
...
> That depends on many things. What the heaters are set to & what the
ambient
> temp of the room is. If it is the the heater will stay on longer. If it
is a
> problem find out what the low temp is for you fish & keep it near the
low
> rang. I also find the larger tanks are cheaper for this as they lose
the
> heat slower because of the large volume of water. Its prob. the
smaller
> tanks that are killing you. Also make sure that your canopy is well
sealed
> to keep the heat in. Also I find for larger tanks canister type heaters
are
> great because they actaully add some heat to the water from the pump so
the
> heater doesn't come on as often..... Another thing you could try is to
add
> more rocks to the tank as these will add more to the thermal mass of
the
> tank absorbing the heat during the day & releasing it at night so the
heater
> doesn't have to work as hard....
>
> Just a few suggestions....
>
>
> "FishNut" > wrote in message
> t...
> > Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
have
> a
> > 55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
tank.
> > Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are
very
> > costly to run. And I have 3.
> >
> >
>
>

[Andre]

I have eight 50w heaters, two 150w and one 300w. My houses daily cost for
electricity is $2.38 cnd. I use a natural gas furnace and hot water tank
which helps keeps the cost of power down. I found the biggest electricity
expense is the lights on the tanks. A 250w lamp for 10 hours a day will add
up over the month. I try to keep low light plants, tight glass lid, and
keep cooler temperature fish to reduce the power bill. I wouldn't want to
quit the hobby because it got to expensive.
Andre

[NetMax]

I agree with Ryan. $65 a month is excessive.

On heaters, visit Donald's heater calculator for a better understanding
of what you use.
http://www.kernsanalysis.com/HeaterCalculator.cgi

Otherwise, we can apply some rough estimates.

You have a 55, a 10 and a 3g tank.

On the 55g: I get 1.974 to 3.552 kw/day, based on:
i) filter @ 15-25w 24 hrs/day = .360 to .600 kw/day
ii) lights 40W @ 8-12 hours/day = .360 to .480 kw/day (light)
+ ballast efficiency (wild guess 15%) = .054 to .072
iii) heater 200W @ hmmm.... 50% off (lights, pump, ambient), and 50% on
the remaining time, so 24hours x 25% x 200W= 1.2 kw/day, to
100% on 50% of the time = 2.4kw/day

On the 10g: I get 0.784 to 1.056 kw/day, based on:
i) filter 10w 24 hrs/day = .24 kw/day
ii) lights 8W @ 8-12 hours/day = .064 to .096 kw/day
(assuming CF or incandescent so no efficiency factor needed)
iii) heater 50W @ 40 to 60% on= .48 to .72 kw/day

On the 3g: I get 0.528 to 0.792 kw/day, based on:
i) filter 5w 24 hrs/day = .12 kw/day
ii) lights 6W @ 8-12 hours/day = .048 to .072 kw/day
(assuming CF or incandescent so no efficiency factor needed)
iii) heater 50W @ 30 to 50% on= .36 to .6 kw/day

So, your daily consumption could range somewhere between 3.3 to 5.4
kw/day (or 0.1375 to 0.225 kwh). Here in Ontario, Canada we pay about 5
cents per kwh, so using that, your operating costs could be between .6875
and 1.125 cents an hour. Using 720 hours in a 30 day month, your
electricity bill (consumption only) for the aquariums could be between
$4.95 to $8.10 (if I haven't completely buggered up the math ;~),
however, 5 to 10 bucks a month sounds about right for 3 tanks.

NetMax


"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
> That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
> I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute most
> even if the heaters ran constantly.
>
>
> R.
> http://members.rogers.com/miniks/aquarist.html
>
>
> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
>
> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
have a
> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
tank.
> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are
very
> >costly to run. And I have 3.
> >
>

[Boris]

It's starting to die. Buy a new one now.


