GVAC Energy Efficient Filtration
Energy Efficient Filtration
By Mike Creasy
1998 Issue 13
As you may already know, our electric bills are figured and charged on how many kilowatt hours of electricity we use each month. As we add to our fish hobby our electric bills also rise. Thus we need to start looking for ways to make our hobby more cost effective and efficient. To figure out your own electric consumption, you need to know one of the following: wattage or amperage of the water pump, heater, back filter, or lighting system you are using. To figure the kilowatt hours use the following formula.
1. Watts x hours per day it runs x number of days divided by 1000 = KWH
2. Or, amps x voltage of unit = watts then go to sep 1.
For example, lets say that we have an A301 powerhead, and a O2000 powerhead and a QO water pump. The A301 draws 15 watts, the O2000 draws 25 watts and the QO pump draws 85 watts. The formula would look like this:
watts hrs day total days kwh month
A301 15 x 24 x 31 divide by 1000 = 11.16
O2000 25 x 24 x 31 divide by 1000 = 18.60
The above equipment in my home is used to run one 10 gallon, one 75 gallon and one 180 gallon aquarium. I now have a total of 57 aquariums running on a 1/3 HP Gast Blower. The blower is more efficient than running powerheads. It pulls 3.8 amps and runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When we apply this to the formula above it comes out as follows:
3.8 amps x 120 volts = 456 watts x 24 hrs. per day x 31 days, divided by 1000 = 339 KWH per month
Let’s take that a step further. We will figure the average breeder runs fifteen 10 gals., four 75 gals., and two 180 gals., aquariums. Using the above formula we have the following totals:
Fifteen 10 gals. = 167.40 KWH per month
Four 75 gals.
= 74.40 KWH per month
Two 180 gals.
= 126.48 KWH per month
Total KWH per month 368.28 for powerheads
Blower = 339.26 KWH per month
We now have saved a total of 29.02 KWH by using a blower. If we use my fishroom as an example: 38 tanks on powerheads, my total KWH would be 657.36 for a savings of 318.10 KWH for the month. Now we are talking about big savings. As I said earlier, we are now running 57 tanks. 16 of these are 2 ½ gallon units. When you calculated the number of kilowatt hours you are using, take that amount and multiply it by the cost of your electricity. The cost should appear somewhere on your monthly statement. Our cost runs .084776 per KWH for the first 600 KWH used and after that the rate changes to .106276 per KWH. You can see that it pays to keep your energy consumption below 600 KWH.
Keep in mind when an impeller starts to slime up on your powerhead, the unit has to work harder. Increased work means more watts drawn. My Gast blower will run up to 300 fish tanks per the manufacturer’s specs. The actual number will depend on how deep the tanks are. The deeper the tank, the more air pressure it takes to get the air to the bottom.
Looking at the cost efficiency of running 300 aquariums (don’t we wish), the blower will average around 1.13 KWH per aquarium. Compare this with the examples above and you see there really isn’t any comparison. The blower is efficient!
The most efficient way to run a blower system is in a loop. Basically what this means is the air piping has no dead ends. It leaves the blower and runs around the piping in your fish room and returns to your blower where it started. This will keep your air volume and pressure constant throughout your fishroom. I used 1&1/2” PVC pipe for my blower system. The larger the diameter of pipe, the more air volume that can move through it. This can be purchased from almost any home improvement store or plumbing outlet. I did not glue any of my fittings as they fit very snug with no air leakage. If your blower is a little oversized, that is okay. You can vent some of the excess air outside of your home which also helps to eliminate the humidity.
In closing, I hope this will help in making your fish hobby a little more economical. I know it has helped us, plus left us room to expand if we so desire. May the savings be with you! The end