electric bill and lights

[STR3TCH420]

hi its has seem that for the last 2 months the house bill has came at over 400$ and i was wondering if a 75wat or 150watt can cause this much money because i am not forced to rehome my beardie since i live with my sister and brother in law and they had warned me about the bill coming at this high again..i was wondering if this could be possible or if any one know if theres a way to figure out a way on how much ealcrticity im using and the money its costing..thanks everyone

 

[STR3TCH420]

hi its has seem that for the last 2 months the house bill has came at over 400$ and i was wondering if a 75wat or 150watt can cause this much money because i am not forced to rehome my beardie since i live with my sister and brother in law and they had warned me about the bill coming at this high again..i was wondering if this could be possible or if any one know if theres a way to figure out a way on how much ealcrticity im using and the money its costing..thanks everyone

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

IS your heater gas or electric?
If you have electric heat im sure your 2 bulbs are simply a drop in the bucket.

 

[STR3TCH420]

yes we use a heater 24 hours a day but they have been using that before since i got my beardie...but the bill started coming at that prise 2months ago when i got my beardie

 

[jortiz9758]

Seems odd that 2 bulbs would make a substantial difference. If the bill is $400 now, what was it normally 2 months ago?

 

[GoFast]

So what bulbs are you using? What are the 75w and the 150w for?

 

[STR3TCH420]

i am not sure but it was around 200-250...and i only say i was using the 75 watt light the first month i got my beardie but then updraded him/her to a bigger tank so i got a 250 wat dome and a 150 baskin bulb....they are repti glo both

 

[GoFast]

there is no reason to be using a 150watt bulb unless you have a huge tank. What size is your tank? What are you using for UVB?

 

[STR3TCH420]

oh i see but i read used a thermo and the bskin is 116 is that to hot or would it be to just use 75 i have a 55 gallon tank

 

[STR3TCH420]

and i have a repti sun 24 inch

 

[Amber31190]

That sounds odd. I have 2 beardies with 125 watt mvbs. A 100 watt mvb. 5 snakes and my bill goes about 45 bucks a month

 

[GoFast]

The only bulb you should need with a 55 gallon tank and your reptisun is a 50 watt, par30, halogen flood bulb. I am temporarily using a 75 watter in a 4x2x2 an my temps are 111 in direct light.

The 50 watt par 30 flood will get your temps to about 108 in your tank. With that one bulb you will use 100watts less power and save a ton of money. Make sure it is a par30 size, halogen, 50watt, flood light.

 

[remi1]

That sounds like a lot for just one beardie; we have 7 lizards (3 beardies, 3 iguanas and a leopard gecko) and our electricity bill for a decent-sized 2 bedroom place is about $80 a month. (Used to be lower but the rates just went up)

Anyway, here's this website. There's a lot of info to wade through, but it's very thorough
http://www.anapsid.org/electricitycost.html

 

[STR3TCH420]

yeah but now since it gets really cold during the day since temps are like 30 its cold and it wont get that warm cuz the heater is set to be at 68 and it doesnt really get the whole house warm since my beardie is next to the window

 

[Judah'sHuman]

Holly molly! Thats steep I have a energy sucking 3000 S.F. house with 6 people living here and a beardie and we don't have that high of a bill. we dont even have energy eff. windows or anything. I know how you feel, we are on a limited income at my place. 3 people that live here are disabled so thankfully we get a grant from the Gas & electric Co. But it still showes it what we would pay with out the grant.

On top of checking the above mentioned sites to figure your costs, here are some helpful power saving tips. Turned your hotwater heater down to 120 deg. this helps. Also, keeping the heaters set at no higher than 68 deg. Changing a portion of your light bulbs to energy eff. bulbs. Turn off your computers at night and any electronics that have a light to them, such as the VCR or Coffee maker. Anything that has a light will use electricity so if your not using it unplug it.

I have been told that Hallogen bulbs are more effeciant than household incandesents. I have a 60 or a 65watt hallogin (on top of my Merc bulb) and it produces more light and heat than a standard 100 watt incandesent...so it is less wattage so less money i presume.