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  1. #1
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Gosai Designer1's Avatar
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    Angry Energy Prices - Pond Running Costs

    So - Running Costs - I've had my pond up and running for 2 or so years now, and was keen to know what other forum members think of the running costs of their ponds.

    I have the following:

    Pond (3140G)
    3 Eco Blue 240 (Bought to keep running costs low)
    110W UV
    Sump pump
    Oase Premium Drum
    2 Air pumps 100 & 80LPM

    All running continuously

    Quarantine
    Variable pump - running at 20-25W all the time
    30W air pump - running all the time

    And that's about it...

    My better half has recently switched our energy supplier, but she announced last night we owe them £450!

    I'm keen to reduce things, as much to stop the nagging as the cost!
    Any help would be appreciated apart from the obvious - 'turn it all off'!

    I can't be in the minority, it may be the case that this is the cost, deal with it, but when you also factor in the cost of the water - gulp!

    Any energy suppliers I should be looking at?


    Its a hole in the ground where I throw my money!

  2. #2
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion AdamKoi78's Avatar
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    Try heating too.

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  4. #3
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Gosai sammy66's Avatar
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    HI, we all have a the same . I changed mine again this year to save a bit but running cost is at £25.00 a week at best this time of year .

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  6. #4
    Hi bud,

    bit difficult to give you clear advice without understanding your setup.

    my pond is alittle smaller than yours at 2600gallons
    im using
    jebao 20,000 variflow pump 20w - 195w currently turned down to 116w I have DIY venturi in my return 2" pipe which provides free oxygenated water back to the pond .
    40w algaram UV submerged in sieve prefilter UV not used this time of year.
    40w evolution aqua 75 air pump - rarely on now..

    I use superbead 8000
    and sieve prefilter which adds vast amounts of oxygen to the water from approx. 2ft drop prior to main filter.

    my system was very well thought out with running costs and maintenance costs kept to a minimum ..

    my electric bill weekly to run my pond is approx. 1.50 - 2.50

    your electric bill will be a lot regardless of supplier your using a lot of equipement. a question to ask yourself..

    do I need to use 110w UV its huge for 3000gallon pond..
    2 air pump that's approx. 100w
    drum filter uses energy - though hardly anything at a guess???
    sump pump, why?

    does you system produce better conditions for the fish than my setup - I doubt it.

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  8. #5
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion AdamKoi78's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Designer1 View Post
    So - Running Costs - I've had my pond up and running for 2 or so years now, and was keen to know what other forum members think of the running costs of their ponds.

    I have the following:

    Pond (3140G)
    3 Eco Blue 240 (Bought to keep running costs low)
    110W UV
    Sump pump
    Oase Premium Drum
    2 Air pumps 100 & 80LPM

    All running continuously

    Quarantine
    Variable pump - running at 20-25W all the time
    30W air pump - running all the time

    And that's about it...

    My better half has recently switched our energy supplier, but she announced last night we owe them £450!

    I'm keen to reduce things, as much to stop the nagging as the cost!
    Any help would be appreciated apart from the obvious - 'turn it all off'!

    I can't be in the minority, it may be the case that this is the cost, deal with it, but when you also factor in the cost of the water - gulp!

    Any energy suppliers I should be looking at?
    What filters are you running?

  9. #6
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    I make a point of not actually looking at my pond running costs.
    Water is a significant part of it- have been running RO on a meter. Now running pond recycling RO with a mains trickle top up. It seems to need about 0.2 lpm to keep up with the RO waste losses and the drum waste.

    My OH bought a plug in hybrid car a few months ago. This is a godsend as I can now blame the electricity bill on his car not my heat pump

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  11. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Feline View Post
    I make a point of not actually looking at my pond running costs.
    Water is a significant part of it- have been running RO on a meter. Now running pond recycling RO with a mains trickle top up. It seems to need about 0.2 lpm to keep up with the RO waste losses and the drum waste.

    My OH bought a plug in hybrid car a few months ago. This is a godsend as I can now blame the electricity bill on his car not my heat pump
    clearly running costs are not something you need to worry about.

  12. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion Doghouse Riley's Avatar
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    Whatever it costs, it's cheaper than golf!

    Being serious (I was actually) find an old leccy bill from before you had your pool and just add the inflation rate to it.
    "The information's out there,
    You only have to let it in." (Jesse Stone)

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  14. #9
    Outfoxthemarket offer the best kwph rates in my area, but they do not always feature in comparison websites.

  15. #10
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion AdamKoi78's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley View Post
    Whatever it costs, it's cheaper than golf!

    Being serious (I was actually) find an old leccy bill from before you had your pool and just add the inflation rate to it.
    No it's not.

  16. #11
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion Doghouse Riley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AdamKoi78 View Post
    No it's not.
    Yes it is.

    Golf costs me £1,000 a year on membership plus meals and drinks that I wouldn't have bought if I didn't play golf. Sundry items, like balls gloves etc., usually total around £200 a year. But this year I've spent £880 so far, having had to replace my old electric trolley, my golf bag, a driver plus the other sundries.

