Wow guys, you are getting killed on electricity bills, or you're just cheap. The cost of keeping reptiles I suppose.
I'll break down my setup:
I have 117 ball pythons in my collection.
They are all set up in rubbermaids in racks systems.
You can find pics of my set-ups here:
Snake Rack
Each rack of eight bins (I have 15 racks) use 4" heat tape.
8 watts per foot.
12.5 feet per rack.
That's 100 watts per rack.
1500 watts for EVERYTHING at FULL heating capacity.
Like Aaron, I use Hersptat Pros to control my heat.
It's a proportional thermostat, so it uses as much power as it needs (on/off) rather than running all day long.
What I have it doing is maintaining 95 degrees on my hot spots 24 hours a day.
That means the tape will use 10% of those eight watts per foot to get from 94.9 degrees to 95 degrees, and then turn off. I find that this is pretty much even (on and off), so the total % of heat tape use is roughly:
5% of 8 watts per foot X 188 feet.
OR
75.2 watts per hour.
That's 1805 watts per day, or 1.8 KwH/24 hr. period.
OR
55.8 kWh/month.
We're billed at 5.3 cents per kWh of usage where I live.
That works out to a WHOPPING $2.96 worth of electricity a month.
OR
$35.52 per year.
That's to heat 120 ball pythons.
Not a pocketbook breaker.
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