28 replies to this topic

[ofishyfish]

HI

Just wanterd some info re metal halide electricity usage. I got my Synergy invoice in yesterday and it was $945.00, I nearly rolled over and died, Now I have a few tanks running but my bill has never be over $400.00 $425 was the bill for the previous 90 days Nov-Dec. We hate the heat so we run the aircon quite a bit but we are all out at work during the day so really only gets a hammering when we get home, through the night and on weekends. The only thing i can think off that could have caused this is my Aqua One Metal Halide Unit that I got on the 15th january which is pretty much the beginning of this new bill cycle give or take 10 days. I never run both halide lights I only run one of them at a time as they get pretty hot and with the hot weather didnt want to make my tank any hotter but even so id say I would only run them for 3 hours at a time the rest of the time it is just the 4 standard pl tubes and they would run for eight hours a day.

is it possible that this could double my bill?

[Ronny]

I'm not sure how much power a halide would use but a friend of mine was telling me not long ago he had a bill like this.

In the end he said his bills were being made up as an average of his past bills and they were doing that for a while...
When they checked how much he had actually been using, they found they were undercharging him and put the difference on top of his next bill.

Could be a possibility if that actually happens?
Could be total BS but just a thought...

[Poncho]

I have heard about them doing that too Ronny.

I'm not sure if the metal halide use would be the sole reason for the spike in your bill - seems a bit excessive. However, the timing coincides with when it really got hot this year so maybe your air-conditioning use was significantly higher during that period too.

You can look forward to even higher bills in the future. I heard on the radio yesterday that they're about to raise the price of a standard power unit by 10% and predict a 77% increase over the next 5 years.

[Fox]

Synergy have also put the costs up again. Everyone's bill will increase.

[Anita ozfish]

I thought metal halides used a LOT of power. Plus the prices keep going up.
Any sparkies here???

[ofishyfish]

I thought about the aircon but i cant see that we used in that much more in Jan and Feb considered to Nov and Dec.

I read that yesterday that they are putting them up again. I have energy saver bulbs throughout the huse, Im just gonna have to have tanks on less maybe cut them back to 6 hours a day and get the kids to turn the lighs off......

[Tropo]

Hi there
How many watts is the globe that should give you a good idea of what it will consume. I have close to forty tanks but bulk are running on sumps and my last bill was $680. And this was the majority of school holidays + main air con 8kw and fishroom a/c 1600w running fairly consistent. Hope this helps

Cheers Tropo

[ado]

What wattage lamps are in the metal halides? and how many you have on and for how long?

Don't underestimate the power that the air-cons use either....they use a lot!!

It's better to compare the amount of power you are being charged for kW/h for this period and last period...not the cost. It could be two factors...increased power usage and increased charges.

[golden_dase]

My last bill (last week) was just over $400 and I think it's "average". Bear in mind that I have a bunch of tanks, filters, heaters, lights, powerheads etc..
I also run a business from home so some of my equipment are on 24/7 (Servers, PCs, networking gear, printers/fax etc..). Add to that, 2 air con units being on 10hours day etc.

I very much doubt your house use as much power as mine!

[Tropo]

Hi again
Done some quick research here you go

Before we see how much electricity costs, we have to understand how it's measured. When you buy gas they charge you by the litre. When you buy electricity they charge you by the kilowatt-hour (kWh). When you use 1000 watts for 1 hour, that's a kilowatt-hour. For example:
Device wattage Device Hours used kWh
medium window-unit AC
1000 watts one hour 1 kWh
large window-unit AC
1500 watts one hour 1.5 kWh
small window-unit AC
500 watts one hour 0.5 kWh
42" ceiling fan on low speed
24 watts ten hours 0.24 kWh
light bulb
100 watts 730 hours
(i.e., all month) 73 kWh
CFL light bulb
25 watts 730 hours 18 kWh

SOME MORE INFO

The State Government has announced increases to the State’s electricity retail tariffs from April 2010. The Home Plan (A1) tariff rates will increase by 7.5% from April 2010, followed by a further 10% increase from July 2010.

As a result, from July 2010 the average weekly cost for householders will increase by $4.13, with an average increase of approximately $2.78 a week for customers experiencing financial hardship.
currently were paying about 17.4 cents per unit (kWh)

Cheers Tropo

[ofishyfish]

I have 2 x 150W but as i said i only had 1 on for 3 hours max per day, I still cant see how it could be that high, even if I had the aircon on all day everday, i have 2 pcs running and ther est is faitly normal for a family

[ado]

Have a look at this link mate: Link

This topic comes up quite regularly. And it going to be hard giving any advice till we see the amount of units that were being charged for.

[Kieran]

As a level 2 energy auditor, I really think your bill is dodgy mate. Your MH lights shouldn't more than double your bill. I know synergy are great fans of estimating bills. My new flat hasn't ever had a meter read, and as such synergy are estimating my usage as 21 units / day (about a 6 person family usage) for just my housemate and I! Now, we have 4 tanks between us, but $300 bills for uni students are just insane.

I would ring up, wait the 20mins on hold, then complain your bum off and demand they make you a self-reader. They will send you a bit of paper 6 times each year and you colour in where the meter arms are. Western power (who read the meters) still have to check it once each year, but at least you know they haven't been estimating your bills.

[ofishyfish]

When I get home Ill check the units used and Im gonna stand at the meter with the aircon on and off and the halides on and off and check how fast that wheel spins around, I think if they did a dogy reading before and then now hit us with a huge bill thats pretty darn crap.

[danie1]

Try this http://synergy.marke...m/calculate.php

http://www.reefcentr...k_elec_calc.php change to 18 cents


A 150 watt floodlight at 10 hours a day should cost $16 every 60 days,,,, sound a bit sus


Halides should not be any different to T5 fluro's if calculated on a wattt to watt basis,

It will be Your Aircon, Heater, Water heater Or Pool filter pump, that make the biggest difference to your bill.

Plus the damm price hike

[Neakit]

you need to factor in the extra usage of the lights 150 mh aren't quite 150w they are usually 160 or around that area.

[ofishyfish]

Well I got home and went to check the meter to see how fast the wheel spins, then I realised that modern tech has prevailed and i dont have one with a wheel its electronic and just has a number, stood for while and the bloody thing didnt move. so hence cant test.

checked bill and we used 5005 units in 64 days, which is average of 78 units per day. what do you think percentage of that would be aircon, ita daikan inverter prob fairly large as the hoseu is two story but still.

[Kieran]

Inverter you could be looking at 2.5kW but 78 units a day is insane mate. I use closer to 12.

[Jezza]

I thought metal halides used a LOT of power.

150W MH will use the same power as 150W worth of fluros...
150W = 150W
however, 150W of MH will produce a lot more light than 150W worth of fluro, so MH are more economical...

[tranced]

dont those type of lights need a big surge of power to switch them on?