Power demand 250 Vs 400 MH's

[Kedd]

Anyone have an idea or experience in switching from 250MH to 400MH,
what percent the power bill would or did go up each month?
If so how many MH's are you running?

Kedd

 

[Pseudo]

Kedd,

I went from 2x250W14k Reeflux DE with 660 Icecap 48" T-5 actinic to Dual 400W SE Ushio 12K with Icecap 660 and same T-5 setup.

My electric bill went from $210 to $240. This also depends on the season. That jump also included the addition of a chiller so I would estimate that the halides alone was a $20- $25 jump.

Kasei

 

[Kedd]

Good to know Kasei.
I thought it would be much more, I was thinking almost double.

Kedd

 

[pecan2phat]

It's gotta be more then that especially since Kasei has an extension cord running 200 ft out of his window :lol2:

 

[MikeyNYC]

trying staying in line with Kedd's question,

if you have a lighting system rated at 440w let's say 4 110watt VHO bulbs and you replace those bulbs with just one 400 watt MH, will it be cheaper to run just that one MH or are there other variables that come into play that make MH's more expensive.

I have VHO's and want to move over to MH's for all of the obvious reasons, but on the fences with the prospect of adding an additional $50 or more to my electric expenses per month.

 

[jhale]

400's? Kedd are you done with the softy tank? :sgrin:
just curious why are you thinking of switching to 400's

 

[sanjay]

Anyone have an idea or experience in switching from 250MH to 400MH,
what percent the power bill would or did go up each month?
If so how many MH's are you running?

Kedd

Kedd;

It would depend on the ballasts that you are using. The 250 HQI ballasts draw almost 340W, where as the 400W electronics may only draw around 428W, and a 400W HQI may draw almost 500+ watts.

This website has all the info you need to answer the question

www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com

sanjay.

 

[reefman]

there may b extra electricity from chiller due to extra heat.

 

[Bob 1000]

It's not about the power it's the color, and this comes from a person with your purple nana colony with serious color..

 

[pecan2phat]

If you went 3 x 400 watters, then it's roughly an extra 450 watts x your lighting schedule. Essentially, Kasei is pretty much on the money. If you run an extra 450 watts for 8 hour a day @ .24 cents a KW, it would be about 3.6 KW a day extra for .86 cents x 30 days = $25.92, give or take a couple of dollars dependent on actual watt draw.

 

[Kedd]

Thanks all.
Sanjay, I'll check that out.

Jonathan the softies need a better tan.

Pecan, Kasei may have something there with the extension cord.

I'm on the fence about the change, but I'm looking to get a fixture that encloses 2 Vho's.
I have my Vho and t-5 on the outside of the fixture.

Kedd