# Electricity energy costs



## PARAGUAY (7 Sep 2022)

I was wondering anybody's views tips etc and info on rising energy costs electricity affecting aquariums. All articles l find are rather old. I did manage to find out fluvals filters ars extremely efficient and low cost on energy usage .  Great for myself with 5aquariums


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## dw1305 (7 Sep 2022)

Hi all,


PARAGUAY said:


> I did manage to find out fluvals filters ars extremely efficient and low cost on energy usage


I think the filters all tend to be fairly low wattage, impeller driven pumps just don't eat much power.  As an example I think <"Eheim Ecco Pro filters are 8W"> (even though that wouldn't be <"enough inducement"> for me to buy another one).

The issue is more with the lighting and especially the heating.  All energy eventually <"ends up as heat">,


> ..........._The law of conservation of energy, also known as the first law of thermodynamics..._.....


So if you have a lid and insulate the back of the tank etc it saves electric.

cheers Darrel


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## castle (7 Sep 2022)

I don’t have access to the document by phone, but I did do a calculation to work out running costs of my aquariums. 

 I suspect for people with one tank, your running costs will be about the same as ~5 boiled kettles a day. 

My fish room will work out at about 1.90£ a day, that with a 800w oil heater running for an assumed 3 hours a day. I’m replacing all lights with 2-4w gu10 LEDs. The filters are running off a piston air pump, but I’ve got some Eheim liberty filters on a few tanks, and they’re about 7w each. This was all calculated at around 39p a kWh, so it’s a little out.

I know this is going to be pricy this year, my advice to everyone who keep fish is to check the winter temperature of the fish they keep and set the heater to that. You’ll be surprised how cold it gets.


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## hwscot (7 Sep 2022)

dw1305 said:


> The issue is more with the lighting and especially the heating.  All energy eventually <"ends up as heat">,
> 
> So if you have a lid and insulate the back of the tank etc it saves electric.
> 
> cheers Darrel


Have to admit I was cogitating last night on this matter .. I think I will just have to have a tank in every room and use that instead of central heating. More seriously, yes, with only five tanks, it's still concerning me, particularly the heaters. At least you can put the lights on a shorter cycle.


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## John q (7 Sep 2022)

This is a half decent calculator for working out the cost of aquarium gadgets, just imput wattage and time running, should give you a rough idea of costs. 








						Electricity Cost Calculator
					

Use our simple energy calculator to see the running costs of any electrical items using a range of electricity tariffs.




					www.sust-it.net


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## PARAGUAY (10 Sep 2022)

Which?  also have a calculator based on energy cap what your direct debit is now and what your likely to pay in future It's  updated as from now Just put your DD in and it works on what your payments going forward are. Of course we need to save were we can. Polystyrene  ordered  and one tank at least can be changed open top to covered . Draught excluders all around🙂


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## Kattis (23 Sep 2022)

Also worth to consider that it might be more economical to keep the room the aquarium is a bit warmer


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## _Maq_ (23 Sep 2022)

If you happen to keep planted tanks without fish you need not worry about temperature falling to 15 °C or so.


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## John q (23 Sep 2022)

_Maq_ said:


> If you happen to keep planted tanks without fish


Lol  suspect you're in a minority on this one, although point well made.


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## _Maq_ (24 Sep 2022)

John q said:


> you're in a minority on this one


I would like to add some fish to my tanks. Small cichlids are my soft spot. Yet I've postponed my plans precisely to lower energy costs during this uneasy time.


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## John q (24 Sep 2022)

I think we're all feeling the pinch and trying to do what we can to reduce costs, but spare a thought for your Lfs. 
Was in pier aquatics earlier and the energy quotes they'd been getting would have been unsustainable. From October with the government business help being rolled out their energy costs will be around £1800 per month,  I suspect going forward a lot of local fish stores will struggle and fold in the not to distant future.


