Is it possible my electric bill is this high?
 

I am hoping to receive some input from you all regarding my electric bill. I would love to hear from some A/C techs as well.

I live in a 1200 sq/ft town home and use Ameren electric. My winter bills not running A/C were $60-$75. At that time I was running a 28g HQI nano cube and a 20g long with a 2 bulb t5 light. I wont go into much details on that, but the past 2 months since the A/C has been running our bill has tripled +++.

The way Ameren charges is $.075 kw/hr for the first 750 kw/hr and .05 kw/hr for any consumption exceeding 750 kw/hrs monthly usage. In the summer the flat rate is .10 kw/hr so the summer rates increase.

Right now I have 2 energy efficient setups. The first is a 90 gallon that consumes (according to the tank electric calculator) 275 kw/hrs max which is $27.50 a month and the other is 100g and identical at 275 kw/hrs max. My total monthly tank electrical cost should be under $60 at $.10 kw/hr.

my consumption this summer has gone from 600-1000 kw/hrs tops to over 2,000 kw/hrs the past two months. That means our electric bill has gone from $60-$75 in the winter to $230-$250 in the summer in a small town home. The increase in consumption is expected with the larger aquariums, A/C running, and the increased rates Ameren has, but $250 a month?

My neighbor has an identical town home with identical floor plans and has only paid $100 a month while Im paying $250. Both of our A/C units are the same and are 20 years old. Granted he not running an aquarium.

My question to you all is what is causing our electric bill to be so high?

1. Is it the 2 100g aquariums which means the reefcentral tank electrical calculator is not accurate?

2. Is it the A/C drawing 800 kw/hrs a month? This means there is an issue with the A/C that is causing it to draw way to much wattage. (For the record I keep the thermostat set on 75-77)

My best guess was that there was an issue with the A/C and I mentioned it to my landlord. He played it off as if the increase rates and hot weather was the issue. This makes no sense when my town home is costing $150 more a month that the other 4 identical units in the same weather conditions.

What would you do?

I will not pretend to know the answer you are looking for. With that said if you keep the aquariums above 75 degrees then you effectively have 2 large radiator heaters running at all times competing with the AC. On the flip side, both aquarium heaters have to compete with the room temp created by the AC. Grab a kilawatt and see what you are actually using.

I live in an 1800sq foot home. With AC at 77 and a pool, my electric sits around $425.00 a month during the summer and less than $100 in the winter.

^Jesus-H-Christ!

I live in a 1650sq foot home with AC at 75 when we are home, 78 when we are not. My biggest bill thus far is $350. No pool....

4 400 watt metal halides, 6 250 watt metal halides, 8 110 watt VHOs, large return pump, two large skimmer pumps, one 12,600 BTU split AC unit running 24/7, one 10,000 BTU window AC to keep my room icy cold at night, a 4 ton home AC unit that is a few years old (14 SEER), and a pool pump running. Our last bill was $577, but this next one will be a doozy with the last two weeks over 100 degrees each day.

I would reckon that your old AC unit is an energy hog and the summer heat is the reason it is running all the time. The calculator takes given values and works with them, simple math. What each electrical device actually uses in your aquarium could be seen with a killawatt meter. Welcome to the jungle:hammer:

By the way, us Ameren folks are actually rewarded for using more electricity in the other 8 months, hence the discount over 750 kilowatt hours, gotta love that:)

Do you have an aquarium? If so, what are you running on it?

My Bill is at 214. Its been soooo freakin hot.

Comparing to your neighbor does your house receive more sun then his?

34g with 4 T5HO. I live in TX though. It's hot here!

Last month's bill was $194. House is 2300 sq ft, all electric.

Here on Long Island we pay some of the highest electricity in the country and my bills average about $120.00 a month. I have solar electric which reduces my bill by about $110.00 a month but even with out that my bill would only be $230.00 a month. I also have a 100 gallon reef, no pool. I have a 2 family house but My wife and I and the only ones living here.

My billed about the same. Roughly $100 all winter and been closer to $300 all summer

whats your neighbors AC set on?

An over looked thing in this weather is making sure the coils outside are clean. In this heat it really increases the amount of work the AC does. Also the inside filter will block airflow and cause the ac to run longer. You cannot compare the two systems without taking into account system wear and tear and thermal efficiencies of the two houses. My bills with geothermal system, pool ,125 reef and 300 fowlr tank are around $400

if I were you I would call Ameren and ask them to come out and check the meter. I know it is a bit of a hail mary, but if it gives you peace of mind it is worth it. I know that electric meters can get out of calibration, and if you don't ask them to look into it they will not fix it.

My neighbor is in an identical town home right beside me and they run ac at 78 while at work and 70 at night time. One of my tanks is in the basement and the other is in the living room. Both are running on mag 7's and k3 powerheads. Tempest at 77 in the house and I just pulled the heaters in the tanks. Also both tanks are running 216w 4 bulb t5s 7 hours a day. One tank has an swcc 120 skimmer and the other no skimmer.

I'm thinking that getting the a/c serviced might help it work more efficient. It runs probably 80% of the day.

I also get next to no sunlight, but I imagine there are a number of factors.

I called ameren Tuesday and talked with them about 20 minutes. They were confident it wasn't the meter, but I'll play that by ear.

By the way I'm shocked to hear some of your a/c bills. Jeeze!

Double post

Nanook, your bill should be $2,000 btw your house probably has more energy than the sun. In fact with all that lighting your probably creating energy.

My last bill was $150.00. But I am just running a 28 gal right now with
150w mh. I am thinking it might go up a bit once my 350 is on line. :hmm3:

Haha. When nooks lights go down on his tanks so does the rest of the planet. And you thought that bright thing in the sky was the sun.

Well my husband opened our bill this evening . Total was 348.08 . Home 2600 sq ft 2 story home with A/c and heat on each foor.Up stairs A/c set at 76 during day time and 73 at night. main floor unit set at 73. min A/c unit set at 74 in south faceing living room which was once a 2 1/2 garage fully insulated with raised floors and venting. Home of my 120 gallon tank with 150 MH and 216 T 5 lights. 28 ft above ground pool out side but the biggest users of energy are my 2 teen age kids. I can't wait to go to their homes one day and leave all the lights on and use up all the hot water. On the other hand I better be nice to them. They are all ready looking into my retirement home!!!

My electric was at $60 during winter consistently (I have gas furnace and gas water heater), and last month was $161, but I recently cleaned the a/c coils which were clogged pretty bad and changed our filter which was about 9 months old. Hopefully that helps a little. I have a 1000 sq ft house with a/c set on 73 all day, and a 20g tank with 250w mh and low wattage pumps.

Also, whenever we are not using something, we unplug it. The only thing that stays plugged in is my tank. So, I guess with my house being really old and not efficient (single pane windows), that's probably why my electric is so high.

Nick

yeah this year suprised me as well my electric bill has never EVER been over 225 a month. but this past month i just got a bill for 267.00. I have a 22 seer infinity system. Winter pish i have gas so that goes up to 200 then. but electric drops to like 80.

1200 square foot house and most of my lights and pumps have been off and the last bill was 326 with the Ac at 77 . I blame it on the Ac being inefficient. Winter time bills where still in the 120 range with the 2 tanks going. My return was pulling 500 watts with lighting using more than 1400