On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 04:31:50 GMT, Wes Gray
wrote:

I am thinking about getting a 75g tank. Currently the biggest tank I've
ever had was 26g. Any vague idea what I'm looking at in terms of
electricity usage? It would just be community freshwater, no plants,
so the main cost would be the heating.

A lot depends on your normal room temperature and what temperature you
maintain in the tank. My 5 tanks, ranging in size of 10 to 75
gallons, are set between 76 and 78F. In the winter I heat my house
to about 74 degrees thus the heaters have to make up the difference.
The greater the difference between room temperature and tank
temperature, the more the heating cost will be.

Winter costs are less than summer, for me. I run the air conditioner
to a room temperature of 77 degrees, but I used to keep my room
temperature at 74 all year round. I am paying for electricity to
lower my house temp and paying for electricity to heat the tanks.

Air pumps and filters run 24/7, but don't draw much current. Lights
add heat to the tank (good in the winter, bad in the summer) and draw
quite a bit of electricity.

I track my electric and gas use using Excel spread sheet. Starting
the year I bought my tanks, I can see a real increase in power
consumption. I would estimate my power costs have gone up 10%.

dick