I’ve been analysing all the electricity used in the fish house, with the use of my Power Meters, and I can reveal I use an Average of 70kWh a day!
Hence I’ve recently switched suppliers in November 2005, and gain to make a saving of over 800 pound per annum.
I’m pulling the late shift at the office again, this week. So not got much time after work, so I’ve spent some time this evening doing the boring jobs, and labelling the electrics in the fish house, it needed doing. I’ve also finally completed all the electrics for Aquarium No.9. I’ve just found out that nPower are increasing their electricity and gas prices from the 1 January 2006, so I’m glad I switched!
I’ve been feeding an empty fish tank to help it mature. So I didn’t think a picture of an empty fish tank would be exciting enough to post in the blog.
Tomorrow evening time permitting, and poviding the water quality is okay, I’ll move some hardy Zebra Danios and Guppies into the tank to help cycle the it.
At the end of October, I posted an entry Do you suffer from high electricity bills?. I’ve been looking for a power meter to measure kWh for many months to establish Fish House Electricity costs, and I eventually managed to purchase one from JLB Electronics.
The results are now in for half of my fish house, the fish house is split between into two ring mains, so this is ring main one. (It also allows me to draw up to a maximum of 20A per ring main!). Ring main one supplies electricity for 9 aquariums.
Ring Main One Summary
Items connected to Ring Main One:-
The maximum wattage drawn by the electrical applications was 2.1kW on Friday 25 November at 4.03am.
In the last 32 days, the electricity consumed by ring main one is 605 kWh. A cost recorded by the power meter of 49 pounds. I’m charged 8.1p per kWh by nPower.
I’ll measure ring main two, and post the results on the blog, in a few weeks.
The PC Thermometer has been re-calibrated and the temperature probes have been installed in their final positions, one inside the fish house, and one external to the fish house.
I want to record the following values:-
I’m trying to establish where the rising costs are in my fish house, in Electricity consumuption, is it caused by heating aquariums or poor insulation.
If the answer is yes, then please read on, I’ve found an electronic wattage
and current meter which I’ve been using in my fish house for about a week, to
analyse running costs and efficiency of heaters, filters, air pumps and
compressors in order to reduce my electricity bill or possibly complete the
calculations and switch to Economy 7. I’m so impressed with this device, I want
to share my experiences with you, so you too can reduce your electricity bills.
The Wattage and current meter in use:-
1. Plugged into a standard UK Socket. The unit has seven modes of
operation that can be selected using the Function Button.. When first connecting
the units to AC it shows the date, day and time. This can be set using the Set
and Change buttons.
2. An electrical appliance is
connected to the socket, Voltage Display
Maximum current is 13A, 220-250v AC that can be drawn by an electrical
appliance, so this should be ample for most electrical appliances fitted with a
standard 13A plug. Mode 1 shows the present voltage (V) and frequency (Hz) being
supplied to the appliance. I’ve connected an Eheim 1260 External pond pump to
the meter for these tests. . The display shows 241v and 50Hz in the photograph.
3. Amps display
The present current strength (A) and the power factor received by the
appliance are displayed. The display shows 0.45A and 0.80 power factor in the
photograph.
4. Wattage display
In this mode, the power is displayed in Watts. The photograph shows 87.12 W,
this is an interesting measurement, because the manufacturer states this has a
power rating of 65 watts. I have found this mode very helpful, in checking
appliances for efficiency. You cannot always believe, what is typed on the
sticker, and certainly with air compressors and blowers, wattage increases under
heavy load and clogged air stones.
The wattage display has another display which is very useful, especially for
measuring Maximum wattage drawn by an appliance(s). When pressing the 2-Price
button in wattage display, it shows the maximum wattage recorded and pressing
the 2-button display again displays the date and time at which it was recorded.
The photograph shows a maximum recorded wattage of 1222W (1.2kW). This was
previously recorded when the unit was connected to a multi-channel thermostat
controlling the temperatures in six aquariums in the fish house.
