My Tanks Carbon Footprint

[Domboski]

To me the best solution is solar energy which is still in the process of becoming effecient and affordable for the public.

 

[jrobbins]

Yes. The problem with charging even double A's off the drain is that unless you have a drop of 10-20ft you would not be able to charge the batteries in a reasonable amount of time if at all. The low end of that 10-20ft drop may not do anything.

good to know. i would have thought that the led's energy req's were so low that you could trickle charge the batteries for say 22hrs a day, and run your moonlights for 2hrs and be ok. but i havent looked into it at all, so i honestly have no idea

 

[jrobbins]

Sure you could Jonathan but there are a few downsides to a single pump running everything.
Your tank is toast of it dies while you are at work
It is difficult to regulate a phosban reactor this way. One small burp in the system and if it releases the GFO into your tank, your tank is in mega trouble...
Of course you could do the circulation this way but you'd have to make a number of changes plumbing wise and as I understand each 'turn' in pumbing adds more to the loss of efficiency.
The pump would also be larger than your current one, so you will be dealing with more heating from it that will have to be addressed.

..just a few thoughts

all very good points. do you think one large pump of say 2400 gph would produce more heat than say 6 400gph pumps?

 

[Domboski]

good to know. i would have thought that the led's energy req's were so low that you could trickle charge the batteries for say 22hrs a day, and run your moonlights for 2hrs and be ok. but i havent looked into it at all, so i honestly have no idea

I thought the same thing. :splitspin

 

[jrobbins]

I thought the same thing. :splitspin

would have been pretty cool if it worked...

 

[qy7400]

For number two, my eyes are still popping out of my head how costly it is to buy solar panels. I've been encouraged by news lately that many companies are exploring using cheaper materials that should be more cost effecient. Effecient.... Oh yeah, Solar panels are not very effecient at the moment and the amount needed to generate n electricity (you choose the measurement) is way off.

There are now a few LIRA members that have converted to solar. While the original costs are still a little high with all the rebates and tax credits the costs have been dropping below 40K for a 10K system, span that over the expected 30 years the panels should last and you have quite a savings. The latest person to go solar has a thread on RC, http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1388312, even has a video of the meter spinning backwards

 

[tosiek]

yeah i just started doing research into solar panels for my parents house in PA. Since they are only there for weekends it would completely pay for their 2-3 days there on a weeks charge with extra to spare. Extra power generated will go straight to the power company to help make back the cost of the panels themselves. Panels cost a crapload also, think they came out to 60k for a small setup with installation and permits and stuff but that was a rough quote. Still have to double check because in some areas you have to sell the energy you create first to the energy company then buy it back at a reduced rate.

 

[NYreefNoob]

you have to spend in order to save, in the long run it would be worth it, but iti would take a few years difference in your electric bill to equal out to what you just spent to save electric, i tried the no powerheads and run a close loop system, wasnt happy, now have ph's and no closed loop. you can go with more efficient pump's mag's cause decent heat, i am currently ging to be switching my return pump out to a larger one so i can run my chiller and reactor's off of it as well, as fr as making your drain a larger gph tke into consideration that the faster the water flows through the sump the less reaction time and efficiency your skimmer will have,

 

[Domboski]

Does anybody know if aquariums use solar energy? Zoos? I haven't noticed it but I wasn't looking either. Of course it seems like a good deal but how long do you have to have a near zero electric bill before you pay off and start saving money on the panels? It would take me 17 years based on my average electric bill now to break even on the cost of the panels not including permits, installation and MAINTANENCE.

So at this point in time for the panels to make sense for Joe public you'll need:

1- Lot's of upfront money (although not paying the electric company would be quite satisfying in of itself )
2- A house or apartment with access to X number of hours of sun (I forget how long the panels need to be exposed to the sun to be productive)
3- No plans of moving for quite some time or you?re going to be set back quite a bit to pay for moving the panels or buying them again.

I'm not familiar with how the panel?s work but it seems to me that they should be a lot cheaper at this point and they are not. I'm not a conspiracy theorist but in this situation it seems it is painfully difficult to get solar panels up and running unless you are willing to take on a huge expense upfront and willing to commit to your residence for quite some time. Sometimes I feel like if the gov. was really committed to making things easier on people and the environment these panels wouldn't be so much and difficult to get up and running. I have a friend that I can hear now "It's the lobbyist for the utility companies fault". I have to admit, I'm starting to believe this a little bit. Maybe more in an indirect way. From what I understand the technology is not real complicated it?s the materials that are costly.

We'll see. I wish I could get solar panels... even just a small one to run my tank that was portable. Something you can hang out the window or something.

On a side note, If I bought a house on LI, I would spend much less than the panels and set up a system where I can pump water straight into my tanks from the sound or Atlantic that would filter (for particles and a UV system to kill parasites and other harmful organisms), adjust temp and salinity (if necessary) straight to my tank on a timed system where I could have fresh saltwater for my tank at a press of a button. Maybe have the water pumped into a holding container where I can test the params.

That would save me a lot of money on salt mixes and knock the RO/DI water waste out of the equation. I may have to dose essential elements but most people do that already. Could potentially lose a skimmer and a chiller too. I'm sure there are issues with doing that I'm not thinking of currently but the idea is intriguing to me. Maybe a little easier to do if you live in Florida.