"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
> Too funny!
>
> Hey, I have a question for you:
> I have an ebo jagger 200 watt heater and it's been working great for 3
> years. Recently I've noticed that the temperature setting is all "out
> of whack" if I set the temperature to 79F it'll heat the water until
> it reaches 85F to 88F.
>
> So now I have my temperature set at 71F and the heater heats the water
> to 79F. Any ideas on why my heater might have suddenly stopped being
> accurate?
>
> R.
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:51:29 GMT, "Dinky"
> > wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
> ...
> >| That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
> >| I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute
> >most
> >| even if the heaters ran constantly.
> >|
> >
> >
> >I agree. I have 6 tanks, and at best guess, my power bill is only 15
> >bucks a month more than before I had them. The OP needs to check his
> >water heater, if one of the elements burns out, it will continue to
> >make hot water, but the burned out one will be constantly shorting,
> >running up the power bill. I've had this happen twice, one time it
> >cost me over 85 bucks in power. The other time it was a rental, so
> >the landlady ate the bill, boy was she ****ed.
> >
> >b
> >
>

[Marksfish]

> Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have
a
> 55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
> Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
> costly to run. And I have 3.
>
Not sure what the exchange rate is, but my 9 tank system in the garage is
run by 4x 300w heaters, a 6 tank system by 1x 300w, Oase pump for
circulation at 38w, powerhead for smaller system at 50w, 1x 300w in a 48" in
the house, plus running costs for the house = approx £50 (GBP) per month.

Mark

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Electricity Costs
>From: "FishNut"
>Date: 3/21/2004 9:53 AM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have a
>55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
>Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
>costly to run. And I have 3.

Ya know.....
I don't even want to know. = /

[Dick]

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:

>Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have a
>55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
>Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
>costly to run. And I have 3.
>
I have one 75 gallon, one 29 gallon and three 10 gallon tanks. I run
them at 79 degrees. In the winter I keep the room temperature set to
76 degrees, but the actual temperature at each fish tank varies by
location from 70 to 76 (near the thermostat).

I run under 2 watts per gallon in each tank, but I leave the lights on
for 13 hours each day.

This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month extra.
I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
down for me. So the short of it is in both summer and winter I must
add heat to reach the tank temperature of 79 degrees. Thus my gas and
electric bill does average the extra $50 all year round. I spend
more for my ISDN internet service and drink more than $50 a month, so
the price is acceptable for the pleasure I get from the tanks.

[Dick]

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:

>Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have a
>55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
>Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
>costly to run. And I have 3.
>

In the last 12 months my combined gas and electric bill was $2000.
Just wanted to add this to my earlier comments to provide perspective.

[FishNut]

Where do you live. I'm in NY?


"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
>
> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
have a
> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
tank.
> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
> >costly to run. And I have 3.
> >
> I have one 75 gallon, one 29 gallon and three 10 gallon tanks. I run
> them at 79 degrees. In the winter I keep the room temperature set to
> 76 degrees, but the actual temperature at each fish tank varies by
> location from 70 to 76 (near the thermostat).
>
> I run under 2 watts per gallon in each tank, but I leave the lights on
> for 13 hours each day.
>
> This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month extra.
> I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
> degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
> the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
> down for me. So the short of it is in both summer and winter I must
> add heat to reach the tank temperature of 79 degrees. Thus my gas and
> electric bill does average the extra $50 all year round. I spend
> more for my ISDN internet service and drink more than $50 a month, so
> the price is acceptable for the pleasure I get from the tanks.

[FishNut]

One guy said he had unusually high electrical bills to discover a short in
one of his heaters. Does anyone know how to check for this?

Thanks

"FishNut" > wrote in message
t...
> Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have
a
> 55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
> Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
> costly to run. And I have 3.
>
>

[Andy Hill]

"FishNut" > wrote:
>Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I have a
>55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic tank.
>Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
>costly to run. And I have 3.
>
What's your cost per kWh?

Geez, that shouldn't be more than 200W worth of heaters, top. Assuming they're
on 24x7 (as opposed to a more "normal" <5% duty cycle), that's 144 kWh. At the
US average of $0.075 / kWh, that's only $10.80 (and, for a more likely duty
cycle, more like $0.50).

