electricity

[phil_7870]

just wondering about this as my dad said if the bill is to high i have to get rid of the snake .how much are our bill around . i have two small heat mats on all day there about 12inch by 12 a 60watt red light will this bring th bill up alot

[mykee]

I have no idea what the electricity costs are in Italy. Do some reseach.

[Chu'Wuti]

Phil, is there anything you can do to help offset the extra costs if they are too high? I can understand your dad being worried about expenses going up.

The items you list should not add a lot to the electric bill but as Mykee says, it depends upon the electric costs in Italy. How many watts are the heat mats? You might even call the local electric company and ask them how much 24 hours of a 60 watt bulb plus the heat mats will be, then multiply by 30 days for an average cost per month.

After you find out what the added expense will be, maybe you can negotiate with your dad about things you can do to make up for the extra expense. Good luck!

[citysnakes]

i think thats an Irish flag...

[johnrandle]

it doesnt cost much for just one tank or two.. even if you left them on all day.


i have a LOT of lights on, some on 24 hours to keep temps up in the reptile room, our bill is EXPENSIVE

keeping one reptile cage setup doesnt cost any more than running your computer if he makes you get rid of it because it costs money then you should tell him to get rid of the car and fridge and anything he likes that plugs into the wall. if he is that worried about the power usage of the tank, there is cheap monitors you can buy they tell you exactly how much Kw/H you are using.

[phil_7870]

first of all yes that is an irish flag .second 13.5 watts .

[Chu'Wuti]

Good eye, Julian! Phil, our apologies; I didn't look up the flag myself, just accepted what I saw.

OK. 13.5 watts for the heater? Plus 60 watts for the bulb? Do each run 24 hours or ?? Find out the cost of electricity where you are--here in the states, we measure in kW/hour, but I don't know how your electric company does it, so you can find out by looking at an electric bill or by calling the company. Then figure out the cost of the items you're using in electric company terms. Then you & your dad will know what the snake's equipment will cost and can work out how to deal with it.

Good luck!

[phil_7870]

that u all very much .Chu'Wuti you have been very help full in all my posts thank u very much happy christmas

[mykee]

I spend less than $37 a month to heat a facility that keeps over 150 ball pythons warm.

[citysnakes]

I spend less than $37 a month to heat a facility that keeps over 150 ball pythons warm.


well... fill us in. how is everything set up?

[Chu'Wuti]

Thank you, Phil; I try!

Merry Christmas to you, too--and to everyone else!

[mykee]

Julian, I have four racks (40 bins per rack) for the adults. They are housed in Rubbermaids #2221's. I run 50 feet of 4" heat tape per rack @ 8 watts per foot. All of my racks are hooked up to Herpstat Pros. They rarely run at more than 20% power, most of the time it's 10%.
Now we'll get technical:
That's 200W/hr. for all four adults racks, or 5 kWH's (1 kilowatt is equal to 1000 watts of electricity per hour of use) per day. At 5.3 cents per kWH where I live, it costs me roughly 30 cents per day to heat all of my adults.
I also have 200 hatchling/growout bins in other racks racks that have close to 200 feet of heat tape as well. Since they're only on for maybe 6 months of the year until all the babies are "re-homed", there's another say 15 cents per day to heat.
All in all, less than 50 cents per day to heat (at peak) 400 animals, and a maintenance of say 150-200 animals throughout the year.
50 cents a day runs roughly $16 a month, or $200 a year.
Throw in my 4 incubators that use 67 watts of power, for around 6 months a year, all said and done, I use less than $250 a year in electricity (or about the same electricity of one large refridgerator) to run a moderately-sized breeding facility.
I also have 4 CFL lights that use 52 watts per hour total. That's another 2-3 cents per day, sorry I forgot...

[phil_7870]

so i dnt have to worry bout it

[siz]

so i dnt have to worry bout it

Not really, for just one snake.

[Chu'Wuti]

so i dnt have to worry bout it

Not unless electricity is way more expensive where you live than it is in Canada or the U.S.

Can you post photos of your snake?

[citysnakes]

thanks Mike. do you use a space heater to raise the ambient temperature or is the facility naturally warm enough?

[phil_7870]

do light cost alot more than a uth to run .

[Chu'Wuti]

do light cost alot more than a uth to run .

A light could cost less--or it could cost more. You have to go by wattage. Some uth are only 15 watts, and some light bulbs are 150 watts, but some are only 15 watts. For day lighting, you probably want a fluorescent light, which is cheaper to run and can range from 24 watts on up. For night, you may want a red light bulb--60 watts. A ceramic heat bulb for a hot basking spot is about 150 watts but may be necessary for a 90 deg F basking spot. A uth is probably only 15 watts.

Then you have to add up the total watts for your total electrical use. Find out how your electric company calculates usage--is it in kW/hr (kilowatts per hour)? You'll have to use math to convert your equipment into the proper terms for figuring out how much your equipment will cost per month (or however often they charge).

good luck!

[mykee]

Julian, I have my rats in the same giant room as the snakes. The heat they generate is free.

[Chu'Wuti]

I have my rats in the same giant room as the snakes. The heat they generate is free.

LOL! Thank goodness for those furry mammals producing heat! Maybe Phil's folks would like him to raise rats near his snake to raise the temp with less electricity? (Just teasing, Phil!)

[mykee]

I have no supplementary heat to my facility, only the heat that the rats provide. They keep the ambient air temps between 76-80 degrees at year round.