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HOW DO I LOWER ELCETRIC BILLS. I ALSO HAVE BD'S AND I NEED SOME LOWER WATAGE LIGHTS TO CUT BACK PRICES. WHAT CAN I DO?
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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

lol Electric bills suck. I am not sure how to lower them, I have four kids and a ton of critters, And electric heat in pa. 600 dollars in the winter no matter what critters I heat.

OR move to Mimai where it is consistantly 90 Deg.!!!! and heat tape is unnecessary.....lol....

OR buy a generator.

Jared
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~ ASK ME ABOUT MY BALLS ~

I lowered my electric significantly just by switching from heat tape and UTHs to heat rope - I also move all of my basking reptiles out into the sun during the day - basking/uv/heat bulbs will suck electricity. Go around and check your wattage on your heat sources, then figure out how often you run it per month and look at your electric bill and figure out how many watts per month you use - you'd be surprised at how much of that bill goes to heating reptiles. Try lower wattage heat sources, shorter usage time, perhaps slightly cooler temps, etc.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

Insert Silly Quote Here

you live in Florida?.....open a window.......heat is free....?

.what's a BD?.......I smoke BiDi's / Beedees......

........(Indian cigarettes).....

............
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.....too many critters.....
......too little time.........
.......
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.
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they are throught my house i dont have a big enough room to put them all in. the lamps heat the house which fight the AC and cause hi bills. BD=bearded dragon
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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

Dude, make an enlcosure and throw the Dragons outside. They do really well, with very little upkeep. Throw away any type of overpriced bulb and switch to lower wattage heat tape or mats. Also, set your house thermostat to 78 degrees or higher; You save around 5-10%(?) per degree you go up ( depending on how effiecient your cooling system is ). I've got my power bill down to $150-160 from $225-$250 just by doing what I've suggested above.

help me out some moreyour first post is the best one so far(no offense to anyone except for that guy that doesnt know what BD means {j/k} we have rain everyday is that okay for them? and basking spots of aboput 120 is that okay i have never heard anything that high.
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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

I personally during the summer I sacrifice AC, In my livingroom and all my critters are in my livingroom. I live in pa and it stays nice and toasty where they are. I have no heat on anyone in the summer and they are all good.Come fall thou the heat goes back on. But I think we are going to move them all to there own room and control the room.

Beardeds do fine outside, and they need basking spots of 130 degrees plus to properly metabolize what they take in ( The sun does a pretty good job ). In regards to energy consumption, just use common sense when it comes to energy usage. Turn off lights, replace incandecesant bulbs with compact Flourescents, turn appliances that your not using off, up your thermostat a few degrees, make sure your house is draft free ( replace weather stripping on doors, windows, and other places where air can leak in ), replace old appliances, put sunblocking film on your windows, Blow in cellulose insulation in the attic ( on top of what you already have ), ETC. If you do just a few things above you'll see savings. Pay attention to your electric bill and calcualte how many Kilowatt hours your using in a day. I'm betting your at mid-high 40's. I'm averaging between 25-30 in the hottest summer months. I don't even factor in my collection in my energy consumption because you need to see how much energy YOUR wasting before you tackle your herps energy consumption

what about the rain that we have everyday is that okay? and what about outside insects(flies) getting to them and the bds eating the insect, isnt there a chance of illness
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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

move somewhere warm BUT NOT MIAMI...... ANYWHERE BUT MIAMI......

Depending on the number of animals you have and space you can give them, go to room heat. Though I sell racks with heat tape, I've literally never plugged one in at my place.

My heat bills are generally $250 - $300 in the summer and under $200 in the winter. 2000 sft house and 1,000 animals give or take.
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Neil Golli
(813) 856 3408
info@gollireptiles.com
www.GolliReptiles.com

What temp do you heat the room to? I have my snakes in their own room, and I could pretty easily control the temps separately from the rest of the house.

Thanks,
Shelly

I keep my room at 85 for 9 months of the year and I drop it to 78 during breeding season. Nice easy and cheap to keep
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Neil Golli
(813) 856 3408
info@gollireptiles.com
www.GolliReptiles.com

I think I may try that. I'm going to have to add more racks soon, and I wasn't looking forward to the extra $$. The room they're in is warmer than the rest of the house anyway, so it wouldn't take much to get it to 85F. It would get to about 80 in the summer if I kept the door shut.

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it!

Shelly

Except for the crappy drivers, rude people, crappy drivers, Lack of english speakers, rude people, overpriced real estate, crappy drivers, & did I mention rude people that dont speak english?

Jared
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~ ASK ME ABOUT MY BALLS ~

You covered about a 1 / 100 of what sucks about miami....
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Neil Golli
(813) 856 3408
info@gollireptiles.com
www.GolliReptiles.com

You may not realize it, but you probably have quite a few appliances that are constantly sucking power even if you are not using them. Your T.V., VCR, DVD Player, Sound System, etc can all be plugged into a power strip. When you are not using them shut the strip off. The same goes with the computer, it's not enough to just "Shut it down" the thing is still sucking power.

Next invest in compact florescent bulbs (the squat curly-Q bulbs). They cost more than regular bulbs but they put out more light at a much lower wattages.

Doing just these two things will save you money right off the bat (the bulbs will last up to five years so they take time to pay for themselves but it's worth it). I switched every bulb in my house to these bulbs and noticed a VERY significant drop in my electric bill in the first month.

Next, if you can, move as many of your animals into one room as possible. It is much more cost effective to heat or cool only one room that it is to try to do the same with individual racks and tanks throughout the house. The heat element on the individual setups is constantly fighting your room temps and this costs money.

Since you live in a warm part of the country... you most likely wouldn't want your animals in the basement if you have one. Basements tend to stay cooler than the rest of the house. Instead, if you have an attic, you could convert THAT to your reptile room if it is big enough...(I don't know what kind of architecture is common in residential areas in Florida). Otherwise, an up stairs room that you insulate well and cut off from the rest of the houses cooling. This way you are using heat's natural tendency to rise to your advantage.

Try looking up your local electric company online. Their website will undoubtedly give you the best money saving tips for your local area.

Good luck.

If you have room in your house, build a large enclosure of 1 and 1/2" or 2" high density foam core insulation (comes in 4' x 8' panels). Heat tape strips and tape have a low wattage.
Invest in screw in flourescent bulbs. Also your electric company can send someone down, at no charge, and help with energy saving tips.

Mike