Naw.

It's gotta be something else sucking down that kind of power. What are you
using for lighting? If you're not using fluorescent, it might be time to
rethink the decision.

[FishNut]

I have a 150 watt heater, a 75 watt heater and a 50 watt heater. My
lighting consists of 4 T8 bulbs 32 watts each and 1 small 18 watt reptile
light. All I can think is that one of my heaters is shorting out and
causing all this extra electricity use. It doesn't make sense.

"Andy Hill" > wrote in message
...
> "FishNut" > wrote:
> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
have a
> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
tank.
> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
> >costly to run. And I have 3.
> >
> What's your cost per kWh?
>
> Geez, that shouldn't be more than 200W worth of heaters, top. Assuming
they're
> on 24x7 (as opposed to a more "normal" <5% duty cycle), that's 144 kWh.
At the
> US average of $0.075 / kWh, that's only $10.80 (and, for a more likely
duty
> cycle, more like $0.50).
>
> Naw.
>
> It's gotta be something else sucking down that kind of power. What are
you
> using for lighting? If you're not using fluorescent, it might be time to
> rethink the decision.

[CanadianCray]

I can pretty much guarantee you if a heater was shorting out it wouldn't
last long enough to make a dent in your Electricity bill!

--
Craig Williams
_________________________________

www.Canadiancray.tk
"FishNut" > wrote in message
et...
> I have a 150 watt heater, a 75 watt heater and a 50 watt heater. My
> lighting consists of 4 T8 bulbs 32 watts each and 1 small 18 watt reptile
> light. All I can think is that one of my heaters is shorting out and
> causing all this extra electricity use. It doesn't make sense.
>
> "Andy Hill" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "FishNut" > wrote:
> > >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
> have a
> > >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
> tank.
> > >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are
very
> > >costly to run. And I have 3.
> > >
> > What's your cost per kWh?
> >
> > Geez, that shouldn't be more than 200W worth of heaters, top. Assuming
> they're
> > on 24x7 (as opposed to a more "normal" <5% duty cycle), that's 144 kWh.
> At the
> > US average of $0.075 / kWh, that's only $10.80 (and, for a more likely
> duty
> > cycle, more like $0.50).
> >
> > Naw.
> >
> > It's gotta be something else sucking down that kind of power. What are
> you
> > using for lighting? If you're not using fluorescent, it might be time
to
> > rethink the decision.
>
>

[NetMax]

I think that any short which would cause that much extra consumption,
would cause the wires to the heater to get hot, would pop the circuit
breaker/fuse, and would quickly destroy the heater. The only short which
would not cause an appreciable amount of heat generation would possibly
occur if it was dissipating through the water, but you would discover
this by getting an electrical shock.

NetMax

"FishNut" > wrote in message
et...
> One guy said he had unusually high electrical bills to discover a short
in
> one of his heaters. Does anyone know how to check for this?
>
> Thanks
>
> "FishNut" > wrote in message
> t...
> > Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
have
> a
> > 55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
tank.
> > Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are
very
> > costly to run. And I have 3.
> >
> >
>
>

[Marcus Fox]

"FishNut" > wrote in message
et...
> I have a 150 watt heater, a 75 watt heater and a 50 watt heater. My
> lighting consists of 4 T8 bulbs 32 watts each and 1 small 18 watt reptile
> light. All I can think is that one of my heaters is shorting out and
> causing all this extra electricity use. It doesn't make sense.

Something non-fish? Perhaps an electric kettle? Tumble dryer? Storage
heater?

Marcus

[NetMax]

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
<snip>
> This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month extra.
> I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
> degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
> the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
> down for me.
<snip>

The difference is the humidity levels. Low humidity (winter) causes us
to lose heat more rapidly from the surface of our skin, so we feel cooler
for the same temperature which under high humidity, could have us
sweating in the summer.

