450 Gallon Peninsula Display - Page 12

Zestay · #**276** 11/22/2007, 01:05 AM

updated pix!?

TheOtherReefer · #**277** 11/28/2007, 02:13 PM

Cabinets make ALL the difference in the world!!!

jwedehase · #**278** 01/03/2008, 12:01 AM

Very nice display! Your power consumption numbers are awfully depressing. We pay $.35/KwH here in CA, and nobody runs a tank with a power bill under $200/month.

Just tagging along. I really enjoy peninsula tanks, and this is a nice one!

TriGa22 · #**279** 01/03/2008, 01:28 AM

Solar panels are expensive but they can save you money in the long run. You get enough power to run your house and then the goverment actually pays you becuase you have them. So after a couple of years you make the money back and then start making money. So you dont have to pay for electricity.

TriGa22 · #**280** 01/03/2008, 01:29 AM

Solar panels are expensive but they can save you money in the long run. You get enough power to run your house and then the goverment actually pays you becuase you have them. So after a couple of years you make the money back and then start making money. So you dont have to pay for electricity.

mcrist · #**281** 01/03/2008, 09:44 AM

Not much new happening on my tank. I did shorten most of the closed loop return lines but they still need some more adjusting. My nitrates are still holding steady at 7 even though the denitrator is producing 0 ppm nitrate water. I am not happy with my sand anymore. It constantly has some slime algae on it even though the rest of the tank is clean. I can rake the top layer of sand daily but it still seems to thrive. I stopped racking for now and will resort to vacuuming the sand biweekly. The next time I vacuum and have nice looking sand I will post some update pictures.

mcrist · #**282** 01/03/2008, 09:52 AM

Thanks jwedehase..

Our electricity rates are expected to climb in a year or two when the deregulation goes through. It’s a shame when our local electrical companies are having record breaking profits they still want to raise the rates. It would be nice if one day that average American wouldn’t be stepped on by big business and our government.

Solar panels would be great but I don’t have that much extra cash lying around. I should still look into it maybe the costs have come down.

Aussie_hippie_2 · #**283** 01/03/2008, 11:18 AM

"It would be nice if one day that average American wouldn’t be stepped on by big business and our government. "

Preach brother!

Amazing tank. Love the tang pair.

chrissreef · #**284** 01/03/2008, 11:32 PM

"We pay $.35/KwH here in CA"

OMG! I thought TX was high at 12-14! maybe I shouldn't have come back to this hobby =/

jwedehase · #**285** 01/04/2008, 01:50 AM

Just to qualify, that's also the Tier 3 rate, which everyone with a reef tank hits. To stay in base rate costs ($.12/KwH) is impossible, at something like 300 total KwH for the whole month. My house is extremely well insulated (it's new), small (1300sq/ft), and when it was just me and my wife, we still shot way past base rate, even when we were almost never home.

Many of our local club members are used to seeing $400-700 month to the power company. One of them once saw $1100 for one month! On my sumpless/chillerless 38g during the summer, I once saw $250. The new 120g hasn't seen summer yet.

And sorry for the hijack, mcrist.

mcrist · #**286** 01/04/2008, 08:00 AM

I don't mine the hijack, makes me feel good on what I am paying for electricity. It sucks when you see the charts the power company has showing and average house and your house is way in the red.

chainsaw5vent · #**287** 01/05/2008, 09:54 AM

try solarhome dot com for great prices on solar panel systems.

mcrist · #**288** 01/05/2008, 11:33 AM

I checked their prices and at todayâ€™s electricity costs it would take 5 years to break even. That doesn't include any installation costs and assuming I get the rated peak power from the panels. I don't know enough about solar energy but generally anytime I see peak anything you are usually lucky if you get half the stated value. If I go with the logic it will take 10 years to break even. Way to expensive yet, the price of electricity would need to triple before I would consider it.

Thanks for the info...

mcrist · #**289** 01/05/2008, 11:36 AM

Don't you need to buy batteries to store the energy?

jwedehase · #**290** 01/05/2008, 12:26 PM

I thought it was in this thread, but I can't find it. However, SOMEWHERE very recently, I read about someone who wasn't using batteries. During the day, when he was producing more power than he could use, his meter ran backwards. During the night, he pulled power off the grid. In the end, it was almost a zero net difference, and his power bill was literally $1/month, or so. The power company would "credit" his over production during the day when it fed back into the grid.

chrismunn · #**291** 01/05/2008, 03:53 PM

sweet

chainsaw5vent · #**292** 01/06/2008, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcrist
I checked their prices and at todayâ€™s electricity costs it would take 5 years to break even. That doesn't include any installation costs and assuming I get the rated peak power from the panels. I don't know enough about solar energy but generally anytime I see peak anything you are usually lucky if you get half the stated value. If I go with the logic it will take 10 years to break even. Way to expensive yet, the price of electricity would need to triple before I would consider it.

Thanks for the info...

I just did some rapid calcs of my so cal edison bill. winter month = 19.23 cents/kWh (13 dec 2007) 1040 kWh $200.08
and high month = 26.65 cents/kWh (july 14, 2006) 2682 kWh/$714.82.

you may want to check the link and your state rebates to see if it may help you. this week i'll be starting the refi process and one of the main purposes is to pull $$ out to do solar.

http://www.dsireusa.org/index.cfm?EE=0&RE=1
this may help you find those rebates. also check with your local utility provider to see if they offer something.