# heat bill from uvb lights??!!!



## matt581 (Apr 22, 2012)

Ok are heat bill has hit the roof how often should the uvb lights be on? Is anyone else bill sky high???!!


----------



## lisa127 (Apr 22, 2012)

The UVB lights won't make it go up that much. The heat lamps will more likely cause that. I have to say though, that in almost 20 years of reptilekeeping they haven't made my bill "sky high". A little higher maybe, but not sky high.


----------



## ALDABRAMAN (Apr 22, 2012)

I would not think it would make a big difference.


----------



## wellington (Apr 22, 2012)

I have two MVB's and my electric bill is around $95.00. However that is not much more than the normal when I only had one bulb. But I have also switched to a cheaper electric comp. My Xmas bill is even higher around $120.00 I figure if I stay around the Xmas bill or lower, I am good to go. Heck, I'm $25.00 under budget, I could add a few more heat seeking animals


----------



## Jacob (Apr 22, 2012)

I have Only One Tort and Cannot tell The Difference Except in Winter were i usually run a heat and mvb,
instead of just my Mvb!


----------



## Madkins007 (Apr 22, 2012)

You can usually borrow a 'watt meter' from the library or the power company that you plug things into and it tells you how much power they are using and how much it will cost you.

Fluorescent UV is not very expensive, but heat cables, heat bulbs, etc. might be, especially if they are running all the time.

There are tricks to cut back on heating, such as insulating, trapping the rising warm air, etc. that can keep the heaters from going all the time.

As for as how long I run MY uvb? About 6 hours a day.


----------



## jaizei (Apr 22, 2012)

Using 1 100w MVB for 12 hr/day and 1 100w CHE that is always on, should be $10 - $25. Most places will be towards the lower end, only a few exceed $20 (based on average rates). This is also not accounting for any use of a thermostat/dimmer controlling the CHE or other factors (power loss), but it will give you a ballpark idea.

The formula is: 

Hours (total for month) x wattage / 1000 = kWh and then
kWh x price per kWh= cost of electricity


So for a 100w lamp on 12 hrs/day for 30 days it would be (using average rate of $.12):

(12 x 30) x 100 / 1000 = 36 x .12 = $4.32


----------



## tortadise (Apr 22, 2012)

If the winter is cold down here I can pay up to 1500 a month. Summer time they go outside. But like now when it's kinda cool at night still my buildings are only using 110 a month worth of electricity. That includes 2 fridges for greens and food and around 30 lights. The buildings are on its own meter too. UVB bulbs don't use that much wattage could be usage of fans or ac since its starting to get warm.


----------



## Tom (Apr 22, 2012)

Frankly I'm surprised that no one else complains about this. CA rates are sky high and every little bit is "felt" on the bill here. This is a big reason I use small wattage bulbs and just keep them closer to the tortoises.

Also the reason I went solar...


----------



## socialworker81 (Apr 23, 2012)

Most of the appliances in our house are "energy efficient" however, our electric bill is $110 a month with central air. Since I live in PA, central air isn't always necessary  this year, due to the mild winter, our heating bill was $35 per month. This month, we owed -$6.08. No matter what the electric bill is, the torts are worth it! And so is the incubator


----------



## Cadance (Apr 23, 2012)

Our bill did not go up that much and we have 3 heat lamps and 3 uvbs running about 12 hours a day. I am not sure why yours would have gone up so much. Ours is around 79.00 which is just a little higher then what we normally pay. However I am sure this months bill will be a lot higher because we know have our swamp cooler running so I am hoping it doesn't go to high gotta love bills...


----------



## *Barracuda_50* (Apr 23, 2012)

You all would not want to see my electric bill i have a load of lights running for more than 12hrs a day as i have a HUGE indoor winter grow room for all the diffrent plants i grow that i bring in from the GH's for the winter months since heating the GH's durring winter here is not a option for me right now. Most the plants are getting moved out next weekend to the GH's after that then my electric bill will finaly go down some.. Our tort's lights are nothin compared to the plant lights i use.


----------



## pryncesssc (Apr 23, 2012)

wellington said:


> I have two MVB's and my electric bill is around $95.00. However that is not much more than the normal when I only had one bulb. But I have also switched to a cheaper electric comp. My Xmas bill is even higher around $120.00 I figure if I stay around the Xmas bill or lower, I am good to go. Heck, I'm $25.00 under budget, I could add a few more heat seeking animals



There's the spirit !


----------

