Do Tropical Tank Water Heaters Guzzle Electricity?

[The chilly dipper]

what are your experiences in this ???

 

[StandbySetting]

You can calculate how much it will cost, find out how many watts each of your pieces of equipment are rated at (ignore the heater for the mean time) and then times these values by how many hours they run a day, then divide this value by 1000 to give you a value in KwH
1KWH is equal to 1 unit of electricity, which is generally on average about 8 pence, so if you tank consumes 3KwH per day it's going to cost you about 24p a day to run.

With regards to the heater, when calculating this, times the value it is rated at by 6 hours, heaters are (from my experience) only active for a 1/4 of the day.

 

[The chilly dipper]

You can calculate how much it will cost, find out how many watts each of your pieces of equipment are rated at (ignore the heater for the mean time) and then times these values by how many hours they run a day, then divide this value by 1000 to give you a value in KwH
1KWH is equal to 1 unit of electricity, which is generally on average about 8 pence, so if you tank consumes 3KwH per day it's going to cost you about 24p a day to run.

With regards to the heater, when calculating this, times the value it is rated at by 6 hours, heaters are (from my experience) only active for a 1/4 of the day.

nice mate
nice formula
what did you mean when you said they are on for 1/4 do they auto turn of to maintain temp?

 

[StandbySetting]

Heaters are rated at their stated value, plus the power it to power the thermostat (which is negligible) So you only really need to take the power the heater draws into account, heaters aren't on constantly as they're thermostatic (most are anyway) so only turn on when they're required, this obviously depends on the ambient temperature of the room in which your tank occupies, to get an idea of the power mine was consuming I fitted an energy monitor to my heater for one day every 3 months over a year period to give me an average value for the time it spends on, this value was 4-6 hours a day, dependent on ambient temperature.

 

[The chilly dipper]

Heaters are rated at their stated value, plus the power it to power the thermostat (which is negligible) So you only really need to take the power the heater draws into account, heaters aren't on constantly as they're thermostatic (most are anyway) so only turn on when they're required, this obviously depends on the ambient temperature of the room in which your tank occupies, to get an idea of the power mine was consuming I fitted an energy monitor to my heater for one day every 3 months over a year period to give me an average value for the time it spends on, this value was 4-6 hours a day, dependent on ambient temperature.

reassuring numbers mate thanks for sharing

 

[njstockley]

the only thing that i consider is that the price of running a tropical aquarium is ok when you weigh it up against how it can look and how rewarding it can be...i dont have a formula as above, but think that whatever the cost might be, its defo worth it!!

 

[Tolak]

I noticed some time ago that 1/4-1/3 of the heaters on my tanks are running, keeping tank temperatures 5-10F above room temperature.

 

[The chilly dipper]

the only thing that i consider is that the price of running a tropical aquarium is ok when you weigh it up against how it can look and how rewarding it can be...i dont have a formula as above, but think that whatever the cost might be, its defo worth it!!

im with you mate, im exited to be honest

 

[fluttermoth]

I've never worked out exactly how much it costs, but it can't be that much; I've just been out to charge up my electric key, which is a 20 minute walk there and back, and I'd used one penny in that time, and that's with 5 tanks (3 four footers and 2 three footers), all with the lights on.

Obviously if all the tank heaters had come on at the same time it would have used more, but it's really not that much.

 

[The chilly dipper]

I've never worked out exactly how much it costs, but it can't be that much; I've just been out to charge up my electric key, which is a 20 minute walk there and back, and I'd used one penny in that time, and that's with 5 tanks (3 four footers and 2 three footers), all with the lights on.

Obviously if all the tank heaters had come on at the same time it would have used more, but it's really not that much.

you live in the uk then due to the electricity key, pay point thingy majigs lol

im confident the missus wont be telling me the bills through roof lol concidering your little finding

 

[fluttermoth]

I do indeed live in the UK (well, Cornwall )
I barely notice my electric use going up with new tanks; I'm sure it does, but it can't be more than £3-£4 (that's about $2, I think?)

 

[StandbySetting]

I'm unsure how this will turn out but here's the calculations for my current tank (70L) just to give people a general idea, mine costs £0.05 to run per day, not a lot at all.

 

[The chilly dipper]

I'm unsure how this will turn out but here's the calculations for my current tank (70L) just to give people a general idea, mine costs £0.05 to run per day, not a lot at all.

exellent table there matey that is not a great deal of money at all
the missus uses more with the hair straighteners on lol

 

[wodesorel]

I bought a P3 power meter a few years ago because our electricity bill seemed to be uber-high. (My mother's electricity costs more per watt, but her bill was half of ours!) When my 20 gallon fish tank was tested in November 2009 it included a florescent light strip, aquaclear filter, and 75W Hydor heater. The cost was only $2.84 a month for everything.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

How much electric will be guzzled will be dependent upon several factors including...

• What is the ambient temp of the room where the tank is.
• What temp the inhabitants of the tank need their water to be.
• The quality of the insulation used in the house or garage.
• How much insulation is wrapped around the sides and top of tank.

My 560l tank runs in the poorly insulated garage, but fortunately my fish down there are comfortable at 22C and so 550W of heater managed to maintain that temp, with the help of five or six different insulation layers around the tank during that bitter spell we had in winter. For the last month or so, the heaters rarely have to kick in, as the temp is often 23/24C with just one insulation layer overnight, but Dec-Feb those heaters were just leaking money!


Hopefully they will comment in person, but I know "mattlee" and "simona" had a nightmare with their garage tanks which needed a higher temp than mine, needing in excess of 1200W to maintain 26C and 29C in Leicester and Wirral respectively!


In these days of tight budgets in many households, there has never been a better time to consider sub-tropical fish communities...