Electric $$$$

[Tony the tank]

Well yesterday I received my monthly electric bill..I was not happy... Was higher than summer average(And I have a pool and central AC )Right now ... I'm running 850watts in 2/275watt UVB and 1/250 watt heat lamps per enclosure..add to that 800watts of 4/200watt ambient lighting per enclosure and a 1500 watt oil filled heater for a grand total of 3150watts per enclosure/room...

So since I did the math..I'm setting out to trim the fat a bit... Today I switched to 3/68Watt CFL per enclosure and the lighting is great...a savings of 600watts per room..

Looking for more recommendation... The room is insulated to the hilt..even the floor is raised and insulated between the joists....

Looking for recommendations..Thank you

 

[AnthonyC]

I feel your pain, Hector! I don't have nearly as many lights and heaters running as you do and I still have a $73 dollar increase in my September electric bill. One of the perks of living in the northeast I guess. Hope your changes help out a little... damn can't wait to see December-March bills!

 

[jaizei]

How long do you run your MVBs per day? Any chance of pictures?

 

[Tony the tank]

Anthony....I can't wait either..it being so cold and snowy already I can only imagine how this winter is going to be...

I'm going to cut the UVB lighting to 10hrs a day(right now it's on 13hrs).. And the ambient lighting to 11hrs (from 15)..The heater I will probably be able to put on low(500watts) once I fire up the furnace as all the duct work runs through the enclosures and I installed some vents....(fired it up the day of the snow storm temp in the room got to 98*f with the heaters on medium)...


Thoughts?

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How long do you run your MVBs per day? Any chance of pictures?

I have my MVB on for 13hrs a day... Was thinking cutting it down to 10hrs and ambient light is 15hrs was thinking 11hrs...that would trim 120hrs a month??

Thoughts?

 

[AnthonyC]

Well I think that Pete (pdrobber) kinda diagnosed my problem. Sunday afternoons I have 4 tv's going (NFL package) & 3 computers running (fantasy football!). The spike in my electric bill came in September... the beginning of the NFL season! HAHA! I'm sure it didn't bump my bill up $73 bucks, but I'm sure it didn't help!

Anthony....I can't wait either..it being so cold and snowy already I can only imagine how this winter is going to be...

I'm going to cut the UVB lighting to 10hrs a day(right now it's on 13hrs).. And the ambient lighting to 11hrs (from 15)..The heater I will probably be able to put on low(500watts) once I fire up the furnace as all the duct work runs through the enclosures and I installed some vents....(fired it up the day of the snow storm temp in the room got to 98*f with the heaters on medium)...


Thoughts?

 

[Len B]

Our electric bill was actually lower, we have had pretty good temps,no heat or air conditioning, except last weekend with that cold rain. Our kitchen is the coldest room in the house, I don't think there is any insulation in the outside walls,to keep the kitchen warm the rest of the house was always to hot. I bought a Quartz Infrared Heater last winter and it works great. the room is about 400 sq ft, it keeps it warm, and never had to run it full blast.The house thermostat has been lowered now for the other rooms and and the heat doesn't run as much. there are two small torts in the kitchen one mee and one mep, one is on an outside wall and the other is against an interior wall,and with this heater across the room their temps stay the same which helps by not needing an excess of additional heat for them.With what I paid for it I figure it will pay for its self this winter. Len

 

[Tortoise]

Living in Canada-our heating bills are huge in Winter. A fellow tortoise friend told me recently how he lowered his bills considerably by using radiant heat panels for heating up the tortoise tables. I have bought one from him a used one but not yet fitted it over my Red Foot table. They come in all sizes and are supposed to last forever if not damaged. They can be installed on the sides or above the tortoises too.
Anyone else use these things??

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

One thing that drastically dropped our electrical usage was replacing incandescent bulbs for flourescents, other than the ones used for heating...

 

[Tortoise]

One thing that drastically dropped our electrical usage was replacing incandescent bulbs for flourescents, other than the ones used for heating...

The incandescent were MVB's then Terry?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

One thing that drastically dropped our electrical usage was replacing incandescent bulbs for flourescents, other than the ones used for heating...

The incandescent were MVB's then Terry?

No, I've never used artificial lighting on my tortoises...they get natural sunlight, because even in winter, we have sufficient "warm enough" days here in The Republic.

It's a very rare week that they can't get at least 4 or 5 hours out on my porch (during winter) and they live outside from about mid-April 'til mid-October.

 

[Tony the tank]

I got rid of the 8-200watt bulbs in the enclosure for ambient lighting... And went with 6-68 watt CFL (each equivalent to 300 watts)... And am very happy with the light they produce....

 

[Laura]

welcome to sulcatas in the winter! wait till your power goes out and you need to run a gas powered generator to keep them warm...

 

[chairman]

My reptile room is in my basement and I have found that running two oil filled space heaters set on the 600 watt setting heated the room better (and cheaper) than running one heater on the 1500 watt setting. If your heater has the 3 wattage settings, you could pick up another and attempt the same.

I also use lower wattage halogen spotlights, usually around 90 watts, (make sure you get a variety that doesn't have a death-ray laser focus lens on it) to provide non-UVB heat instead of using the 250 watt "red" heat bulbs. They work pretty well, and save you even if you have to use 2 bulbs to replace one bigger bulb.

Since it is winter, I generally change my light cycle to provide only 12 hours of light instead of the usual 14, which is a small savings each day.

In my outdoor tortoise shed I am experimenting with using a small fan to circulate the air from the oil filled space heater in there to see if it improves the distribution of heat and saves me money. I have a thermostatically controlled outlet in the shed so my fan only runs when my heater does, when the shed temp at the thermostat drops below 80*.

Still, my electric bill grew greatly last month when I finally had to turn all the additional winter heat on.

 

[cherylim]

Our utility bill (joined gas and electric) went up by £80 yesterday.

I nearly had a heart attack.

I'm now wandering the house regularly turning off everything I can - I've never been energy conscious before.

 

[Tony the tank]

Chairman..I have backup oil filled heater..so three two in there already.. I shut one off as it doesn't leave to much of a temp gradient for the guys...

As for the bulbs if I drop to 150 watt heat bulb I would have to lower the fixtures thus putting the fixture way to close to the big boys shell about 5" (when I strapped a thermometer to Tiny shell the temp went up to 125 in a matter of minutes).with the 250 watt heat bulbs set 24" above the basking area..it leaves me 12" between bulb and top of shell .. as we'll as a less intense(wider) heat...temp gets to 110 in about 15 minute...But I never see the big guys use there heat lamps... Just the female and she has her own set up now..

So might remove the heat lamp from the big guys enclosures..

Thoughts.?
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