Electricity cost of running hailides?

leslie hempel

leslie hempel

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guys as you know i am trying to make up my mind on which route to go with my lighting..

i currently own 2 x 250w lumerarc reflectors and balasts but dont have the bulbs

i am curious to know what difference there will be in electrical consumption and cost as apposed to running 3 x 150w units...

lets take it that the bulbs will be running 10 hours per day... what monthly cost am i looking at

to run 150w?
to run 250w?
difference between the two?

i am looking to assign a money value to this so that i can decide if i should just not go 250w (if the difference isnt too big) and just pay a little more to my landlord for my corals benefit.

help please
 
Dude, easiest solution,

Ge a house where you don't pay electricity. I'm moving into a smaller house one of these days, my company pays the electricity, HA!

Otherwise, reduce the time they'll be burning
 
Hi Leslie

Your 2 x 250 watt bulbs will cost you R90 per month at 12 hours per day.
Your 3 x 150 watt bulb will cost you R81 per month at 12 hours per day.

The difference is pretty small,go with what you prefer.
 
You just need to get the rate for 1kWH (1000 watts running for one hour).

Working backwards Flappy used a rate of 50c/kWH.

For the 2x250W=500W=0.5kW/H = 6kWH per 12 hour period.

6 x 30 = 180 kWH per month. At a charge of R0.50/kWH - R90/month.
 
Well @ R9 diffs it's worth keeping what you already got but how about working out how much extra your chiller will have to work to keep the temp the same as running 150w?
 
Tom the short answer is no :)
 
Tom said:
Can I tag and ask: Is it possible to use a 150W bulb in a 250W unit?
Click to expand...

tom the difference is that the units i have as are most 250w's are SE (single ended) and i want DE( double ended).this besides the wattage difference in the balast are the main factors.....
 
thank you to all who have participated i am still undecided at this point from an astetics point of view but i am slowly formulating an opinion on what to do...

i still have time as my tank has only been running for a week....

decisions decisions.....
 
leslie hempel said:
thank you to all who have participated i am still undecided at this point from an astetics point of view but i am slowly formulating an opinion on what to do...

i still have time as my tank has only been running for a week....

decisions decisions.....
Click to expand...


and where are the pics? come on u know the rules
 
Les, to calculate exactly, you would need to know how much your utility company charges for electricity.

Monthly Cost = xkWH(in Rand) x Wattage of a Light x Number of Lights x 30 days x Number of hours in a day / 1000 (to convert kW into W)

Where xkWH is the cost of electricity in Kilowatt Hours. Here by me it's quite cheap at at 45c for 1 kWH.
 
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