Tips to lower electric bill ?

[stinax182]

So obviously owning tortoises takes a lot outta you. Time, patience, sanity and money. I'm just asking if anyone has any tricks or tips to save on the electric bill.

My leopard tortoise has a large indoor enclosure (7'l-5'w-14" t) that currently has 6 fixtures (from 70-90w & flood, fluorescent and regular house bulbs & a che) the entire enclosure is wrapped in plastic and it's in a small second story bedroom. Even with that i still need incandescent bulbs to maintain an 80° daytime temp and that sucks out all the humidity. Is this how it is for everyone? I thought of buying fluorescents to simply light the enclosure but then the temp would hover around 70-75°. Mind you, i have an eastern box turtle and an African bullfrog in the same room but they have minimal lights.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[T33's Torts]

This isn't tortoise related, but it dropped my bill quite a bit.
Cleaning (vacuuming) the back of the fridge can allow it to filter easier, thus using less energy. Same with washer/dryers.
Also, having phone (ipad, tablet, camera, etc) chargers plugged into the wall when NO DEVICES are charging uses power, not much, but it helps. Then things like kiddo's night lights make a difference.

 

[Neal]

How big is your enclosure?

You may want to consider restructuring your enclosure so it's a little more efficient than wrapping it in plastic. I currently keep my hatchlings indoors in a completely enclosed and insulated set up. I have a 48" two bulb T8 florescent fixture that alone maintains heat in the entire enclosure (which is approximate 4.5' * 2.5' * 2.5') to where I want it during the day. I have a 60w CHE on a thermostat that kicks on when the temperature gets below 75. If I were to estimate the $ amount of electricity used on just that, it would be a couple of dollars a month at the most. I also live in an area where my tortoises can get UVB from outside time, so I don't have any need to add any additional bulbs to ensure the tortoises are being exposed to sufficient amounts of UVB.

 

[stinax182]

Thank you both got the helpful replies! Tffnytorts that's a great tip!

Neal, the enclosure is in the shape of an L with the long end being 7' and the short end 5'. So basically a closed chamber? The way it's designed i could do the long end like that but not the entire thing.... It's pretty big but she's 6" so it's a good size for a couple years.

I put the lights inside the plastic and attach it to the walls so I'd only be adding a roof.... Maybe I'll insulate the walls, haha. Thank you for reply!

 

[Tom]

Enclosing the top with plastic does not make it a closed chamber. If you need that many bulbs and that much wattage, it is not a closed chamber. If your bulbs are able to dry out the air like that, it is not a closed chamber.

A closed chamber would reduce your electrical usage to a small fraction of what it is now. My 4x8x2 closed chambers use a couple of 65 watt bulbs and a 48" florescent during the day, and even that gets too hot in the summer, so I turn off the heat bubls and only run a single 48" florescent. The CHEs that are set on thermostats hardly ever come on at all.

 

[stinax182]

My bad, i worded that so it sounded like i thought i had a closed chamber, which i know i don't. I meant what neal was propositioning was a closed chamber and i definitely intend on doing so

 

[wellington]

A big help,would be to put her outside for summer. 6" is a good size for a summer outdoor enclosure. Then turn everything off inside.

 

[Neal]

What part of the world are you in? At that size, an outdoor set up would be ideal in my opinion. That would take care of your electricity bill. During the summer months at least.

 

[stinax182]

I live in Massachusetts and we're currently having a late start to summer. I'm already in the process of making a larger, more secure outdoor enclosure to keep her in 7am-7pm on most days but temps haven't hit anywhere near what i need. All of these replies are helpful and have basically solved my problem, thank you guys!