# Cost of keeping reptiles



## iann41 (Dec 9, 2008)

I’ve just done a few calculations concerning the power usage and the heating of reptile enclosures. 

I have two aquarium tanks which share a 21w heat mat. It covers 1/3 of each tank. The mat is set to 30°C.

Over 5 days (120hours), it used exactly 1kwh. Over the year it will then consume 73kwh. 

If we say that electricity prices are roughly 18p a kwh, then I recon that over the year, keeping reptiles will cost £13.50 give or take a few pence.

I don’t have a light over the tanks, but if you do then calculate like this.

Wattage of bulb (in kw i.e 40w=0.040kw) X hours of usage. This figure is then times by 0.18, the average price of kwh electricity. 

Work out the daily usage then times by 365 for yearly usage first.

An example of 40w bulb on for 12hours a day over a year,

40w X 12 hours = 480 = 0.48kwh
0.48 X 365 = 175.2kwh
£0.18 X 175.2 = £31.54 a year for the bulb to be on 12hours a day.

Hope this is of some use,

Ian

Please pull me up if any of this is wrong.


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## Anna89 (Sep 18, 2008)

Hi,

Very useful! 18p is very high tho! our is 10.48p p/kw and it goes even lower than that after we use a certain amount!

Anna.


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## tina b (Oct 3, 2007)

omg :gasp: i wouldnt dare add my cost up the electric alone is stupid .................and thats before i have to buy a cabbage:lol2:


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## Nebbz (Jan 27, 2008)

wow cheers for that mate! 

now trying to work out how much my other halfs xbox 360 costs to run, as i know for a fact the reps dont cost half as much as that thing does when hes on it constant! :lol2: had many rows now i can say it only cost me 7.80 a year to run my lot! (thats including my new reps coming sat! 3 big enclosures too!)

think i did it wrong though (edit)


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

If you're on 18p I would say change suppliers, I just have and got mine as low as 9p/kw, it was 14p before which I thought pretty high. Worth looking around as when you add it up with tvs and computers and washing machines etc. you can save a fair bit a year.


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

My elecy currently costs around £5/6 a day :lol2: 

which works out to: £2190 a year... 

There i did it... I worked it out... 

& around £2000 a year for food... Cant work this one out accurately as i get differrent bits in all the time for the monitors and dont make a note of how much it costs...


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## JohnC (Feb 12, 2006)

All heat sources should be controlled by a thermostat and this can mean that the full wattage of a heater is not being used, so it is difficult to calculate power consumption.
The only way is to get an energy consumption measuring unit such as the Brennenstuhl PM230.
Power & Energy Monitor by Brennenstuhl: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo


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## Blackecho (Jun 30, 2008)

All my bulbs are on dimmers though, so I have no idea what wattage they're pulling.


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## iann41 (Dec 9, 2008)

*power meter*

I have a power meter and had it running for the full 120hours and consumption was 1kwh. This was with a 21w heatmat and thermostat set at 30°C. 

I assumed that £0.18 was an average price for electricity but as others have said, it's not. 

I know there are differant tariffs, mine is for quartly bills, no standing charge, 'pay what you use' sort of thing. It's with Southern Electric and is 17.8p kwh.

Could we post who our suppliers are, how much we pay and which tariff?

Think this could be interesting.

Ian


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## oakelm (Jan 14, 2009)

This thread got me thinking so have ordered one of them wattage meters that shows how much you are using. Be interesting to see how much my rep room uses, not sure i want to know. But I imagine its not as bad as someone who keeps large reptiles. I will post the results when it shows up.


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## ukgeckos (Apr 11, 2007)

Wow, needed that info, been wondering about it for ages!!!!
Thanks


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

i got a wattage metre free  for monitoring my electricity

the company im with are really excellent


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

The other half just got oneof those meters - so far the snakes are 5p a day (all 6) and Dave the male yemen is 35p a day. Just 5 vivs and 2 fish tanks to go!!


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Are we not allowed to say what companys to go for? as id love to change myne! Im paying out alot of money!! for sod all! going to get one of those meter things to!


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## ste_lloyd (Feb 7, 2009)

i live withmy aunt and she worked out all of our usage. it comes to around £150 a month just for the reps. no wonder she is trying to reduce the beardies and increase the diurnal reps. leccy is way too expensive!!!


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## JohnC (Feb 12, 2006)

ste_lloyd said:


> i live withmy aunt and she worked out all of our usage. it comes to around £150 a month just for the reps. no wonder she is trying to reduce the beardies and increase the diurnal reps. leccy is way too expensive!!!


How many vivs do you have?
Beardies are very diurnal by the way.


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## iann41 (Dec 9, 2008)

If we are not allowed to say what electricity companies we use then visit a comparison website and get the best deal. 

We use little electricity overall so I don't pay a standing charge, but my kwh price is a little higher than normal and this suits us fine. Just work it out with the available info for your own circumstances. 

I'm now having solar fitted so I may heat the vivs with free thermal solar water. 

Ian


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