Cost of running a pond

[barry]

I have noticed my electric costs getting quite high so I done some calculating. My pond pump and UV filter cost £19.51 per month to run, thats $33.21 US.

Does anyone turn their filter/pump of at night? or does anything have a timer system for it? Or is it a terrible idea that will kill my fish and I must leave it on 24/7?

What are your thoughts?

 

[dieselplower]

Everyone will say bad idea. What pump are you running?

 

[Mucky_Waters]

You shouldn't need to run your UV filter 24/7, but if you have a biological filter, or even a mechanical filter, you need to run it 24/7 or the organic mater in it will turn anaerobic and start producing some toxic substances.

 

[Tula]

Not a good idea, especially if you have fish. You could turn the UV light off, or consider a more energy efficient pump. I've heard Lagunas are energy efficient .

 

[adam9280]

I don't have fish and run mine on a timer from 7am-10pm. I'll leave it up to the pros on this site but it will depend on how many fish and how much water/surface area the pond has.

 

[barry]

uv filter accounts for around 1/4 of the power consumption, how often do i need it running every day?

 

[sissy]

that's why i went energy saving pump .My electric bill was 103 dollars .New heat pump and laguna pond pumps .1 uses 95 watts and is 2900 gph and other one is using 75 watts and is 2400 gph laguna .Funny thing is the pump i purchased on second pump was ordered to be 200 gph and there was a stock problem so they sent me the 2400 gph

 

[Priscilla]

I have a laguna, we have not noticed a jump in our electric bill at all. And believe me, in the Cayman Islands electricity is outrageously expensive. So I can only assume this pump and UV light is very energy efficient.

 

[sissy]

Only one pump i found close to laguna was oase and some of the external pumps

 

[barry]

I have an oase aquarius 8000, it is only 135w. It pumps 8000l per hour (1750 gallon per hour).

The issue is the price of electric, here it costs 17.59p per kwh, that is $0.30 per kwh in america

 

[Priscilla]

I didn't realize your power was so expensive over there. Ours is about the same, maybe a few pennies higher. Sadly I pay any where from US$800 to US$900 per month for power. Its so hot here we have no choice but to use the AC all the time.

 

[Tula]

You could try not running your uv, or running it 50 % of the time. I've had summers where I don't need it, depends on the algae level.

If you didn't have a high fish load, you could try aerators for part of the day, but you'd have to address the possibility your filter might develop aneromic bacteria.....perhaps others have more facts on that subject?

 

[CometKeith]

I would definitely look into a more energy efficient pump. I have two lagunas running and a nice size 4 bedroom house with all sorts of things running including a beer frig and we don't go over $100/ month. It probably helps that my wife hates air conditioning. We on;y run it a handful of times over the course of the summer!

 

[fishin4cars]

uv filter accounts for around 1/4 of the power consumption, how often do i need it running every day?

UV is really only needed if there is green water, once clear it can be turned off completely saving electricity and bulb life until it's really needed.
LOL, My light bill has increased almost double since adding my ponds. It's my feed bill that really hits the back pocket. It's almost double what the light bill is to feed all these critters!