 

[Domboski]

yeah i just started doing research into solar panels for my parents house in PA. Since they are only there for weekends it would completely pay for their 2-3 days there on a weeks charge with extra to spare. Extra power generated will go straight to the power company to help make back the cost of the panels themselves. Panels cost a crapload also, think they came out to 60k for a small setup with installation and permits and stuff but that was a rough quote. Still have to double check because in some areas you have to sell the energy you create first to the energy company then buy it back at a reduced rate.

I wish I understood this. Why is the electric company a factor when you get panels? I can see selling them your extra power to save money for others but does that actually happen? Buying it back doesn't make sense to me either. You paid to generate the power and now you have to pay again to use it? I often wondered if this practice was to protect the company so Joe public's job was protected but now I'm not so sure. I got annoyed when I heard the Gov. was trying to bail Baer Sterns out. That company has made billions of dollars over the years and mis used it all and the gov tries to bail them out. What if I told the gov. that I couldn't pay my taxes this year because I mis-used my money and bought huge buildings I now can't afford? I'm not so sure they would be as gracious.....

Tony was the buy back at a reduced rate because your parents would use just a fraction of the electric the panels generated? I could see that if they still saved a ton of money by selling most of the generated electric to the utility company.

Does anyone get letters from ConEd when they go a whole month without using gas? I find them hilarious.

 

[Wes]

Let's not all forget that mining the rare earth metals used in solar panels is Very Harmful to the earth.

It's kind of like the hybrid vehicles. The amount of carbon waste produced when smelting nickel to make a hybrid battery is tremendous. Someone did a study and found that Driving a Hummer for a 100k miles leaves less of a footprint than Driving a Prius for 100k miles, because of all the carbon waste produced when smelting nickel.

It's much more "green" to drive normal gas combustion car that gets 30 mpg than it is to drive a hybrid. Sorry to get off topic. Just making a point that alot of these "solutions" are not any better.

 

[Domboski]

Let's not all forget that mining the rare earth metals used in solar panels is Very Harmful to the earth.

I did not know this. Geesh :splitspin

It's kind of like the hybrid vehicles. The amount of carbon waste produced when smelting nickel to make a hybrid battery is tremendous. Someone did a study and found that Driving a Hummer for a 100k miles leaves less of a footprint than Driving a Prius for 100k miles, because of all the carbon waste produced when smelting nickel.

It's much more "green" to drive normal gas combustion car that gets 30 mpg than it is to drive a hybrid. Sorry to get off topic. Just making a point that alot of these "solutions" are not any better.

This I knew but every time I bring it up I get a harsh response. At this point "hybrid" cars and trucks is a marketing tool.

 

[LeslieS]

I know we buy "green" power from con ed. Not sure how green or where it comes from as my boyfriend did all the research but you may want to look into it. He was into the whole green movement long before it was trendy so he usually knows his stuff. It does cost a little bit more so it is not going to lower your light bill.

 

[Chris5]

Ink your funny :lol:

I think I am just gonna go and hook up my tank via solar panels this weekend, anyone care to help :splitspin ...

Really the only way to lower your carbon footprint is to shut or unplug everything that does not need to be on, this including power strips that have the little red light flickering, cell phone chargers in the wall, even equipment on standby (like my ps2 or dvd player) is giving off more carbon when in that mode versus just turning the power completely off.

As for the tank well my tank needs to stay on and yes you could limit your equipment to the min possible but your still running lights, a heater and probably a filter of some kind. I say limit the rest of your house and keep the tank going, i mean it is a hobby of yours and only yours that you love right?

 

[lfsmarineguy]

If you are getting harassed for an hour and a half by a female friend and you are putting up with it she must have something you want and or be pretty hot.

 

[boozeman]

:lol:
to take energy consumption into cosideration I chose the most efficient equipment I could. I also plumbed the sump down into the basement to take advantage of the cooler temp there.

 

[Killerdrgn]

Let's not all forget that mining the rare earth metals used in solar panels is Very Harmful to the earth.

It's kind of like the hybrid vehicles. The amount of carbon waste produced when smelting nickel to make a hybrid battery is tremendous. Someone did a study and found that Driving a Hummer for a 100k miles leaves less of a footprint than Driving a Prius for 100k miles, because of all the carbon waste produced when smelting nickel.

It's much more "green" to drive normal gas combustion car that gets 30 mpg than it is to drive a hybrid. Sorry to get off topic. Just making a point that alot of these "solutions" are not any better.

Actually the dust to dust study that you're thinking about is complete BS. It wasn't an apples to apples comparison. For the Hummer they just used the straight up mpg and materials cost for it at 300k miles. HOWEVER, for the Prius they included cost of research and development for each car, materials, and factored it for only 100k miles because it wasn't "as well built as the Hummer", even though the Prius is warentied for 150k miles. All in all the Prius is MUCH greener for the planet.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/8/27/124134/961

 

[Bob 1000]

I think they are paying people to take hummers off the lots now :bablefish

Not 1's or 2's.... Maybe 3's...lmao... My wife wanted that elephant... I think it's quite efficient... In the garage... I feel like I'm parking a garbage truck whenever I go to manhattan or brooklyn with it... I stop driving it a month after we got it..