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## PARAGUAY (24 Sep 2022)

Visited a few over the last few weeks and noticed a bit quiet at busy times. Exception was a Maidenhead in a garden centre which helps l suppose


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## PARAGUAY (23 Oct 2022)

As anyone noticed these internet ads for plug in gadgets which claim to not use a lot of energy but heat a room in 15 minutes. I researched this a little and (gov.uk)warm homes say gas central heating still the cheapest option. Confusingly ,l will recheck, this but Resolver seemed to recommend a gadget as acheap option to reduce heating costs?Anyone ,a question,got a smart meter and would recommend them


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## dino21 (23 Oct 2022)

PARAGUAY said:


> As anyone noticed these internet ads for plug in gadgets which claim to not use a lot of energy but heat a room in 15 minutes. I researched this a little and (gov.uk)warm homes say gas central heating still the cheapest option. Confusingly ,l will recheck, this but Resolver seemed to recommend a gadget as acheap option to reduce heating costs?Anyone ,a question,got a smart meter and would recommend them



Think you are refering to the Infrared  type of heaters  which heat in a different way and may seem to give a greater feeling of warmth than the more usuual  heaters.
What are the Different Types of Electric Heating?
However don't think any heater will give out more heat than the electrical energy it consumes otherwise we would use nothing else !

Yes, gas central heating still seems to be the most practical  / effective heating method for an average house from what we read /  can say from our energy bills.

Have a smart meters, no real difference other than you get more accurate bills and when going to the suppliers web site you can view your historic use in more detail.
You also get one of the little indoor energy  meters so you can see what each appliance uses as you switch it on etc, but with the current price increases it makes you watch it so much you can drive yourself mad  - we have put ours away it can become addictive !


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## dw1305 (23 Oct 2022)

Hi all,


PARAGUAY said:


> ads for plug in gadgets which claim to not use a lot of energy but heat a room in 15 minutes. I researched this a little and (gov.uk)warm homes say gas central heating still the cheapest option


There are differences in efficiency, but because all energy eventually ends up as heat (<"second law of thermodynamics">) I'd guess that price per therm is the only number that really matters. Obviously insulation etc is relevant in terms of retaining heat, but in identical rooms I can't see that there can be a "magic gadget" that invents energy.* 

_*edit: What @dino21 says_


PARAGUAY said:


> Anyone ,a question,got a smart meter and would recommend them





dino21 said:


> Have a smart meters, no real difference other than you get more accurate bills and when going to the suppliers web site you can view your historic use in more detail.
> You also get one of the little indoor energy meters so you can see what each appliance uses as you switch it on etc, but with the current price increases it makes you watch it so much you can drive yourself mad - we have put ours away it can become addictive !


Got one, not sure it makes a lot of difference, but definitely addictive, when ours gets to £1.89 for the day we have to turn everything we can and go to bed.  I'm working on that being about dusk in the winter.

cheers Darrel


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## Courtneybst (23 Oct 2022)

PARAGUAY said:


> As anyone noticed these internet ads for plug in gadgets which claim to not use a lot of energy but heat a room in 15 minutes. I researched this a little and (gov.uk)warm homes say gas central heating still the cheapest option. Confusingly ,l will recheck, this but Resolver seemed to recommend a gadget as acheap option to reduce heating costs?Anyone ,a question,got a smart meter and would recommend them


Currently in our house we've decided not to use the central heating and try using oil free space heaters to only heat the spaces we're actively using. Usually we just put them in the hallway and open the doors. So far it's actually been quite effective, more than I expected. We don't need to keep them on for very long. 

It also helps that the rooms we use the most are South-facing so get warm with the passing sun.

The only reason we've chosen this is because our electricity rates have been frozen until spring. But even still, it seems like it would make more sense to heat up a single room than the whole house. After all, you can only be in one place at a time!


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## PARAGUAY (23 Oct 2022)

Suppose these internet ads are exploiting the situation Darell, I had heard the usuage gadgets on smart meters is additive . Never really @Courtneybst   thought about oil space heaters but the south facing seems a good idea if it's viable .


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## dw1305 (23 Oct 2022)

Hi all,


PARAGUAY said:


> thought about oil space heaters but the south facing seems a good idea if it's viable .


We do the same as @Courtneybst, an oil heater in the room we are in and try to maximise solar gain. So far we haven't turned the central heating on, but the house is S. facing and fairly well insulated (and we have <"PV solar panels">), that were <"a fantastic investment">.

cheers Darrel


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## KirstyF (23 Oct 2022)

[QUOTE="dw1305, post: 707667, member: 484"
Got one, not sure it makes a lot of difference, but definitely addictive, when ours gets to £1.89 for the day we have to turn everything we can and go to bed.  I'm working on that being about dusk in the winter.

cheers Darrel
[/QUOTE]

I don’t think that would get me to lunchtime so I guess I can bank on getting allllllot of sleep this winter! 😂


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