[blue]

Well yeah today sucks! My dad got the electric bill and well my 400 watt halides are going to kill us. So he said the halides have to be off the tank in one week or the whole goes So i think i wanna keep my halides just use them for now sound good? I got 240 bucks to spend to get some other typr of ligh VHO or PC what do i get my tank is a 80 gallon tank. Umm i needed this money for other stuff for my tank like a clean up crew but looks like im going to have a little detoure. So what do i do?
Blue

[Biomanjcs72]

I think that you can get better wattage/PAR with VHO for the money, but I could be (and probably am) Wrong.

Are you going to be selling those MH's? anytime soon?

[blue]

I havent decide if im going to sell the halides or keep them for another time i will let you know. More then likely ill be selling them within the next two ta three weeks gotta get some new lights first.

Blue

[thezookeeper]

Sorry to hear that blue! I think VHO's by Icecap would be the most cost efficient. Out of curiousity, how much did the MH's increase the electric bill?


Joanne

[blue]

The halides incresead the electric bill by 175 bucks and i havent been running them for 10 hours a day or even all last month

Blue

[tlc]

first of all how old are you? if you are able to work a very part time job you could easily afford those lights(not sure how many you have) in colorado running 2 400 watt halides 12 hrs a day will cost about 30 a month. i doubt your tank is raising the bill much more than that. call your electric company and find out how much they charge per kilowatt. that will help you determine the consumption of your halides. its more likely the air conditioning in hot texas that is running your bill up. surely you can find a way to make 40 bucks a month to contribute to the electric bill. sounds like dad needs to stare at the tank a little more....

[ravenmore]

blue - I live in downtown dallas and my electric bill went up quite a bit too last month. It's because of the heat. I don't think the halides should add $175. Probably more like $50 or $60. BTW, I run 2x250 watt metal halides.

If you find out different let me know.

good luck!

-Mike

[ravenmore]

Oh yeah, I remember reading somewhere that mh, depending on the ballast, is actually the MOST economical light solution.

-Mike

[Steve]

On the electric bill, be sure to check how many days you were billed for. I was billed for 33 days for May and only 30 for June. This can make a difference. There is no way the total amount of increase is from the lights. As the others said, it probably is a large part from the air conditioning.

[Ninong]

It is not possible for your 2x400w metal halides to add $175 per month to your electric bill. That would amount to about $0.73/kwh. Since you do not live in San Diego, I doubt if your electric rate is more than $0.12/kwh, which would mean about $29/mo for the halides. Of course, you have to add your other stuff, too, so you might actually be adding a total of $40-$50/mo max. But you are not adding $175/month, no matter how you cut it.

In hind sight, maybe you should have gone with 250w halides instead but getting rid of the halides and switching to 440 watts of VHO is not going to drop your total electric month cost by more than about $13 per month.

Why don't you check your electric bill to see what the cost per kwh is? You may have to be careful how you approach this with your Dad, however.

Ninong

P.S. - The dishwasher costs about twice as much per hour to run, the central air-conditioning in an average sized home in Texas at this time of year costs about 7 to 8 times as much per hour to run and it's running 24 hours a day, not just 10.

[icemark]

I agree with Ninong, I think there is something fishy with how much your being told that the MH lights are adding to the 'lectric bill.

In my case VHO lights add about $20 to the bill each month, I can't imagine that your 400 watt halides would be much more than double that. Maybe $40 a month for MH (Based on 440 watts VHO vs 800 watts MH). Maybe going to NO lights might bring the bill down a little, but given the efficency of icecap VHO ballasts, I would question any drop more than $5.

I would look around at what the real reason the bill went up $175.00

On the other hand I am also smiling a little that finally Texas is getting electric rates like what we pay in CA. You know many Californian's blame the big energy co's in Texas for all the problems (even though that is only part of the problem).

[blue]

Well yalls aircondtioner therory made it worse. I told my dad what yall had said and he says yes its was mainly the aircondtioner but the heat from the halides is what is making the air condtioner run more. I dunno he said he doesnt mind the halides but the 400 watters are to much. I found a used dual 150 watt aquastarlight fixture for sale and he agreed upon me getting it so looks like i lose. So best offer on the halides gets them. They are now officaly for sale.
Blue

[Ninong]

I told ya to be careful how you "explained" this to your Dad!

Hey, that's not such a bad fixture for an 80-gal tank! The Ushio/BLV 150w 10,000K HQI double-ended lamp is a really beautiful color and stronger than any 175w metal halide out there. Some people claim it's almost equal to some 250w lamps.

List your 400w Iwasaki rig in the For Sale or Trade forum.

Good luck,

Ninong

[myreef]

Guess you are going to miss dear old dad. Tell him to chill...hehe pun intended. Good luck with everything.....

[Neal359]

if you want to find out what you light are really costing (pleas corect me if i am wrong) get the electric bill and find out how much you get charged by the kilowatt hour. their are a thosed wats in one kilowat and you have them on for 10 hours a day at 400 wats an hour so its costing you 4 kilowats a day and a 120 kiliwats a month.

[SPasse]

Blue,

I agree that you should try to determine just how much your lighting is costing you.

If you tell me:

1 How much electricity costs in Plano TX per kWh.

2 Are you using two 400-watt lamps?

3 What type of ballasts are you using?

4 What kind of supplemental actinics and their ballast.

I can even estimate additional air conditioner heat load.

Regards,

Scott Passe

[ravenmore]

As mentioned before, I live in downtown Dallas. Plano is a Dallas suburb, so I'm assuming we're all on TXU and paying about the same per killowat hour. It just so happens I have my electric bill in front of me. The energy charge portion was $183.37 for 2041 kwh. Soooo, if I'm figuring the math right (and someone please double check me on this, as I was an art major just so I could avoid math in college.....) that breaks down to $.0898/kwh.

Blue - were'd ya get the hqi lights? I've been thinking of adding some myself, partially because of the same reasons. If anyone could recommend a good place for a complete hqi settup, please let me know.

-Mike

[FishKid]

did you try the puppy dog eye, and tears trick? worked for me My dad didnt like the idea of the whole tank! still hates it, which I think is wierd! doesnt like my piranhas either!

Im reminded of an old will smith song "parents just dont understand"

mark

[Bamm Bamm]

Yeah I've turned my halides off also because of electricty costs and Algae int he tank!!

[tmncali]

that breaks down to $.0898/kwh.

that would be nice to pay. before rate increase havent got new bill yet my last cost per kwh $.13009 meter man comes to read meter tommorrow, cant wait because ive ran the A/C 24/7 since last read so im hoping for a huge bill.


thanks



tony