Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok my parents say im using too much electricity....with my anole tank,chameleon cage, a 90 gallon tank and a 20 gallon tank....

they say our bill $140 bucks (around there)

i was just wondering if this is acually a high number or not.

not to be rude....

you ask an impossible question...the size of your house, temps, other heating and cooling use, where you live, etc. - way too many variables. The only way to know how much of an increase they may have had is to compare bills prior to your herping to now. Fluorescent lights should not make that much of a difference. I have always had 2-6 4'long plant lights going (for plants) from Sept-May and the increase is minimal. Even with my increase in herp lighting it is not that much, and NH has some of the highest electric rates in the country.

I would suggest sitting down with them and going over old vs. new bills (you can get the info from your electric company if your folks don't have them on hand) and see what the increase has been. If it is substantial then I think you should make an effort to help them out...I do not know how old you are or the possibility of taking on an after school job, but just the effort will show them that this is important to you. Maybe you can get a p/t job at a pet store and while you make some $$ you can also take good care of their herps and educate the customers! just a thought

lele
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
?.? Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula (no name yet)

lol let see how this works.

cham cage= 75 100 15=190 watts on for 12 hrs
anole cage= 75 30=105 on for 12 hrs
90 gal aquarium= 80(for lights) ~25(air pump) ~100(pump)
20 gal aquarium= 30(lights) ~10(filter)

~ mean i have no clue what they use but im guessing around there

so thats 190 105 ~220 (estamate) ~50 = 475

so i have about 575 (sorry didn't put in 90 gal's heater till now) watts running for 12 hours and about 220 of the running constantly..

sorry but none of that is even needed for this post

not sure if there is way to find the rates online but if you do can you tell my how to find it for my area of northern indiana

when I first moved to NH I was amazed how high my bill was! I called the local utility co. and we went thru what I had/usage/hours etc. So call them, give them the details and see if they can help. frankly, what you posted had em totally confused!! ;-/

lele
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
?.? Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula (no name yet)

n/p

Hey I live in Seattle, 2 people in my 2500 square foot 3 year old house, temp set at 65 for us we have "Energy" efficiant windows and insulatated walls (all of them for heat and sound) Chloe and Stitch are the only pets who require constant enery use, and our bill is 210.00 a month. I too called the power company and there is just no way around it, unless I become nocturnal and do my laundry in the dark at 2:43 a.m. when the rates are cheaper!! Good luck!
-----
Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Chloe
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 boyfriend- Trent species unknown

>>they say our bill $140 bucks (around there)

My bill averages $80 in the winter and $55 during the summer. The rise is because I have to add heat for the winter nights. With 15-25 cages it is no problem keeping things warm during the day. But then again I have 2 bedrooms just for the animals and insects so the doors stay closed.

Carl

The trick is find out what your electric rates are in your area. Then you could break down the bill a little more. But I think that is pretty high. You might as well be heating the house. For me I have about 6 spot lights running at once with 4 15 watt flourescent lights. I keep the door close in that room keeping the heat in and sometimes mid day in the winter I could turn some of the spots lights off saving some electricity. But I only end up paying at the worse part of the winter $30 extra because to the cages.

Figuring out the rates will only help so much since rates change at least once a year. I know they did a couple of times here in Burbank, CA because of a newly upgraded power plant. Who knows, maybe your electric company just jacked up the rates. The thing you should be mainly concerned with is the "kWh" usage. This is the number they use to calculate your bill. If you can figure out how many kWh, per month or even day, your setups use, you can figure out how much energy you are using. Your rates will always change but your kWh number will give you a better picture of how much energy you are using.
Our bill is usually the highest, about 550 kWh per month($70-$80), from July-September because the A/C takes a lot of juice.
Hope this helps.

Yes, the key info you will need is the kilowatt hours you are using per month and the price per kilowatt hour. The utility can give you these numbers and the history of your house usage over months or years. Then your parents need to sit down and figure out what about your electrical usage is changing from month to month. In winter your family may be using lights more (general, not herps), running furnace blowers, ovens, hot water heaters, etc. more than in summer. In summer there is the AC cost and your freezer/fridge running more, and fans. They can't blame the high winter bills totally on you unless they also know what the rest of the household use is. The only way to know how much of the increase your herps are causing is to break it down this way. I don't think I would just accept the "blame" without cranking some numbers for the total house use first. Then find a way to help out if there really is much of a difference.

I also meant to add that my electric rates are the 2nd highest in Alaska which is saying a lot. Our whole town is run on a diesel fired generator. It's over 60 cents a kilowatt hour here. All my house lighting is compact fluorescent, heat is oil fired hot water, on demand hot water (no hot water heater)propane stove, dryer, one human occupant and I am not home for 8 hours every day, 3 room 1 bath house is poured concrete with R26 insulation rating in the roof AND walls, the house is a 5 star energy rated home, and my monthly electic bill is over $100. There is usually someone worse off somewhere!

everyone is comparing electric bills! LOL! You should show your folks this thread!
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
?.? Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula (no name yet)

Matt,
I've recently run into a similar problem, with our electric bill jumping up $40 in one month w/o me addign any more herp appliances. I called the company & found out that, at least in CT, they discontinued the federal electric usage credit as of this month, and also hiked the cost of electricity by just bout .02/kWh. This may also be the case in your area. Try checking out your bill &/or calling th ecompany to find out if they have a cost increase or if they have discontinued a credit that they had been posting to your account in the past. It may help your case (along with all the other suggestions people have made so far!).
~C
-----
1.0 Crazy dog... or duck, sheep, snake, cat & grumpy old man combo... (Gizmo)
0.2 Vacationing Kitties (Puddy, PeeWee)
1.1 Veiled Chameleons (Charlie & Emma)
0.1 Collard Lizard (Jimmie)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Lily)
0.0.1 AWOL Leopard Gecko (Eddie)
1.0 AWOL Kitty (Mikey)
0.7 Guardian Angel Puppies (Sandy, Floppy, Lily, Crash, Tigger, Lady, Lassie)
0.1 Amazing Fiance =o)

Hey C,

Thanks for the warning for CT since that is where I live. I have yet to get this months bill.