Power saving tips and ways to save money!?

[ckmullin]

The bain of keeping little critters outside their environment, the power needs. But SW is sooo interesting!

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by ckmullin

The bain of keeping little critters outside their environment, the power needs. But SW is sooo interesting!

Agreed. This hobby/obsession/lifestyle is definitely worth it.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Baldy

Agreed. This hobby/obsession/lifestyle is definitely worth it.

Like I said before, go look for a cave,... or be happy and wait for the big asteroid...

[PFoster]

When smart meters were put into effect in Ontario I just reversed my light cycle.

I ran the Leds for suppliment in the morning and evening and ran the main lights (t5's) in the evening during "off peak hours.
My power bill decreased and I didnt spend $0.01 extra.

I did also get a programable thermostat and run the furnace/ac more during off peak hours

[mrhasan]

LED heater anyone?

Put waterproof leds on aluminium blocks and submerge them into the water. They are "efficient" at emitting heat too isinit?

Ok I shouldn't have said that being an electrical major But then again, its not a crime thinking outside the box (or inside the water over here)

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

LED heater anyone?

Put waterproof leds on aluminium blocks and submerge them into the water. They are "efficient" at emitting heat too isinit?

Ok I shouldn't have said that being an electrical major But then again, its not a crime thinking outside the box (or inside the water over here)

Lol. Being an electrical major, you probably already know this but what makes leds so efficient is they put out more light energy vs heat energy than the other types of lighting. I never realized hoe much heat t5 can produce until I saw a buddy's 6 bulb fixture. Wow.

[Reef Pilot]

The biggest (or baddest) power draw we have is our hot tub. It runs from Nov to Apr, and the power bill always goes way up for the winter. We only use it on avg about once a week. Have talked to the wife a few times, about whether it is worth it, but she wants it, so... Talked to the spa shop about a timer, but they say it is not good for the motor to shut it off and on. And we keep the heater on all the time, because we use it more as a spur of the moment decision in the evening, and wouldn't want to wait for it to heat up again.

Speaking of money sinks, though, my Shaw cable (incl internet and phone) is costing us more and more, with all the HD and specialty channels (can't give up my Oasis). We're up to 200 bucks a month on that now!! I tried pulling the "we're switching to Telus" ploy on them, but it hasn't worked so far. Seems that until you actually put in a cancellation, they won't budge.

And not to mention my iPad and Smartphone costs.....

My SW tanks don't looks so bad, when I look at the above, but it does all add up....

Hope I don't run out of money before that asteroid comes....

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Baldy

Lol. Being an electrical major, you probably already know this but what makes leds so efficient is they put out more light energy vs heat energy than the other types of lighting. I never realized hoe much heat t5 can produce until I saw a buddy's 6 bulb fixture. Wow.

Yap. Technically, LED produce around 10% less heat than a typical fluorescent bulb. Its just that, fluros have a heat-light ratio of 95%-5% while LEDs have 85%-15%. Fluros cannot be fitted with heatsinks :P and hence LEDs get the big advantage along with being DC out-of-the-box.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

LED heater anyone?

Put waterproof leds on aluminium blocks and submerge them into the water. They are "efficient" at emitting heat too isinit?

Ok I shouldn't have said that being an electrical major But then again, its not a crime thinking outside the box (or inside the water over here)

Actually not such a bad idea really & I've found myself wondering why someone hasn't given this a go. Not only will you get at least some heat transfer to the water, you'll also benefit from having the light source very close to your livestock. It's common knowledge that distance is a killer when it comes to light loss. Downside is that you won't have that funky shimmer caused by a point source of light shining through surface agitated water.... and you'd probably need to scrape off algae once in a while... ok, I think now I know why no one's tried it...

Anyhow, waterproof SMD LED light strips have been available for quite some time now & I'm using a couple of 5050 strips to supplement my DIY 10 watt multichip build. Of course I don't have them in the water, but on a smaller system this could work quite well. It's a low voltage light source, so with proper water proofing it's no more dangerous (probably less so) than having a 300 watt heater running on 120 VAC submerged in your tank. I've ordered some LEDs that are submersible for my daughter's wedding this summer. No reason you can't throw a strip of waterproof SMD LED lighting into your tank.

Here's a photo of the waterproof RGB SMD 5050 strips I have. They're covered with a substantial layer of silicone like material. All you would need to do is keep the connectors out of the water, or just gum them up with silicone too. There are also more powerful 5630 SMDs available.

[sphelps]

If you're going to submerse LED strips make sure you get IP68 rating, most are IP65 to 67 which qualifies as waterproof but not for long term submersion. The bigger issue however will be the constant need to clean the algae film off them, not sure you'll gain any benefit compared to just mounting them closer to the water surface without actually submersing them. You could always rig up a liquid cooled heat sink with some titanium tubing using tank water to extract the heat into the tank but not likely very cost effective.