Tank Power

[Wretch]

I just installed my gfci for my tank and found out that my tank shares a circuit with a lot of other receptacles plus some lights. How much power does a typical tank draw? Wonder if I am going to run into problems when everything is hooked up? :confused:

[mrhasan]

I just installed my gfci for my tank and found out that my tank shares a circuit with a lot of other receptacles plus some lights. How much power does a typical tank draw? Wonder if I am going to run into problems when everything is hooked up? :confused:

That's a highly variable parameter. You can use a kill-a-watt meter to find out the power consumption of the whole system or you can just guess using the watts posted on the devices. A typical household outlet can provide anywhere between 1800w to 2400w depending on the fuse fitted with it (15A or 20A).

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

One fuse will not handle a full blown reef and a bunch of household stuff as well. In general, it is far safer if the tank itself is split between two circuits so that if a fuse blows, some circulation (for instance) is still working.

[Wretch]

Looks like I am just around 400w to run the tank. that includes lights(120w), return pump(31w), protein skimmer(20w), Powerheads(30w), ATO(5w), heaters(200w).

[sphelps]

In terms of what your circuit can handle, watts is not a good unit to use as any device will be rated in true power rather than apparent. In other words depending on the power factor of the device the amount of power drawn into the circuit will be higher than what the actual device uses. Same goes if you use a kilowatt meter measuring watts. What you need to measure is volt-amps or just amps, especially for pumps as they often have low power factors, sometimes as low as 0.5 meaning they draw twice as much power as there rating.

House hold circuits are 15amps unless in the kitchen which newer homes will have 20amps circuits there. Easy to tell by looking at the outlets:
http://www.diycontrols.com/images/15amp_20amp.JPG

Safe load for a circuit is 80% capacity so for a 15 amp circuit you wouldn't want to exceed 12 amps total. So to find out if you're safe or not you'll need to add up all devices on the entire circuit, preferably in amps not watts.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Looks like I am just around 400w to run the tank. that includes lights(120w), return pump(31w), protein skimmer(20w), Powerheads(30w), ATO(5w), heaters(200w).

Small tanks should be fine.

Just track down every outlet that is also connected to the same fuse because you will want to avoid plugging in your vacuum cleaner, for instance, onto the same circuit. The big surge could be more than your tank circuit can handle.

In our place, we have certain plugs that we can use for the vacuum and others that will blow the fuse, so I understand your concern.

[Madreefer]

I've talked to several journeyman electricians and they've all said the same thing "if your not blowing your breaker than your fine". These guys have all been in the trade for many years, I trust them over any hobbyist.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I've talked to several journeyman electricians and they've all said the same thing "if your not blowing your breaker than your fine". These guys have all been in the trade for many years, I trust them over any hobbyist.

A few years ago, whenever we plugged in the vacuum in 2 different plugs in the living room/dining room, the breaker would blow and shut down a couple of our tanks. That's why I suggest knowing which plugs are connected to your tanks. Rather than blow a breaker when plugging in a high-wattage piece of equipment, you can avoid the unnecessary stress.

Also, ideally, if you have two pumps or wavemakers, have them on separate breakers so if something happens, the tank will still have circulation. It's not absolutely necessary but it is a good precaution.

[Wretch]

I will see what I can do. It looks like the whole wall is on the same breaker. If i run an extension cord across my living room I don't think my wife will be too happy.

[mike31154]

Looks like I am just around 400w to run the tank. that includes lights(120w), return pump(31w), protein skimmer(20w), Powerheads(30w), ATO(5w), heaters(200w).

Without getting into too much calculating, you're still at a fairly safe load level. As mentioned, a 15 amp circuit can handle up to 1800 watts maximum, but you don't really want to load any circuit to that level & hope the circuit breaker saves your butt. 1500 watts (the 80% safe continuous load percentage) provides a good buffer & the fact that you're now on a gfci indicates that you should be fine provided you don't plug a 15 amp device into any of the other receptacles on that circuit. Something like a freezer or high power vacuum might cause a breaker trip. I think code requires a fridge/freezer to have their own separate circuit. If most of the other loads on that circuit are lighting & a couple of receptacles for casual use, you'll be ok. Keep in mind that all your tank components aren't 'on' all of the time. A number of them are on cycles (lights) & the heater will cut in & out as required.

However, also as already mentioned, never a bad idea to split one or two critical components such as a heater or pump for your tank to another circuit. Not a problem if you're home, but if you're away & the circuit trips taking out all your tank components, your livestock might have a tough time surviving after a lengthy outage. A battery backup air pump or something would also help in that regard.

[Wildechild_01]

A few quick thoughts here. Some good info so far, and yes if you are not currently tripping the breaker you are probably okay until you add something to your setup or to something somewhere else on the circuit. Typically you will find 10-12 items on the same breaker, this can be a combination of plugs and lights in your house. As was mentioned before finding out exactly what your sharing with is a good idea. If it is mostly lights then the chances of you having an issue down the road go down significantly, and if it is more plugs then you need to be very careful what is being plugged in. In a perfect world i would recommend having new wiring run to put your system on its own circuit, mine runs on a dedicated 20A circuit, absolute overkill in my case but allows for any changes i may want in the future.

My next thought. What was the reasoning behind installing a GFCI for your tank? My guess would be water and electricity close together, lets be safe. The GFCI will do NOTHING to protect your setup, but will protect YOU if you happen to be touching anything in the area causing a small leak of power to ground. In addition running submersible pumps on a GFCI protected power source can lead to nuisance tripping, shutting down your system, hopefully someone is home and notices when it happens.

Anyway, just my two cents on the matter

9 Years working as an electrician
4 Since Journeyman Ticket
1 Since Masters Ticket
2.5 Years Reefing.