    My total energy bill for gas for the central heating and electricity for the house (including the tumble drier that never seems to be off, those new fangled clothes lines haven't reached the North-West yet ...apparently) and the pool is only around £1600.
    "The information's out there,
    You only have to let it in." (Jesse Stone)

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  18. #12
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion AdamKoi78's Avatar
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    Maybe for you DHR but I think you're only playing at this koi game.

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  20. #13
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Kyusai 1meterchag's Avatar
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    Koi is not a cheap hobby!!

  21. #14
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Gosai Designer1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AdamKoi78 View Post
    What filters are you running?
    Oase Premium Drum with 2 moving bed modules....

    All good advice - thanks
    Its a hole in the ground where I throw my money!

  22. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley View Post
    Yes it is.

    Golf costs me £1,000 a year on membership plus meals and drinks that I wouldn't have bought if I didn't play golf. Sundry items, like balls gloves etc., usually total around £200 a year. But this year I've spent £880 so far, having had to replace my old electric trolley, my golf bag, a driver plus the other sundries.

    My total energy bill for gas for the central heating and electricity for the house (including the tumble drier that never seems to be off, those new fangled clothes lines haven't reached the North-West yet ...apparently) and the pool is only around £1600.
    My golf is way cheaper than my koi pond!!!

  23. #16
    Well - in my case I am a bit lucky - so I explain to my wife, that our pond runs on virtually free electricity most of the year Energy Prices - Pond Running Costs - sort of - coming from the 16.9 kWp solar panels on our roof - but in reality there is about 20% electricity cost increase attributed to the pond only - incl. the ASHP I am about to switch off for winter soon.

    The big surprise however was for me substantially higher bill for mains water - this I have not expected last year - as I collect all raim water from 250 sqr.m of roofs - and use it - after filtration to 30 micrometers for RDF and toilets flushing and garden irrigation - this steep mains water consumption increase was directly linked to the severe drought we went through last year as there eas no rain to collect most of last year....

    So this Spring I bought Gardena automatic submersoble water pump and use now pond water for garden irrigation while topping pond up from the rain water - in drought period the underground 7.6 cub.m. rain water reservoir itself is topped up by city water from mains - so for this year it should be significantly lower city water bill - I hope.

    As Lara put it correctly - it is our hobby and we do best we can to support our pets - so while I take all realistic measures to lower cost impact, it is not down to shutting the pond due to its operating costs.....

    Just my five cents ....

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
    You get what you pay for - or better - what you make yourself.

  24. #17
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion Doghouse Riley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AdamKoi78 View Post
    Maybe for you DHR but I think you're only playing at this koi game.
    You're right, I'm only playing at it, have done for over thirty years. Just an old fashionedlarge foam and flowcore filter, plus a pump in a purgeable sump, UV and air pump. Maintenance is restricted to a purge of the pump sump weekly and a scrape of the foam every two years.

    My water paramaters or boringly consistantly acceptable. That much so, I rarely check them.

    "Playing at it" I may be, But I'm not wasting money unnecessarily.
    "The information's out there,
    You only have to let it in." (Jesse Stone)

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  26. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by 1meterchag View Post
    Koi is not a cheap hobby!!
    of course it can be, it depends on your expectations .

    I started my first pond aged 8 on the back of £3 pocket money per week..

  27. #19
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion pip895's Avatar
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    The most obvious energy saving with variable speed pumps is to turn them down as the temperatures decrease (in an unheated pond).

    In the coldest weather when you aren't feeding then the filters just need to be slowly turning over - enough flow to stop any possibility of freezing but not much else. Blue eco pumps will go down a long way and are highly efficient at low speeds. You could find also that you can reduce the air flow into the bio because at lower speeds the water level will be higher in the filters and less air will allow turnover.
    6000g in ground koi pond
    +3000g lily/Anoxic pond attached
    29 koi (40 to 65cm)
    Bottom drain, Mid water & Skimmer to Drum
    JBR boichamber->Blue eco 500 pump ->below surface return.
    Blue Eco 240 -> Large MB -> Waterfall -> Planted Anoxic pond (25 baskets)

  28. #20
    ive got 2 water pumps running, 1 x 175 wph and the other variable but currently running at 160 wph, also 2 x air pumps combined using 150 wph, and a 55 w uv, so 540 wph, plus the drum but I dont even think about that because it only operates for 10 seconds every half hour or so.
    So 540 watts an hour at about 15 p a kilowatt is 13 kilowatts in a 24 hour day, so £1.95 a day.....but ive not included the heat pump yet, which uses 1.2 kilowatts an hour, just dont know how long its on though so very hard to work out.
    On the plus side we have a 16 panel solar system, which they assume you only use half of the energy you make, and so they pay you for the other half...well I know for sure I use all the energy it makes from probably September right through to april, so its like a win , win situation. I think without the solar panels my running costs would be scary, at least through winter.

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