Good Light?

[SeaBee]

I bought this light on sale at the lfs a while ago. All seems well, nice, and I like it. I just wanted to know what some of you guys think. I have the 1016 model, 48". Also, does anyone know how to figure what this thing costs to run? 260w lamp. Thank you.

Satellite | Current What's Next

 

[bobby]

Depends on how much you're charged per KW hour. What's your KW hour charge on your bill? Norm is .08 to.12 per KW hour. Also how many hours a day are you going to run it?

I had the same light in 30" though. I liked it, but PC's wont give you as much light as T% or MH. It will work great for any softy and some LPS. No nems, clams or SPS though. Maybe monti caps.

 

[bobby]

Example. Lets just say your KW hour charge is .10, you run the light for 8 hours a day and 30 days a month, then it'll cost you 6.24 a month to run.

 

[SeaBee]

Ok, I hate to reveal the moron I am, but wha????? I have a star polyp, 2 hammers, torch, zooanthids??, and some button polyps. Some of the buttons I rescued from the bottom of the lfs, he didnt even see them, they are bloomin now. I cant afford to even think of running MH lamps!

 

[bobby]

Running MH lamp are no different than any other light as long as the wattage is the same. A watt is a watt and you'll be charged the same for that watt.

KWH is killa watt hour. You're charged so many pennies for every 1000 watts that is ran for each hour. A single 250 watt halide would be a little cheaper than the light you're running now, but just by pennies.

 

[winyfrog]

The corals you mentioned will be fine under that light. Most LPS and Softies.

You only need to consider upgrading it if you want to keep the things that bobby mentioned, clams, and sps

 

[project5k]

just one other thing to think about when your figuring you cost to operate lights, if it has a ballast, then you need to add in some losses... however little that they may be, they can still add up, and to get a true picture, you need to do ALL of the math...

for a flourescent ballast, you can figure anywhere from like 5% loss to 20% loss, just depends on the ballast and how old the bulbs are.. most newer ballasts land in the 5-10 range... roughly,

so, in your example above, $6.24 per month, would probably really be more like 6.24*1.1=$6.86. I know that its only 62 more cents per month, but....

 

[daugherty]

well just think a 175w mh magnetic ballast will draw more than 175w usually not much more but it is higher.

 

[project5k]

well just think a 175w mh magnetic ballast will draw more than 175w usually not much more but it is higher.

i agree...

my question is this, i know with flourescent ballasts, there are magnetic, and electronic, is the same true for MH? and are the electronic ones more efficient just like they are with the flour.?

 

[daugherty]

i really dont know i have read that many mh lights give out more light and better color from the bulbs with mag ballasts than they do with electronic ones.

 

[Solarfall]

Jesus, my electric company charges 16 cents per KWH. Good ol' Jersey.

 

[dcantucson]

Jesus, my electric company charges 16 cents per KWH. Good ol' Jersey.

At least you know what they charge. I have no idea what mine charges. I never really thought about it, just thought "this damn bill is too high."

 

[Bifferwine]

At least you know what they charge. I have no idea what mine charges. I never really thought about it, just thought "this damn bill is too high."

Then know they can gouge us out here because we have to have cooling 8 months out of the year. We don't have a choice but to consume a lot of power.

My water heater is the original installed with the house (1979). It was due to die, oh about a decade ago, but it's still working. When it does die, I'm going to have a solar water heater installed. Between the state and federal tax credits, it will end up costing me what I would have paid for a normal water heater anyways, and it will save money on my electric bill.

 

[SeaBee]

Then know they can gouge us out here because we have to have cooling 8 months out of the year. We don't have a choice but to consume a lot of power.

My water heater is the original installed with the house (1979). It was due to die, oh about a decade ago, but it's still working. When it does die, I'm going to have a solar water heater installed. Between the state and federal tax credits, it will end up costing me what I would have paid for a normal water heater anyways, and it will save money on my electric bill.

Any water heater over 12-15 yrs old is a ticking time bomb! I hope you have it outside or something, cause when it goes you're gonna think a Tsunami hit your house. I wouldnt wait. i did mine just so I could sleep. I've been to houses where the water heater broke....wasn't pretty.

Don't you guys out in Az have solar panels up? Even just one would help. I would if I could but I live in an Association, and they dont let us do anything to the exterior.:frustrat:

 

[Bifferwine]

Solar panels are catching on here. I don't know why they haven't caught on already -- this is the perfect location. We have something like 320+ days of sunlight a year. We would be the best location in the country for it!

There are plenty of reasons why solar has not caught on as quickly as it should (I go to lots of conferences on this sort of stuff for work).

More and more people are doing little things -- solar water heater, solar pool heater, etc. As the technology becomes more affordable and tax credits more available, more people are doing it.

I already have solar driveway lights! Lowe's -- $17.99 for the set. Oh yeah. :)