#1
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LEDs and electricity savings
Oh no another LED thread to discuss electricity savings
Actually I just wanted to share some results I recently measured. Not long ago I wondered how much power I was actually saving with LEDs compared to a lighting source such as metal halides. One of primary reasons many of us make the switch is the potential for such savings, among others, but some of us have often wondered if the savings are that substantial when you consider your heater may have to work a little harder to combat those "cooler" LEDs. So I decided to measure the power consumption of each and see exactly what I'm saving. I'm sharing the results more for "food for thought" purposes, everyone will get different results and may make different assumptions than me. Executive Summary:
Some system details
Insulation and equipment heat addition:
Measured Results:
Now for the debatable part, the comparison.
Conclusion
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#2
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Hahaha. I knew you opened this thread as soon as I saw the title :P
We are talking about $10-$12 savings over here right? BTW I am still wondering one thing; why do reefers have such spikes in electricity bill? Like without something like 300gallons+, you will be pretty much within the $100 range (at max) for running a big tank isinit?
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You wouldn't want to see my tank. I don't use fancy equipment and I am a noob |
#3
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Could be people using a variable electricity rate, which I had last year and it changed from $0.06 to $0.14 throughout the year. Otherwise could be those using chillers at certain times of the year or a number of other reasons relating to equipment changes and tank demands but nothing that shouldn't be fairly obvious to the user.
Yes savings for me works out to around $10-$13 per month. |
#4
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So let say $120-$156 savings per year plus the costs of Bulbs you would replace. Depending on how many T5's you have plus halides.
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#5
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Yeah probably roughly $150 per year in power savings. If I only ran 3 halides which I somehow managed to run at 340W for 6 hours per day I'd probably only change the bulbs once a year so it depends what you pay for bulbs but I say around $400 per year. Given the cost of the fixtures it's around 8 years pay back. Given the total cost of my LED adventure the pay back period would be substantially longer So LEDs haven't and won't actually save me money.
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#6
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Quote:
Hint: Just don't tell the dominating factor (eg. wife, girlfriend, not-reef safe person) how much you spent upfront for getting the LEDs and they will be happy with the upfront electricity bill savings
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You wouldn't want to see my tank. I don't use fancy equipment and I am a noob |
#7
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LOL that is because you bought Lights (3 x Mitra) that are in my opinion way over priced, but hey each to there own.
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#8
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LED industry itself is overpriced :P
__________________
You wouldn't want to see my tank. I don't use fancy equipment and I am a noob |
#9
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Quote:
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#10
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Correction: LEDs can save you money (but it also will not)
__________________
You wouldn't want to see my tank. I don't use fancy equipment and I am a noob |