Metal halide power bill

[chony]

How much difference does it make on your monthly bill?

 

[jc_k]

I think I was reading on it and it said it cost around 200$ a year for a 250watt to be ran 6 hours a day. I don't have a MH but am thinking about getting one.

 

[jdavid]

It's not that much. If you were consuming a full 400 watts 8 hours a day 7 days a week, at a rate of $0.08/kWh (my companies max winter rate) then that's only $7.68/month.

Rates are higher in the summer (higher demand)

What I don't fully understand is if my 400w light is actually consuming 400 watts constantly while it is on. But if it is, that's what I'm paying right now.

 

[reefkeeper]

It all depends on your ballast wattage and how long you keep them on for. I have 4 250 watt electronic ballasts running on my system for 8 hours a day and I can say costing approx. .$40-$50 extra a month to run them.

I have a Kilowatt Meter I bought at home depot for $20 and change. It works pretty good. If you don't have one here a formula I found that can assist you in estimating your cost.

The output wattage will vary especially if your over-driving the bulbs and or using mechanical ballast's.

How Do Calculate The Energy Cost Of A ? Watt Metal Halide

1. How Many Watts?

In order to determine the watts that your fixture uses, you must determine what size your metal halide fixture is. Once you determine that, you can then find the "actual" watts that the fixture uses.

Here is a list of metal halide's we typically see. Figure out which one you have and choose the actual wattage on the right.

175 Watt Metal Halide Fixture = 205 Actual Watts
250 Watt Metal Halide Fixture =290 Actual Watts
400 Watt Metal Halide Fixture = 458 Actual Watts
1000 Watt Metal Halide Fixture =1,081 Actual Watts

2. How Many Fixtures?

Now that you have the watts, you have to determine how many fixture you have. This is one of the easier steps in calculating your lighting costs unless you have a lot of fixtures.

If you have a lot, you may want to have someone help you take a count. It is easy to lose track with your neck bent looking straight up at the ceiling (...plus you don't want to walk into anything and bump your head!)

3. How Many Total Watts?

This is simply the number of fixtures multiplied by the number of watts for your type of fixture. So if you have 20 - 400 watt metal halides, you would simply multiply the following:

20 fixtures x 458 watts = 9,160 Total Watts

4. How Many Kilowatts?
Now take your total watts and divide by 1000 to get your total kilowatts. Using the example from above:

9,160 Total Watts / 1,000 = 9.16 Kilowatts

5. How Many Hours Are Your Lights On Each Day?
This is relatively simple to calculate. But here is a chart for quick reference. It is easiest to go by the type of shifts you have for your company, you don't have to be exact here, just close.

Here are the most common total hours per year;

8 hrs per day = 2,000 hours per year
10 hrs per day = 2,500 hours per year
12 hrs per day = 3,000 hours per year
16 hrs per day = 4,000 hours per year
24 hrs per day = 6,000 hours per year

For our example, we will choose 12 hours per day, or roughly 3,000 hours per year that our 400 Watt Metal Halide's are lit up.

6. To find Kilowatt/Hours (Kwh) we multiply;
9.16 Kilowatts x 3,000 hours per year = 27,800 Kwh

7. What Is The Cost of Your Energy?
27,480 x .08 = $2,198 per year in annual energy costs

8. How Much Per Each 400 Watt Metal Halide?
$2,198 / 20 = $109.20 per year/per 400 Watt Metal Halide

 

[Reefplumber13]

Tagging along

 

[rodasphoto]

The heat and the power usage is why I went with LEDs. I know people say that MH give better results but I like the idea of not changing bulbs out as well.

 

[Reefplumber13]

Rodasphoto;934304 wrote: The heat and the power usage is why I went with LEDs. I know people say that MH give better results but I like the idea of not changing bulbs out as well.

This is why im going leds also

 

[mikesmith34]

So running 2 250w MH fixture 8 hrs a day cost 7-8 bucks a month. No biggie

 

[Reefplumber13]

Reefkeeper;934245 wrote: It all depends on your ballast wattage and how long you keep them on for. I have 4 250 watt electronic ballasts running on my system for 8 hours a day and I can say costing approx. .$40-$50 extra a month to run them.

