Power Bills

red ink · 12-18-11, 05:34 PM

Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd get a discussion on this. Now I know we all come different aprts of the globe but I'm sure we are all feeling the pinch of power bills given that we all keep reptiles (some of us more so than others).

Given that power consumption increases with each new arrival, and I really don't see us stopping from getting a new reptile as soon as a space is available in the house. I thought it would be good if we can help each other out with some tips on lowering the cost power bills and energy consumption in our hobby.

Ok i'll start.

1) All my enclosures have ambient air control thermostats in them. If there's no need for the heat to be on as the temps are high enough then they're not on. Pulse proportional thermostats for the tubs controlling heat cords and heat mats.

2) All enclosures are made of wood as it retains heat better, even my tubs are in a rack system which is made of 16mm melamine to help stem heat loss

3) Where possible I have all my reptiles in a dedicated room, this way the ambient temerature in the room is actually hotter than the rest of the house and the enclosures are heated partially by each other.

4) I'm slowly starting to switch all diurnal reptile heat bulbs to halogen lights. They pump out a lot of heat at very low wattages. A 50w halogen can get to 50C at a distance of 1 feet (for monitor keepers or people with tall vivs). I am only using a 20W and a 35w for my shingle back skink and BD instead of the old 75w and 100w bulbs efectively switching one bulb off.

5) Now I know this would not apply to everybody and may not be even feasable but I thought I'd throw it in here anyway.... We have installed a 3kw solar system in the house.

Please share any other tips that you know as we can all help each other.

Cheers,

KORBIN5895 · 12-18-11, 06:29 PM

I also use halogen flood lights as a heat source. I use one 100 watt red bulb and it heats my 2'x4'x18" terrarium. I also have a heat pad in the hot end.the nils cost 5 bucks Canadian.

infernalis · 12-18-11, 08:12 PM

I use a dedicated reptile room and heat the whole room, not each cage.

And....... No one else does this, if you build your own cages you should.

This is Chompers new enclosure, it has to be really warm, so why bleed off all that energy to the room, keep it in the cage.

shaunyboy · 12-18-11, 08:31 PM

RED INK
i don't have any tips,but after reading yours i'm now thinking.....

that i will try much lower wattage ceramic bulbs,to see if this helps me save on my power bills

i keep most of my carpets in the 1 room and they're all in wooden vivariums with glass sliding doors

electricity bills have become a bit of a finacial problem for me lately,to the point,i've had to cut and keep cutting the size of my collection.

i suppose the only tip i had for myself,was to sell all but my diamond pythons.

they only require a basking spot of 90f for 4 hours per day,then no more heat.i use a 50 or 60 watt natural sunlight 2.0 bulb for the diamonds,so its about as low wattage as i can go (so thats as economical,as i can get)

great idea for a thread mate

cheers shaun

Lankyrob · 12-19-11, 08:59 AM

Shauny - i may be wrong - the theory i have gone with is that as the CHE pulse on and off having a larger wattage means that it needs to be "on" for less time to hit the right temps - maybe someone with a brain will be able to tell us if that is right or not

shaunyboy · 12-19-11, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Shauny - i may be wrong - the theory i have gone with is that as the CHE pulse on and off having a larger wattage means that it needs to be "on" for less time to hit the right temps - maybe someone with a brain will be able to tell us if that is right or not

i've seen people say that on other forums rob

that a 250 watt ceramic bulb,will work less than a 100 watt bulb,so saves money

like you mate,i need someone to tell me if theres any truth in this ?

you any thoughts on the matter wayne ?

or any members clued up on wattage versus electricity usage ?

cheers shaun

infernalis · 12-19-11, 03:00 PM

the larger heater spins the power meter faster.

Lankyrob · 12-19-11, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

the larger heater spins the power meter faster.

but for a shorter time surely?

shaunyboy · 12-19-11, 05:04 PM

i tend to think that the lower wattage on longer,will still use less than a larger wattage on for less time

but as said i'm not really up on electrics and wattage

although i hear what your saying rob

cheers shaun

infernalis · 12-19-11, 05:10 PM

In the end, if it takes X amount of power times Y amount of time, versus Y amount of power times X amount of time, the sum would be the same.

5 watts for ten minutes = 10 watts for 5 minutes

Lankyrob · 12-19-11, 05:17 PM

So bulb size is pretty irrelevant then

infernalis · 12-19-11, 05:30 PM

Too big - risk overheating

too small - will always be struggling to keep up.

Seems like there should be a happy place in the middle.

I just heat the whole room.

red ink · 12-19-11, 06:41 PM

It would really all depend on how long the heat source is on regardless of the wattage which is directly affected by how well the enclosure can retain the heat. This is the reason why I don't actually rely on thermostats controlling the basking area rather I control air temps. Even if the basking spot is "off" but the air temps are high enough then the snake is still able to keep warm. Kinda like what wayne does but on a small scale on each enclosure.

Like Wayne having most of the enclosures in the one spot/room also helps with ambient temps. Stacking is another way to minimise heat lost as the enclosure at the bottom heats up the one on top. You will always get heat transfer from the roof of the bottom enclosure to the floor of the one above.

I have seen setups where the bottom has a 75w heat source, middle 50w and the top being 40w yet they all maintain the same ambient air temps due to heat transfer.