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Antsnest

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hey guys was wondering what would be the cheaper option using heat chords or using heat lights? I use quite a few of each and got a pretty big power bill. Also if anyone knows would a constant light being on or a frequently turning on and off be cheaper?
 
Constant power is cheaper than switching on and off. If you can get a lower wattage heat cord that provides the right heat it will be cheaper.
 
My personal feeling is that keeping snakes with their heating requirements is not as expensive as people think. (Unless you have a large collection)
If you sat and calculated the amount of energy used by a single enclosure it would be less than 50c a day. We have 20+ adults and 2 hatchie racks running at the moment and our bill is not significantly higher than it would be without them.
 
Turn all of your appliances off at the power point when not in use, electric kettle, toaster, TV, stereo, computer, printer, etc. You'll save more money on your power bill that way than worrying about the wattage of a heat cord.
Just my two cents worth.
 
Turn all of your appliances off at the power point when not in use, electric kettle, toaster, TV, stereo, computer, printer, etc. You'll save more money on your power bill that way than worrying about the wattage of a heat cord.
Just my two cents worth.
I maybe wrong but the kettle and toaster probably won't make a difference as they don't work on a standby switch.
 
You might be right. I may have misunderstood my brother-in-law, a sparky, who told me that everything plugged in and turned on draws a little power. Either way, I know our bill has dropped.
 
You might be right. I may have misunderstood my brother-in-law, a sparky, who told me that everything plugged in and turned on draws a little power. Either way, I know our bill has dropped.

Absolutely correct as far as I'm aware PF. Even if it doesn't have standby mode or a light all electrical items will draw small amounts of energy when plugged in.
 
In the case of a kettle or a toaster they do not use power while plugged in. They need the switch to be flipped on the appliance before they use power.
 
Regardless of whether toasters and kettles draw power, getting into the habit of turning things off at the switch will help remind Antsnest to turn off TV, stereo, and any other electronic devices that do draw power while switched on at the power point. I know it works for me. I used to always forget.
And Murph_BTK, what are you doing watching reality TV anyway? :eek:
 
It probably costs me more to run my electronic security devices to protect my animals from bad people than for heating?

Pinefamily, doesn't all your power in SA come free from windmills and solar?
 
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If only it were free, Yellowtail. The power retailers actually charge more if you choose the renewable option, and I think that's in every state. It will change as more power comes from renewables. The only "free" power we get is from our own solar panels. A battery or two is on my wish list.
 
My power went from 400 to 800 only thing different I did for the 3 months was get a hatchey rack 2 beardie enclosure and a frog enclosure.
 
Might buy a power meter to see what my hatchy rack uses as my power jumped a bit when I put it in theoretically it should be about the same as running an aircon unit for half hour per day
 
If only it were free, Yellowtail. The power retailers actually charge more if you choose the renewable option, and I think that's in every state. It will change as more power comes from renewables. The only "free" power we get is from our own solar panels. A battery or two is on my wish list.
They charge us more too, just for having panels. It's insane. We're looking at batteries too. It's been suggested to us that we should charge the batteries during the off-peak hours, and use them during peak times to pick up any slack from the panels. Or at least I think that was how it was explained. TL;DR Be cheeky about it.
 
With enough batteries you could in a less polite way tell the energy companys to jog on, they arent cheap though but will prob last about 10 years with proper maintainance. have a generator for emergencys.. wish everyone had the money to do that... cost of energy in this country is a joke.
 
Regardless of whether toasters and kettles draw power, getting into the habit of turning things off at the switch will help remind Antsnest to turn off TV, stereo, and any other electronic devices that do draw power while switched on at the power point. I know it works for me. I used to always forget.
And Murph_BTK, what are you doing watching reality TV anyway? :eek:
Mate I only watched it on your recommendation [emoji13]..

Instagram: murph_BTK
 
If the power bill is scary keeping a few snakes warm, definitely don't ever consider keeping turtles indoors. The cost of heating water for 5-6 months of the year in 600-1000 litre aquariums and using MVB lamps for 3-6 hours/day as well as running fluoros for 10-14 hours/day AND running huge filtration units 24/7 will haunt you. My power bill pushes $900/quarter thanks to my turtles, (more than double what it was prior to having them) but the way I see it, if I didn't have my shelled friends, I'd just be burning the $$$ elsewhere right? I definitely can't complain about a few 10 watt heat pads keeping my pythons warm. The laptop I'm currently typing this post on probably chews more juice. The way around it, how I sleep at night, I just put $50-$60 every week on my power bill by B-paying it via internet banking. When the bill comes every 3 months, sometimes I'm in credit, sometimes I owe $20 -$100. Sure beats copping a $900 bill.
 
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