I have a Kilowatt Meter I bought at home depot for $20 and change. It works pretty good. If you don't have one here a formula I found that can assist you in estimating your cost.

The output wattage will vary especially if your over-driving the bulbs and or using mechanical ballast's.

How Do Calculate The Energy Cost Of A ? Watt Metal Halide

1. How Many Watts?

In order to determine the watts that your fixture uses, you must determine what size your metal halide fixture is. Once you determine that, you can then find the "actual" watts that the fixture uses.

Here is a list of metal halide's we typically see. Figure out which one you have and choose the actual wattage on the right.

175 Watt Metal Halide Fixture = 205 Actual Watts
250 Watt Metal Halide Fixture =290 Actual Watts
400 Watt Metal Halide Fixture = 458 Actual Watts
1000 Watt Metal Halide Fixture =1,081 Actual Watts

2. How Many Fixtures?

Now that you have the watts, you have to determine how many fixture you have. This is one of the easier steps in calculating your lighting costs unless you have a lot of fixtures.

If you have a lot, you may want to have someone help you take a count. It is easy to lose track with your neck bent looking straight up at the ceiling (...plus you don't want to walk into anything and bump your head!)

3. How Many Total Watts?

This is simply the number of fixtures multiplied by the number of watts for your type of fixture. So if you have 20 - 400 watt metal halides, you would simply multiply the following:

20 fixtures x 458 watts = 9,160 Total Watts

4. How Many Kilowatts?
Now take your total watts and divide by 1000 to get your total kilowatts. Using the example from above:

9,160 Total Watts / 1,000 = 9.16 Kilowatts

5. How Many Hours Are Your Lights On Each Day?
This is relatively simple to calculate. But here is a chart for quick reference. It is easiest to go by the type of shifts you have for your company, you don't have to be exact here, just close.

Here are the most common total hours per year;

8 hrs per day = 2,000 hours per year
10 hrs per day = 2,500 hours per year
12 hrs per day = 3,000 hours per year
16 hrs per day = 4,000 hours per year
24 hrs per day = 6,000 hours per year

For our example, we will choose 12 hours per day, or roughly 3,000 hours per year that our 400 Watt Metal Halide's are lit up.

6. To find Kilowatt/Hours (Kwh) we multiply;
9.16 Kilowatts x 3,000 hours per year = 27,800 Kwh

7. What Is The Cost of Your Energy?
27,480 x .08 = $2,198 per year in annual energy costs

8. How Much Per Each 400 Watt Metal Halide?
$2,198 / 20 = $109.20 per year/per 400 Watt Metal Halide

Can you apply this to other lighys also?

 

[fishdude]

I'm in the energy business and one thing to note is that the price per kWh varies a good deal on season and region. In Atlanta you can expect to see a range of .08 - .14 /KWh (.10 avg). In California you can see a range of .08 - .50 (.15 avg). IE your MH lights will have a bigger impact on the bill when the energy costs are up.
-Nick

 

[indecloudzua]

you've also got to account for the possibility of having to run a chiller as well..thats added electrical cost due to the MH as well..

Edit:

jtsreef;934416 wrote: Can you apply this to other lighys also?

i dont see why you couldnt. But you would need to substitute the actual wattage that the others lights are using instead of the MH numbers. Should all work out the same.

 

[reefkeeper]

Guys go get yourself one of these at Home Depot. It's worth it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388?cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-202196388&skwcid&kwd=&ci_sku=202196388&ci_kw=&ci_gpa=pla&ci_src=17588969">http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388?cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-202196388&skwcid&kwd=&ci_sku=202196388&ci_kw=&ci_gpa=pla&ci_src=17588969</a>

Edit: [QUOTE=][B]jtsreef;934416 wrote:[/B] Can you apply this to other lights also?[/QUOTE]Why not, if you really want to be accurate, take a meter and measure your output wattage on your ballast or driver and use those numbers for your calculations.

 

[tchristman]

Reefcentral has a neat energy calculator and you can put your entire tank in there and get an estimate of total costs.

Edit: Reefcentral has a neat energy calculator and you can put your entire tank in there and get an estimate of total costs.