Need help calculating energy savings

svb57

New member
I replaced (7) 250MH HQI with LEDs. I run the lights 10 hours per day 365 days per year. The electricity costs me .10 per kWh

The current LEDs are 120v and draw 3.7 amps

I think there is enough info here to figure the cost savings per year.

Any help?

By the way the LEDs look very nice.....thanks to Reef LED Lights

Thanks
Jim McCauley
 
I think somebody calculated on Reefcentral and you actually dont even save much. Your heaters will be on all the time in the winter + high initial costs = pretty much spending similar dollars for the life of the LED fixture.


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There is the reduction in cost in the summer as don't need a chiller.

Having to replace (6) HQI bulbs every year at a cost of $110 per adds up very quickly as well.

I already did the math for all that I just asking help on the electrical costs......

Thanks for the input

Jim Mc
 
I can help you tomorrow, I'm beat from a long day, but you can text or call me tomorrow Jim, afternoon or later. My brain is spent right now. Here's the just...

You say the cost is .10 per KWH. That's the cost to run 1000 watts for one hour.

Amps x volts = watts
 
Your .10 per hour and 10 hours a day cancelled each other out coincidentally...

You will spend $638.75 per year on electric to run (7) 250 watt MH. Plus relamping cost and chiller.
You will spend $162.06 per year on electric running 3.7 amps worth of LED. Plus heater costs.

IMO /IME, you will have better growth with MH if you limit yourself to only 3.7 amps. While LED MAY keep stuff alive, I'm not so sure high light corals/anemones will THRIVE with the light difference. There's more to just following the crowd with ONLY comparing PAR, and not considering color/ NM wave lengths. I have anemones under 250 watts worth of LED (per 2' section), the same could be accomplished with MH, but LED advantage is no heat.
 
Taylor thanks for the math work.....

Not sure what you mean by the statement "Limiting yourself with 3.7 amps" There are 252 CREE LEDs in (4) heatsinks. Together at full power they consume 3.7 amps as read on the Apex controller.

I have kept the MH fixtures and if i don't like the growth I can always return to them. So far the colors of the corals all look better then under the 14K Giesmann 250w MH HQis.

The cost of the electricity and (4) bulbs per year is $950 (give or take). this is what (2) of the (4) LED set-ups cost so if they do work out then it was great investment, if not then it wont be the first monies us hobbiests have spent chasing the next new panacea.
 
No problem Jim. :)

Bad choice of words from me, "limiting 3.7 amps". I was in a hurry when I wrote that... I'm sorry. Looking back I see you're using 63 diodes per 2' section of tank. I was comparing it to the original 48 that was sold when I got into them years ago.
For me, I needed to add more LED's than the original 48 per 2' length of tank space. When Bill originally was selling DIY LED, he claimed 48 LED per 24" length was equal to a 250 watt MH. If comparing "PAR" it probably is more than a 250MH. But "where the rubber meets the road", I burned some, while others starved. I had challenges getting the "punch" where I (the anemones) want it. On my heat sinks, I added more, between 67 and 74 total, and then I still, recently, added 5k 21 watt spot led for even more. My anemones are more light demanding than most sps, and I found my original diodes are missing spectrum that other lights put out. I haven't added mine up, but guessing I'm in the area of 6 watts vs. 3.7 watts like yours.

I think you will be happy with them. I've been on the fence with getting a couple newer ones, mine are all getting pretty old now. It seems the newer ones have captured more of the spectrum, but I'm still nervous to pull the trigger on an expensive light when what I have, as outdated as it is, still works. The anemones I have are typically found in very shallow water. It seems the yellow/white light make them look the best health wise, but not the cool deep actinic blue so many strive for. I think you will be happy with them overall. Depending on what you're trying to grow where, you may see a little difference in growth/color. I didn't mean to sound negative with them, I was in a hurry when I responded earlier.
 
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