It's like wind chill. It's -5 but with wind chill, it feels like -10,
but that only affects exposed skin. My car doesn't get any colder, no
matter how hard the wind blows ;~)

NetMax

[Dick]

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:59:58 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:

>Where do you live. I'm in NY?
>

Small town in West Texas, electric and gas rates have been
skyrocketing in the last two years. However, I keep a record by
energy use separate from actual dollars. I had a 10% increase in KWH
in the year after getting my tanks going from 9145 kwh to 10,780.
>
>"Dick" > wrote in message
...
>> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
>>
>> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
>have a
>> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
>tank.
>> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are very
>> >costly to run. And I have 3.
>> >
>> I have one 75 gallon, one 29 gallon and three 10 gallon tanks. I run
>> them at 79 degrees. In the winter I keep the room temperature set to
>> 76 degrees, but the actual temperature at each fish tank varies by
>> location from 70 to 76 (near the thermostat).
>>
>> I run under 2 watts per gallon in each tank, but I leave the lights on
>> for 13 hours each day.
>>
>> This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month extra.
>> I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
>> degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
>> the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
>> down for me. So the short of it is in both summer and winter I must
>> add heat to reach the tank temperature of 79 degrees. Thus my gas and
>> electric bill does average the extra $50 all year round. I spend
>> more for my ISDN internet service and drink more than $50 a month, so
>> the price is acceptable for the pleasure I get from the tanks.
>

[Andy Hill]

"FishNut" > wrote:
>I have a 150 watt heater, a 75 watt heater and a 50 watt heater. My
>lighting consists of 4 T8 bulbs 32 watts each and 1 small 18 watt reptile
>light. All I can think is that one of my heaters is shorting out and
>causing all this extra electricity use. It doesn't make sense.
>
OK, let's work back. $65 of electricity at $0.075 per KWh (you don't give your
cost per KWh, so I'll just go with the national average) is roughly 1200W
continuous draw (that's 24 hours per day, 30 days per month, all the time).
Shoot, that's 10A -- a large proportion of a "normal" 15A circuit. If any one
of your heaters was drawing anywhere near that on a continuous basis, you'd have
boiled fish in short order.

Unless you have sky-high electricity rates, there's *gotta* be something else
causing this besides the tank stuff.

[CanadianCray]

And a lot of dead fish!!!!

--
Craig Williams
_________________________________

www.Canadiancray.tk
"NetMax" > wrote in message
. ..
> I think that any short which would cause that much extra consumption,
> would cause the wires to the heater to get hot, would pop the circuit
> breaker/fuse, and would quickly destroy the heater. The only short which
> would not cause an appreciable amount of heat generation would possibly
> occur if it was dissipating through the water, but you would discover
> this by getting an electrical shock.
>
> NetMax

[Ryan Minaker]

Yes sir!! : )


On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 11:50:02 -0800, "Boris" >
wrote:

>It's starting to die. Buy a new one now.
>
>
>"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
>> Too funny!
>>
>> Hey, I have a question for you:
>> I have an ebo jagger 200 watt heater and it's been working great for 3
>> years. Recently I've noticed that the temperature setting is all "out
>> of whack" if I set the temperature to 79F it'll heat the water until
>> it reaches 85F to 88F.
>>
>> So now I have my temperature set at 71F and the heater heats the water
>> to 79F. Any ideas on why my heater might have suddenly stopped being
>> accurate?
>>
>> R.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:51:29 GMT, "Dinky"
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >
>> >"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >| That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
>> >| I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute
>> >most
>> >| even if the heaters ran constantly.
>> >|
>> >
>> >
>> >I agree. I have 6 tanks, and at best guess, my power bill is only 15
>> >bucks a month more than before I had them. The OP needs to check his
>> >water heater, if one of the elements burns out, it will continue to
>> >make hot water, but the burned out one will be constantly shorting,
>> >running up the power bill. I've had this happen twice, one time it
>> >cost me over 85 bucks in power. The other time it was a rental, so
>> >the landlady ate the bill, boy was she ****ed.
>> >
>> >b
>> >
>>
>

