Saving Electricity

Wasn't sure where to put this, but...Would a thermostat on a tank save more energy than a dimmer? Ash and I are looking at an apartment in which we would have to pay the utilities and I would LOVE to cut down on an electricity bill. We will be using a 4"x2' strip of Flexwatt that runs at 8 watts/ft. Anyone know?

Best way to save electricity:

Have good insulation.

And both should work out for you, but a thermostat is better for your snake and if the temperature in your apartment goes up then it will reduce the energy used for the flexwatt, while a dimmer would not.

that's what I am asking about, not the whole apartment because I have no control over that. lol. I assume it will be a miniscule amount if any.

Anything that keeps the temperature relatively constant will save electricity over something that lets it fluctuate. That being said a dimmer doesn't consume much power on its own where as a thermostat will consume a little bit of power. All in all you would do better by insulating your enclosure. However with the cost of heating a snake cage you may spend more in the insulation than you would save in electricity.

One way or another it's probably negligible. The amount you spend on a thermostat will probably be 2 years worth of electricity for the flexwatt.

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Originally Posted by AndrewGeibel

Anything that keeps the temperature relatively constant will save electricity over something that lets it fluctuate. That being said a dimmer doesn't consume much power on its own where as a thermostat will consume a little bit of power. All in all you would do better by insulating your enclosure. However with the cost of heating a snake cage you may spend more in the insulation than you would save in electricity.

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Yeah with the cost of just about anything you will probably be spending more than the electricity. The only way the electricity is going to be more than the object that creates that creates the electricity is if you're working with some nice big HPS lights. Look at Ralph Davis's setup he has a 1500 dollar electric bill every month, now imagine how many racks he has. That 1500 dollars doesn't seem so high.

And when you can have one snake that can run that much, a bill that high isn't too bad.

So, you are running 16 watts. Aren’t a most light bulbs around 60 watts? It probably isn't affecting your electric bill much.

Completely unrelated but also related. :P

If you use a washer/dryer unit in your apartment you can save electricity by adding a dry towel to every dryer load. My sister told me about this and it really cuts down on the length of time it takes to dry up the clothes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by anatess

Completely unrelated but also related. :P

If you use a washer/dryer unit in your apartment you can save electricity by adding a dry towel to every dryer load. My sister told me about this and it really cuts down on the length of time it takes to dry up the clothes.

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Never thought of that but it makes sense.