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MH Bulbs & power consumption

ScottMo

ScottMo

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Hello, I purchased a used Coralife Pro 48" twin MH 250w light fixture and have not replaced the MH bulbs and do not know their age. My electric bill has doubled to 112.00 p/mo running them only 4 hours a day.
Question would new MH bulbs make a significant difference in power consumption?
And could 150w bulbs be run on the 250w ballasts?
Thank You Reefers!
 
Thanks all, after additional research I see my ballasts are old style large power hogs. So my new plan is to use another twin 96w pc fixture making the setup 4x96w pc total. The setup then consists of 2-470nm royal blue bulbs and 2-10000k (not yet purchased, open to suggestions) running PCs 5 days a week and then cycle in the 2-250w MH 2 per days a week. I keep mostly softies in a 4x2x2 120g. Any suggestions on that setup?
Thanks again Reefers!
 
No pc! T5 at worst, 150 w mh over 400 w of pc!
Don't switch lighting during the week. What you really want are LEDs. Build your own to save money(rapid led), or look into some strips like reefbrights (if you got one 50/50 or white and one blue youd be set for about $400)
or ecoxotic panorama or stunner. I've got a couple led lit tanks in sf if you wanna check them out.
 
Lets take this from a mathematical perspective, 250w x 2 although it's closer to 300w each, so 600w total x 4 hours a day = 2.4 kWh you're using per day, you said you changed the bulbs, but what did you change from? Lets ignore the old light power consumption just for ease of calculation now, 2.4kWh/day x 30 days = 72 kWh if your bill doubled to $112 that means it increased $66 , 72kWh does not translate to $66 any way you slice it. So the lights are not the only culprit. Probably at most the lights would contribute $20 of your bill. Something else is suspect.
 
Thanks Mike!
Very helpful, the guesstamation was that new MH rig wouldn't break or shock me (pun intd! Lol). I did solve a nasty stray voltage problem which was the suspect. After a reread I'm still using 21kWh p/day (01/12=21kHv at 85.00) with 38% of my usage in tier3 that's 57% more expensive. Omitting previous months tier cost research the new usage is equal to previous maximums but more costly 01/12 = 85.00 @21kHv vs 10/16 =112.24 @21kHv, So is it seasonal rates? and if so, any guess how much a 57 volt as measured, stray current draw could cost per day?
 
you don't pay for volts you pay for watt-hours, voltage is meaningless without knowing how much current is drawn. If you have stray voltage, which btw is not uncommon, you are not using a significant amount of power in that sense though so I would write that off as "negligible" power usage. I've have solar though so I'm not sure what the tiered rates are as they just tell me a net usage and cost each month then bill me at the end of the year (this year I'm at around $500 for electricity which isn't half bad!).

To answer your questions, yes PG&E is seasonal. Depending upon where you live you get more of an allowance in the summer than the winter, unless you live on the coast/peninsula then it's pretty dead even since we don't "need" AC and we're expected to have natural gas hookups.

Another possibility for high cost is to think where the tank is located, if you're one of those people who don't mind the house getting colder, or you have a sump in a garage/basement then the cold weather absolutely will affect you as your heaters will work that much harder. I notice that on my solar usage, I go from $100/month when it's cold/cloudy/not making much power to $3 when it's warm/sunny and heaters don't need to work too hard.
 
Nice solar setup Mike good job. I'm in alameda so pretty even temps and sump is under tank in front room. Did some testing using the RKL and the system in full ops with 2 flourescent on draws 1.3-4 Amps, adding in the 2 MH it draws 4.3 Amps. My conclusion is to run the MH 4 hours/day and turn off the fluorescents during that period. As for rates and tiers here the summer or more expensive starts in May and the cheaper winter starts in November so next months bill should drop for that reason. I really appreciate the input as it helped me think and not blow another 50 bucks on more tubes. Last question, will a decent LED fixture like a Maxspect Razor put all this to rest and still grow corals equally well?
 
Haven't used one but I hear they are pretty nice. I like reef brite strips and aqua illumination sol blues quite a bit! I have 2 ai sol blue on my 120 4x2x2 and they grow everything.
 
Update: November is the beginning of the winter power prices for 94501 and my bill dropped to 30.00 with the exact same power consumption of 22 khv usage (thats how the bill reads in khv) due to zero tier 3 usage. Better get the new Maxspect lights before it changes back!
Thank you all for help.
 
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