[The Outcaste]

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:01:33 GMT, "FishNut" > bubbled
forth the following:

>One guy said he had unusually high electrical bills to discover a short in
>one of his heaters. Does anyone know how to check for this?
>
>Thanks
>
I think this is the article you are thinking of:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:51:29 GMT, "Dinky"
> bubbled forth the following in
Message-ID: . net>:
>
>>
>>
>>"Ryan Minaker" > wrote in message
...
>>| That sounds a little bit expensive to me!
>>| I would assume that it might cost you $10/month at the absolute
>>most
>>| even if the heaters ran constantly.
>>|
>>
>>
>>I agree. I have 6 tanks, and at best guess, my power bill is only 15
>>bucks a month more than before I had them. The OP needs to check his
>>water heater, if one of the elements burns out, it will continue to
>>make hot water, but the burned out one will be constantly shorting,
>>running up the power bill. I've had this happen twice, one time it
>>cost me over 85 bucks in power. The other time it was a rental, so
>>the landlady ate the bill, boy was she ****ed.
>>
>>b
>>

He is referring to the household water heater, not an aquarium heater.
Most water heaters have two 1500 watt elements. A burned out element
can short to the point where it draws quite a bit of current without
producing much heat, leaving one element to do most of the heating,
which means the heater stays on longer but uses as much (if not
considerably more) power.

As most water heaters are installed on 240V 30 amp circuits (7200
watts), you can draw quite a bit more power than normal without
tripping the breaker.

An ohmmeter can be used to check a water heater with the POWER OFF;
Most of the time this type of problem will show up as a less than
infinity reading from one of the heating element terminals to the
mounting bolt (ground).

This is just one link from google that shows how:

http://www.bobvila.com/FixItClub/Task/Repairing/FIG_ElectricWaterHeater.html

If you have access to a clamp on type AC Current meter, you can easily
check the current drawn by each element.

A stuck thermostat can run up a bill quickly too, but you would have
noticeably hotter water.

HTH

Jerry
--
When things go wrong, don’t go with them. - Anonymous

[p2kmon]

I too live in texas. What Size A/C and what size blower do you have in your
house? I have a 3.5 ton inside and a 2.5 outside. My electric bill was
350+ last year. I was told that the outside Unit can't keep up with the
inside and it draws large amounts of juice. I've had up to 4 tanks running
in the apts and only ever had a bill of 250.

Gotta love the texas summers.


"Dick" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:59:58 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
>
> >Where do you live. I'm in NY?
> >
>
> Small town in West Texas, electric and gas rates have been
> skyrocketing in the last two years. However, I keep a record by
> energy use separate from actual dollars. I had a 10% increase in KWH
> in the year after getting my tanks going from 9145 kwh to 10,780.
> >
> >"Dick" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
> >>
> >> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
> >have a
> >> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
> >tank.
> >> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are
very
> >> >costly to run. And I have 3.
> >> >
> >> I have one 75 gallon, one 29 gallon and three 10 gallon tanks. I run
> >> them at 79 degrees. In the winter I keep the room temperature set to
> >> 76 degrees, but the actual temperature at each fish tank varies by
> >> location from 70 to 76 (near the thermostat).
> >>
> >> I run under 2 watts per gallon in each tank, but I leave the lights on
> >> for 13 hours each day.
> >>
> >> This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month extra.
> >> I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
> >> degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
> >> the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
> >> down for me. So the short of it is in both summer and winter I must
> >> add heat to reach the tank temperature of 79 degrees. Thus my gas and
> >> electric bill does average the extra $50 all year round. I spend
> >> more for my ISDN internet service and drink more than $50 a month, so
> >> the price is acceptable for the pleasure I get from the tanks.
> >
>

[Dick]

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 07:18:58 -0600, "p2kmon" >
wrote:

