How can I make the electrical bill lower?

[neubauer geckos]

Hello there.I have just started breeding leopard geckos(I have only hatched out 4 and kept 3),and got a vision rack to help with this for Christmas,as well as a new UVb heat bulb for my bearded dragon,and the electricity has gone up $50,and of course my mom blames me(which it may be,but I doubt it's just me),so I will probably have to downsize on some geckos,which really sucks as I have grow VERY attached to them.they are all my babies,and I may have to get rid of m babies,unless I find a cheaper way to run the rack.it is a vision #1754 rack,heated with like 50 ft of heat cable.the only other new thing would be the hovabator.so do you think the rack is the problem,or the bearded dragon bulb.and can you think of a cheaper way to heat them?

 

[Taquiq]

The bearded dragon bulb is probably the biggest on. How many watts is it?

 

[bman123]

Felx watt heat tape is low power like 11 watts I think. I don't know how many watts the heat cable is. The beardie light is what's spiking the gas bill.
Do you have cfl lights in your house or regular 40watt bulbs?

If you have regular bulbs swap them all out for cfls, 3-4 cfl bulbs use the power of 1 standard 40watt bulb. That will make a big difference in your bill.

 

[neubauer geckos]

Bearded bulb is 160 watts(alot I know but he's in a 55 gal)

 

[Tony C]

Assuming a 12 hour photoperiod and 16 cents/kwh(California's average rate), your 160 watt bulb is adding almost $10 to the monthly bill.

 

[Taquiq]

Yeah, that bulb is making up 20% of the bill.

 

[Tony C]

The Zoo med 52 foot heat cable uses 150 watts, which is close to $20 per month assuming it is always on. Are you using all the bins in your rack? You may consider switching to separate cables for each level so that you can unplug them when a row is uninhabited.

 

[bman123]

I'm tellin ya man switch to cfl light bulbs in the house it makes a difference. I'd then get rid of the heat rope and run a 11inch wide piece of flexwatt down the back of your rack if your able to do it that way.
I think the flex watt is 8watts per foot so you should be using less power that way depending how bug your rack is. Can you get a clamp lamp and lower your bulb some on the beardie tank? If you can then you should be able to use a lower wattage bulb. Maybe even 75 watts would make a huge difference.

Breeding reptiles is expensive on the ole electric bill.

 

[RampantReptiles]

Not sure what kind of thermostat your using but I have read that it is cheaper to run an On/Off thermostat like the Ranco versus a Proportional Thermostat like a Helix.