Cost of 1 watt per year in Ottawa = $0.64

[Joe]

Consuming 1 watt continuously for a year costs you $0.639

Based on smart meter rates of $0.059kwh (off-peak), $0.089 (mid-peak), and $0.107 (peak)

So your skimmers and pumps are hurting you too badly.

[RossW]

Does that include taxes, delivery fees, debt retirement, etc...

[HappyGuppy]

My wife does notice a significant affect on our electric bill thanks to my tanks.  She even called hydro about it to see what can be done.

Hey Njoyrid and others with monster tanks... did any of you guys get Police show up at your door to inquire about your high electric usage?

[Joe]

$0.64 is the base rate. You're out-of-pocket approx. $1.10/watt/year.

Thanks for pointing that out RossW.

[Severum]

Thats a lot. Ok i'm getting out of the hobby.

[NjOyRiD]

no, not yet.
I cant wait to show them my monster tank and my Huge sump room

[JetJumper]

Whats your point?   We all are in the hobby for the sake of it being a hobby.  With hobbies come expenses.  If you can't afford it, then don't get into it.  hehe

[jon1985]

even if my tank was to run full blast 24/7 all year it would be less than $1000 for the year.  I can think of alot of other hobbies that would be alot worse.  Infact I paintball competatively and it runs be about $4000 for the 5 month season.

[brotherluv]

$1000 per year is less than 2 Second Cup coffees 5 days a week for a year.  My old hobby cost me over $1000 per month...yikes and this is much more rewarding!

[NjOyRiD]

the only ting i would liek to chnage about my tank's hydro is my Mh
the rest is fine

[bitterman]

I know my hydro bill 6 years ago was only about $98-100 per month now with the prices and tanks I have running it is upto about $300 per month.

I am cutting back! Granted hydro has gone up but I expect tanks are 1/2 of our hydro bill.

[Brine]

hobbies cost money....what is your enjoyment worth?
could be spending thousands more on that motorcycle or hot rod
keeping the expenses  balanced with reality is the hardest part

[Greatwhite]

I know my hydro bill 6 years ago was only about $98-100 per month now with the prices and tanks I have running it is upto about $300 per month.

I am cutting back! Granted hydro has gone up but I expect tanks are 1/2 of our hydro bill.

I can assure you that if you were running EXACTLY the same stuff you did 6 years ago today, it'd cost 2-3x more than it did back then.

I posted a spreadsheet a couple months back that showed what your tank is actually costing you, based on your schedule.  Then it was added to by a few people.  It can be used to help you to make some changes that will save you some money.  (i think it was in the equipment section, and may have been called "cost of lighting" or something)

[Greatwhite]

OK, so it was a couple months ago.. or a few even...

http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=51167.0

[HappyGuppy]

After having pondered the matter, and considering that my wife had just this past week raised the issue of the electricity bill, I decided upon a few changes.

The first thing that I am implementing is that I am changing the lighting schedule to run mostly (not entirely) during the cheaper rate times.  Around noon I'll have the lights turn on for a short period (sunny), then in the evening I'll run the rest of the time.  I figured that I don't really look at the tanks during the daytime anyhow, and usually enjoy the tanks in the evening, thus that's when I should be running the lights.  So my tanks are now switched to go to bed after I do.  Hope that a simple switch like this could save a noticeable amount on my monthly bill.

[Severum]

Same boat as you. My lighting schedule changed with the time of use billing. Actinics come on at 6pm, daylights on at 7pm and both off after I head to bed.

[Greatwhite]

My problem is that I work from home, and my tank is 10 feet away from me.  I'd get depressed looking over there at darkness all day.

This time-of-use stuff really doesn't work well for people with home offices - and stay at home moms.

[JetJumper]

Difference with a stay at home office is you can write off a certain percentage of your house bills / mortgage.  So you still come out a head sometimes.

[Greatwhite]

Difference with a stay at home office is you can write off a certain percentage of your house bills / mortgage.  So you still come out a head sometimes.

True... My wife is my accountant - she handle's all that.   I've got all kinds of fun things that I write off.  New computers for the last few years were 100% deductible.

I still hate to see hydro bills come in, though.

[FishBuddy]

Besides setting lightings on during off-peak, I am now setting heaters (yes, the big hydro suckers!) on during off-peaks as well.  Depending on the size of your tank and the sensitivity of your fish, this may or may not work for everyone.

As of now, my heaters are off between 11AM and 5PM each day during weekdays.  On weekends, it's on 24/7.   I am seeing a drop of 3 or 4 degrees during this period of time.  The fish should be able to handle this (they better learn to adapt like we do ).  Let's see how my hydro bill goes this month..