>I too live in texas. What Size A/C and what size blower do you have in your
>house? I have a 3.5 ton inside and a 2.5 outside. My electric bill was
>350+ last year. I was told that the outside Unit can't keep up with the
>inside and it draws large amounts of juice. I've had up to 4 tanks running
>in the apts and only ever had a bill of 250.
>
>Gotta love the texas summers.
>
>
>"Dick" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:59:58 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
>>
>> >Where do you live. I'm in NY?
>> >
>>
>> Small town in West Texas, electric and gas rates have been
>> skyrocketing in the last two years. However, I keep a record by
>> energy use separate from actual dollars. I had a 10% increase in KWH
>> in the year after getting my tanks going from 9145 kwh to 10,780.
>> >
>> >"Dick" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums. I
>> >have a
>> >> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon acrylic
>> >tank.
>> >> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters are
>very
>> >> >costly to run. And I have 3.
>> >> >
>> >> I have one 75 gallon, one 29 gallon and three 10 gallon tanks. I run
>> >> them at 79 degrees. In the winter I keep the room temperature set to
>> >> 76 degrees, but the actual temperature at each fish tank varies by
>> >> location from 70 to 76 (near the thermostat).
>> >>
>> >> I run under 2 watts per gallon in each tank, but I leave the lights on
>> >> for 13 hours each day.
>> >>
>> >> This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month extra.
>> >> I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
>> >> degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
>> >> the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
>> >> down for me. So the short of it is in both summer and winter I must
>> >> add heat to reach the tank temperature of 79 degrees. Thus my gas and
>> >> electric bill does average the extra $50 all year round. I spend
>> >> more for my ISDN internet service and drink more than $50 a month, so
>> >> the price is acceptable for the pleasure I get from the tanks.
>> >
>>
>

So many factors when considering cost of heating/cooling. I don't
remember how large the AC unit is. I had it installed on my roof and
forgot about it. My costs for cooling will look low compared to
yours. My house is quite small. My largest bill was $148 and last
year was a mild summer in Marfa. I only remember a couple of days
over 100 last summer.

What I was interested in was the cost change due to the tanks. Last
summer was my first since getting my tanks set up. Here I am heating
my 5 tanks to 78 while cooling the house to 76 degrees. So the AC and
the tanks are competing.

What part of Texas are you in? East Texas is so different from west.
Not that humidity is a problem for the fish unless you have to rely on
evaporative coolers, you and I just have dollars to worry about.

[p2kmon]

I'm in Dallas Texas. Last summer for us we had a number of hot days that
killed us. Now TXU wants another rate hike...
I know what you mean about the heating of the tanks and cooling of the
house. I have one tank under the vent - I couldn't help it no where else to
put it. Another thing you might check on is if you are having a voltage
leak. I've read about it but not really looked into it much. They say you
turn off everything in the house, unplug everything and go out and watch if
you meter is moving, might have to watch for a min or two. If its still
moving, you leaking somewhere in the house, and I've been told that can be a
major cost.

I should check to see how much voltage is being used. Awhile back someone
posted for a device you could plug your items into and find out exaclty how
much its using, that way your could take the cost from your current electric
bill and figure it out.


