# On average how much would a Tank cost me monthly/Yearly?



## Dawes (Jun 26, 2012)

As the Title says, I'm just curious to how much on 'average' a 33 Gallon Tank with the following would cost me monthly/yearly if I were to have everything running continuously, as a Tank usually would do.

Fluval U3: 7.5W (230V)
Fluval Mirrored M Series Heater 150W
Eheim Air Pump 200 (2 outlet hoses) - Not entirely sure on V/W.

I'm not exactly knowledgeable when it comes to V/W and general Electricity conversion/cost.
So I must apologise that I could not be more precise (Perhaps you could try research the items in Google and see if you have any better luck than I do, since I don't know what to look for concerning wattage/Voltage and general electricity consumption, etc)

So from experience, how much would it cost me to run that set up both per 1 month and per 1 year. (Separate costings would be helpful, although I suppose I could divide or multiply any specific numbers)
Or if you have a bigger or similar electricity consumption, could you perhaps be so kind as to tell me how much it costs you extra a month and a year (without sounding too cheeky). - So I can get a rough estimate on total cost.

- Thanks, I know it seems a somewhat big ask, but I hope someone could perhaps help me out, I'd really appreciate it!

TL;DR:
With the item names given, how much per month would it cost me to run the items stated continuously, or as much as a fish tank requires.


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## mysticganja420 (Apr 16, 2012)

Dawes said:


> As the Title says, I'm just curious to how much on 'average' a 33 Gallon Tank with the following would cost me monthly/yearly if I were to have everything running continuously, as a Tank usually would do.
> 
> Fluval U3: 7.5W (230V)
> Fluval Mirrored M Series Heater 150W
> ...


Now if i got this right you want to know how much money in power you will use? If so its kinda hard to just tell you as each state has different prices on the power you use, but for a easy way to find out if you dont mind spending a little money is getting a watt meter plugging things into it and it will tell you somewhat what you would spend per month in power. You can find what im talking about here Watt meters, kWh & watt hour meters for plug in devices and these should be at your local hardware store for sale also in the electrical area. And looking over the site they even have a power strip model wich may be right up your alley.. Hope this helps m8


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## Dawes (Jun 26, 2012)

Aye, I guess thats all I can do really. I knew it'd be abit stupid of me to ask such a thing, but thought I'd chance my luck even if it made me out to look abit stupid.

But, if anyone has a similar/larger set up I'd be happy to know how much you pay a month, I'm not after specific numbers, just averages.


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## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

This is one of those things that have so many variables that it's impossible to even give a ballpark answer 

The filter, air pump, and lights (you forgot this part) are pretty much a constant. The heater however is not. While it uses 150W of power when on, it is only on for a small periods of time, and that amount of time depends on the temperature difference between the tank and the room and I couldn't even begin to guess how much it would be on (known as duty cycle).

Watts are all you need to know, that's the power (P) used. P=VI, where V is the voltage in volts and I is the current in amps.

You take the watts used multiplied by the time. So as an example your 7.5W filter will be on all day so 7.5 * 24 = 180 W-h which stands for watt hours.

So in a month, your filter uses 180 * 30 = 5400 W-h. Utilities charge by kW-h which is killo-watt hours. You just simply divide by 1000, so for this example 5400 / 1000 = 5.4 kW-h.

Say your utility charges you a total of $0.15 per kW-h for supply and delivery, that would mean your filter costs you 5.4 kW-h * $0.15 = $0.81 per month. So 81 cents a month, not exactly breaking the bank.

Say your light uses 17 watts (a typical 24" T8 bulb), and is on for 8 hours a day. It would use 17 * 8 = 136 W-h per day. That's less than your heater, so without going through the rest of the math you know it will be less than 81 cents a month for the light.

The other cost to consider is the cost of water. On a 33 gallong tank you should change at a minimum 11 gallons per week. So 44 gallons per month, you'll have to see what your city charges for water/sewer for 44 gallons but I bet it too will be pennies.

So if you want a ball park, it would be that in utility costs your tank will cost you less than $5/month. The only other costs being food and water conditioner.


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## fish monger (Dec 29, 2011)

Geomancer is exactly correct. A can of food will cost more than monthly utilities.


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

It shouldn't cost much. The only costly part really is getting it set up!


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Very helpful explanation, Geomancer! My boyfriend is a big gamer and is always getting on me for the electricity used by my aquariums. With your explanation, I'm willing to bet his consoles and TV use more electricity than my fish tanks.


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## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

thekoimaiden said:


> Very helpful explanation, Geomancer! My boyfriend is a big gamer and is always getting on me for the electricity used by my aquariums. With your explanation, I'm willing to bet his consoles and TV use more electricity than my fish tanks.


Far more! And I'm a gamer too 

The current gen (PS3/Xbox 360) use about 200 to 250 watts alone when in use. Then you have to add in the TV. So a single hour of playing games is about equal, or more, then your tanks use in an entire day.

150-250W is what a desktop compuer uses when idle also (not including the monitor). So even on the safe side, if you leave your computer on all day it's costing you 108 kW-h of power, so using the .15 rate that's $16.20 a month (that's about my own utility rate).


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