I've just moved to a new place and my room only has two power sockets.
I am wondering how much power filters, heaters etc use becuase I don't want to overload my sockets and blow fuses for the building.

I have a 10 UK gallon with 50W heater, Fluval 1+ filter, ELite Stingray 15 filter, small pump for bubbler and standard fluro light (not sure of wattage). The tank isn't set up atm. The thing is, this tank would have to share a power socket with my computer (monitor and tower. speakers and printer when in use). I can unplug the light and bubbler to use the speakers and printer but obviously I can't unplug filters or heaters.
I am worried that all of this is just too much.

The other socket will be shared between my 5gal betta bowl (25W heater, small pump) and my 7.5 gal tank (in-built light, 50W heater, filter similar to fluval 1+ I think). Also this socket will power my phone charger and hairdryer when needed.

At the moment I only have my betta bowl set up (as he's the only fish I have) but I really want to cycle the other two tanks and have been planning them for ages.

I dont know about individual wall sockets, but in all the houses I have lived in, both in the us and out of it, the whole room and often times a couple of rooms are on the same circuit. In my house I have two tanks with filters lights, air bubblers, and one has a heater on a power strip from one power socket. The other power socket in my room has a power strip that runs the tv, vcr, video games, and all of my computer stuff.
Also, each house is a bit different in how they are built and how easy it is to overload the circuits. Every house I have been in has a circuit breaker that just flips usually before you actualy burn out a fuse, so if anyone in my family ever accidentily overloaded a circuit we would just have to go to the breaker box and reset it.

Almost all of my wall sockets have power strips connected with all of the sockets taken. I had yet to blow a fuse or for there to be a problem.

welcome to my world
I have 4 outlets with a power strip on everyone. the 2 that i use for my 2 tanks are fine. the one for my entertainment center, thats another story. Ive poped the breaker a few times.

Hmm, my concern is also that the fuse box/circuit breaker for the flat is actually located in the takeaway downstairs, and I don't have access to it.
I will use surge protector strips, probably eight to six socket strips.

Yeah, I definately recommend using surge protected power strips, particularly if you have flourescent tank lights as I gather the starters for these can sometimes cause power surges/fuses to trip. It's extra piece of mind anyway. Also, the surge protected power strips are better designed for long term use rather than the occasional use that other power strips are really made for

Mmm. Interesting.

What I'd be interested to learn is how much electricity per minute items actually use and then it would be easy to make a game plan. For example how much power does filter/light /air pump etc and then of coursev computer/TV/etc consume ? Which fish tank item consumes the most?

I think air pumps and filters are generaly low wattage, then lights (depending on the wattage of course!) and heaters are the biggest drainers, but then if they are automatic ones I'm now sure how much power they actually use when they're not "heating" and it's just the thermostat running

I worked it out once using an online conversion tool once (on PFK I think?) for an old tank setup I had and I figured it cost around £30 a year to run it (electricity). That included air pump, filters, lights and a heater, but that was based on continuous use of the heater which I think was a 100w one and of course they're not always actually "heating" so I'm not sure how accurate that is.

I do have the formula for that. ill have to dig it out of my physiscs stuff and post it. It also has how much those items cost to run in an amount of time...

heres the formula

1. find out how many watts(w) your filter, heater... uses

2. change watts into kilowatts(kw). to do this, divide the number of watts by 1000. kw= w / 1000

3. change kw to kilowatthours(kwh) kwh= kw x 1 hour(h) Remember this number.

4. locate on your electric bill how much an kilowatthour cost. you can find this out by doing the following formula

total electric cost / how many kwh you have used. kwh cost= $ / kwh
Remember this number.

5. multiply your answers from step 3 and 4 together. this is how much a specific item cost to run for 1 hour. to see how much is cost to run a day, multiply your answer by 24.

ok im going to show how much a 100 watt light bulb cost to run for 1 day.

2. 100w / 1000 = 0.1kw

3. 0.1kw x 1 = 0.1kwh

4. $256.97 / 357kwh = $0.0745 per kwh

0.0745 x 24 = $1.788

A 100 watt light bulb cost $1.79 to run for 1 day

i hope this is right and that it isnt confusing. once i makes sure its all good, im going to submit this to tip of the month. so dont take my idea

Hi Lak, just out of interest this is what I used in the past (as a general idea cost-wise). It's the PFK UK Electricity cost calculator

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...rical_costs.php

Just noticed you can use it for USD too, but you need to put in your local electricity price as Jon says

better yet

Oh no, it's much better to do the math's like you did - I'm just being lazy!

do not use my formula, something is WAY off

Thanks for the info anyway

I'm going to check that link Bumble and the heaters mmmm. That's the big drainer then...heating a large tank must be a huge expense

You can figure pretty close just how much it costs to run your tank (or anything for that matter!)

Watts X 24 (hrs per day) X 30 (days per month) = total

Total divided by 1000 = kilowatt hours = total

Total X cost per kilowatt hour (on your electric bill)


Example one of my Aquaclear 110 costs about $1 per month summer rates & 80 cents per month in the winter!

We figured up my whole set up....the 100 gallon tank & the 30 gallon tank: includes 3 AQ110s, 1 Fluval 104, 2 fluorescent lights, heaters, bubble wall air pumps....etc COSTS $25 per month summer & $20 per month winter.......My Enjoyment.....PRICELESS !