This display shows the date and time the maximum wattage was recorded. The
photograph shows 15:56 Sunday, this coincides with me opening and closing the
fish house doors, when completing partial water changes. I’ve also now been able
to graph, temperature drops in the fish house, with external temperature outside
temperature, and add extra insulation, I’ll also be using a fan heater in the
colder evenings with a electronic plug-in thermostat, to come on to keep the
ambient fish house temperature at approx 25 degreesC.
5. Operation Duration
The total time displayed during which the connected appliance has been
switched on. If the electrical appliance draws no current, no time is recorded.
The photograph shows the multi-channel thermostat has been connected for a total
of 62 hours and 11 minutes.
6. kWh display
A very important mode, in this mode, the cumulative total electricity
consumption by the connected appliances in kWh is displayed. This is important
because it is this unit, that we are charged for by our electricity suppliers,
and is often referred to as the Unit charge. I currently pay 8.1p per kWh to
Npower. If the 2-Price button is selected, you can toggle between Peak and
Off-Peak settings, if you have Economy 7.In this photograph 20.38kWh have been
consumed. Most watt meters end here, but there’s more…
7. Electricity price per kWh
This is mode 7, but I’ve jumped to this mode for a reason. This unit, allows
you to program the cost of Electricity price per kWh, at day and night rates if
you have Economy 7. I’ve set the meter at 8.1p per kWh in the photograph. Other
current and watt meters do not allow you to set a cost, and you need to complete
the maths, not difficult, but if you have a device that can automatically
calculate the cost, and display it, you can easily see at a glance, how much an
item is costing you, and how hard it’s hitting your pocket.
8. Cost
This is what we all want to know and calculate, we can gather the the
manufacturers wattage for an appliance, calculate the kWh and complete the maths
to finally calculate the cost, BUT manufacturers specifications are incorrect,
it is very difficult to account for thermostatically controlled appliances,
aquarium thermostats and heaters, that are not connected 24 hours a day, fridge
freezers etc
Actual measurement of the appliance under test is the only true method, of
costing an appliance.
In this photograph it shows a value of 1.65 GBP, this is how much it costs me
to heat six fish tanks in my fish house for a period of 63 hours and 11 minutes,
maximum wattage recorded was 1.2kW at 15:56 Sunday 30th October 2005, when I
opened and closed the fish house door! I hope this information has been useful.
Some technical details on the current and wattage meter are as follows:-
This wattage and current meter is unique, do not be fooled by cheaper units
made in China, this is the only unit that can be programmed with your
Electricity Unit charge (price per kWh, available from you electricity bill),
that will give you a real cost displayed in pounds and pence, it’s also the only
unit that records maximum power drawn, which is time stamped. I believe this is
available exclusively from
JLB
Electronics, but don’t quote me on that. I’ve already purchased two units.
I’m not easily impressed with electronic gadgets but this wattage and current
meter rocks big time, and "it does what it says on the tin", don’t take my word
for it, purchase one and test it for yourself. An excellent Christmas Present.
And then there were two. These are two slightly different filters. The Eheim filter on the left is an Eheim 2034, and the filter on the right is an Eheim 2030 External Canister Filter. Both have filter volume capacities of 18l, both rated at approximately 60 watts, same as a standard light bulb. The main difference are the external oil-cooled pumps, the 2034 uses the 1034 pump, rated at 2160l/h, the 2030 is rated at 1200l/h. Suitable for fish tanks up to 1500l and 1000l respectively.
These oil-cooled external pumps which can be used in extremely humid spaces and outdoors are superior to there air-cooled cousins. Unfortunately, Eheim no longer manufacture these units, and haven’t done so for a long time.
After soak testing the 2030, I’ve noticed a small leak again, I may decide to purchase a replacement Threaded inlet connector for 2250/2260 (Part No. 7276900), part from the later 2250/2260 are compatible.
Concerned with all this electricity I’m burning and escalting electricity costs, I’ve just purchased some digital units, that will calculate my electricity running costs of the fish house, and individual items. I’ll review it here when they arrive shortly.
It could be cost effective to install a central filtration system with all this filter power!
![[Valid RSS]](http://andysworld.org.uk/images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")