I've been thinking about putting together a thread with ways that we can conserve some energy. As into this hobby as I am, now and then i certainly have thoughts of throwing in the towel after seeing my electric bill. I mean really I have 58 solar panels at 315w each and sometimes i still have a $200 electric bill, like this month for example. I have to remind myself we've had a little snow and the days are at their shortest sunlight right now but man there has to be a way to save a little. I don't even have halides!
I do have 3 fairly large systems going though with the smallest being about 120g total.
But let's make a list of some creative ideas. Obviously there is the lighting debate but there's certainly a give and take with that.
I'll start off. A few things that I've found to help, even though my bill probably does not instill much confidence in my energy saving skills. Lol.
1. I'm switching to all deepwater aquatics dc pumps little by little as i can afford it. They have been extremely efficient and reliable for me for about 2 years now at least.
2. I began to use gravity for my media reactors as i have 4 between my tanks. So that is 4 separate pumps I've completely eliminated. The only caution with this is to use some screen where the hose siphons from so you don't suck up livestock. And keep the siphon end near the top of the water so if you lose power you don't end up siphoning too much into your sump.
Let's hear some helpful ideas...
I do have 3 fairly large systems going though with the smallest being about 120g total.
But let's make a list of some creative ideas. Obviously there is the lighting debate but there's certainly a give and take with that.
I'll start off. A few things that I've found to help, even though my bill probably does not instill much confidence in my energy saving skills. Lol.
1. I'm switching to all deepwater aquatics dc pumps little by little as i can afford it. They have been extremely efficient and reliable for me for about 2 years now at least.
2. I began to use gravity for my media reactors as i have 4 between my tanks. So that is 4 separate pumps I've completely eliminated. The only caution with this is to use some screen where the hose siphons from so you don't suck up livestock. And keep the siphon end near the top of the water so if you lose power you don't end up siphoning too much into your sump.
Let's hear some helpful ideas...