Reduce Power usage

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

My electric bill has gone up a good bit the last few months and naturally my wife believes the fish shed is the culprit. I’m wondering how many air pumps it takes before a linear pump is less costly, and any other tips to cut back on electrical usage.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

For me personally, I think I would switch to a linear piston air pump at around 20 tanks all in the same space to be able to make a loop. If you really wanna get technical I’m sure you can look up the wattage on the linear pump vs. however many pumps you’re currently using. 
 

I also believe that heating the room instead of running heaters in each tank has the potential to use less energy and therefore save money. Make sure all tanks have lids, use LED lighting, potentially reduce your lighting periods (even though LED’s are efficient), etc. Cory talked a lot about efficiency and reducing costs when he got back from Europe, both in individual videos and the livestreams. 
 

When I first set up my rack I made this bad boy:

It runs on a single Tetra Whisper 150 air pump and runs 5 sponge filters. Has the capacity to do 6 but it has run 5 for a couple years now. It’s the same idea behind a linear piston pump with a loop on a tiny scale. Idk how many tanks you have, but maybe something like this could help you out for air pumps specifically. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/11/2023 at 6:48 PM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:

My electric bill has gone up a good bit the last few months and naturally my wife believes the fish shed is the culprit. I’m wondering how many air pumps it takes before a linear pump is less costly, and any other tips to cut back on electrical usage.

I would start here. Figuratively by measuring and literally by checking heaters or certain equipment.