"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 07:18:58 -0600, "p2kmon" >
> wrote:
>
> >I too live in texas. What Size A/C and what size blower do you have in
your
> >house? I have a 3.5 ton inside and a 2.5 outside. My electric bill was
> >350+ last year. I was told that the outside Unit can't keep up with the
> >inside and it draws large amounts of juice. I've had up to 4 tanks
running
> >in the apts and only ever had a bill of 250.
> >
> >Gotta love the texas summers.
> >
> >
> >"Dick" > wrote in message
> ...
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:59:58 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
> >>
> >> >Where do you live. I'm in NY?
> >> >
> >>
> >> Small town in West Texas, electric and gas rates have been
> >> skyrocketing in the last two years. However, I keep a record by
> >> energy use separate from actual dollars. I had a 10% increase in KWH
> >> in the year after getting my tanks going from 9145 kwh to 10,780.
> >> >
> >> >"Dick" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> >> On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 15:53:56 GMT, "FishNut" > wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >Yikes. I it's costing me about 65.00 a month to run my aquariums.
I
> >> >have a
> >> >> >55 gallon tank, a 10 gallon turtle tank and a small 3 gallon
acrylic
> >> >tank.
> >> >> >Does anyone else have this problem? Apparently the tank heaters
are
> >very
> >> >> >costly to run. And I have 3.
> >> >> >
> >> >> I have one 75 gallon, one 29 gallon and three 10 gallon tanks. I
run
> >> >> them at 79 degrees. In the winter I keep the room temperature set
to
> >> >> 76 degrees, but the actual temperature at each fish tank varies by
> >> >> location from 70 to 76 (near the thermostat).
> >> >>
> >> >> I run under 2 watts per gallon in each tank, but I leave the lights
on
> >> >> for 13 hours each day.
> >> >>
> >> >> This is my first winter, but I think it cost me about $50/month
extra.
> >> >> I air condition my home and keep the ambient temperature about 74
> >> >> degrees in the summer. I don't understand why 76 is comfortable in
> >> >> the winter but too hot in the summer, but that is the way it comes
> >> >> down for me. So the short of it is in both summer and winter I must
> >> >> add heat to reach the tank temperature of 79 degrees. Thus my gas
and
> >> >> electric bill does average the extra $50 all year round. I spend
> >> >> more for my ISDN internet service and drink more than $50 a month,
so
> >> >> the price is acceptable for the pleasure I get from the tanks.
> >> >
> >>
> >
>
> So many factors when considering cost of heating/cooling. I don't
> remember how large the AC unit is. I had it installed on my roof and
> forgot about it. My costs for cooling will look low compared to
> yours. My house is quite small. My largest bill was $148 and last
> year was a mild summer in Marfa. I only remember a couple of days
> over 100 last summer.
>
> What I was interested in was the cost change due to the tanks. Last
> summer was my first since getting my tanks set up. Here I am heating
> my 5 tanks to 78 while cooling the house to 76 degrees. So the AC and
> the tanks are competing.
>
> What part of Texas are you in? East Texas is so different from west.
> Not that humidity is a problem for the fish unless you have to rely on
> evaporative coolers, you and I just have dollars to worry about.

[Dick]

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 07:55:17 -0600, "p2kmon" >
wrote:

>I'm in Dallas Texas. Last summer for us we had a number of hot days that
>killed us. Now TXU wants another rate hike...
>I know what you mean about the heating of the tanks and cooling of the
>house. I have one tank under the vent - I couldn't help it no where else to
>put it. Another thing you might check on is if you are having a voltage
>leak. I've read about it but not really looked into it much. They say you
>turn off everything in the house, unplug everything and go out and watch if
>you meter is moving, might have to watch for a min or two. If its still
>moving, you leaking somewhere in the house, and I've been told that can be a
>major cost.
>
>I should check to see how much voltage is being used. Awhile back someone
>posted for a device you could plug your items into and find out exaclty how
>much its using, that way your could take the cost from your current electric
>bill and figure it out.
>
>

Actually, I am not complaining. Your costs are much greater than
mine. But, then my house is much smaller than yours.

I think this discussion has been great. Before I ever bought my first
tank over a year ago, I never gave a thought to ongoing costs. For
those farsighted newbies that are considering their first "toe in the
water" I should think it useful to give such costs a thought.

I was fortunate with the vent placement. I have been able to direct
the air flow away from the tanks. I monitor inside water temperature
and the external temperature at each tank. Lucky me, my 75 gallon
external temperature stays close to 76 degrees so I don't need to add
much extra heat. I do have 3 ten gallon tanks in parts of my house
that stay closer to 72 degrees. Then there is a fully enclosed 29
gallon tank that just naturally stays close to 78 degrees, that one is
a problem in the summer as it rises to closer to 81 degrees when the
outside temp is 76. I am getting used to all these factors and will
be more relaxed in the coming years, I think, hope, who knows?