The Joy of Anticipation!

I currently have two snakes, and was discouraged from buying more due to the cost of electricity (our bill is HUGE!) more than the cost of the initial investment (cage, equipment, animal).

I was finally able to measure the power consumed by my snake setups and for two snakes it's less than $5 a month! WOOHOO!

So now I am not only planning one more snake, but several!

Hmmm....what to choose.....
BRB almost definitely
Bull Snake - desired but worried about the potential of untamability - definitely want a colubrid but am somewhat undecided
Albino BCI....perhaps........
ETB....dream snake but somewhat intimidated

Turns out the big hitters on our electric bill are WARM MIST humidifiers! Just one of those little one-gallon units was drawing almost $20 per month! Holy COW! Those are in the trash now.

It's going to be a great year for me I think!

I tried to maintain ambient humidity in my snake room last year rather than in each individual tub. Huge mistake!

I went back old school this year and cut my electric bill in half. No more humidifiers for me either. They really aren't necessary, I still keep a good 70% in my tubs, and I burn wood!

in my case, the humidifiers are for me. replaced warm with cool mist, which draw only about 1/4 the power.

how did you figure out what was drawing the most electricity?

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

how did you figure out what was drawing the most electricity?

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I got a meter, similar to this one: http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_1...1023x272xTier3

it was a cheap way to end the perennial argument about whose hobbies cost more :P

the snakes cost alot in this hobby :(

You should be able to call your electric company and ask them how much power each room is drawing, and even specifically which outlet.

I got a call from my power company telling me (they ininiated it) how much my snake room was costing me in a month, and asking me if I had put in a space heater - she even estimated the wattage, etc.

And she was dead on.

Bruce

wow, that's pretty cool Bruce. Our little electric co-op here doesn't do that sort of thing. The meter is all I need now...and I'm on a mission to reduce our electric bill one plug at a time :taz:

I know my fish tanks draw a lot of power, so I might shut one of them down. I think we need to watch less TV also.....big $$ there. I'll never give up my orchidarium though.....it keeps me sane through the long winters!

ugh. The epic New England wind storm a couple weeks ago took our roof. $20k for a new one so our discretionary spending budget has been slashed down to the bone for the rest of this year. I extended my contract (wasn't planning to because it's a stress sandwich) at my current client to make sure we've got plenty of money coming in but it will be a while before we've replaced that savings. I was really hoping for a vacation, some new orchids, and a couple new snakes this summer but that's all off the table for now.
What a drag. Two steps forward, one back.
Ah well, there's always next year...

oh, and yes I'm glad/lucky I have employment, unlike millions of other folks who equally deserve one.

Well I'm not even planning to use a humidfier personally. There are things you can do to raise cage humidity individually like moving the water bowl over the underheated side, or using cyphrus mulch. Or creating a humide hide with sphagnum and cyphrus that you mist everyday.


Certainly cheaper than running a humidifier.

I should clarify - I never use a humidifier for my herps.
I use room humidifiers for *me* and my unhappy sinuses!
I also use a humidifier in my orchidarium.
Ther herps are in Boaphile cages with two water dishes and cypress mulch, and they do just fine for humidity. In the deep winter, some misting is all that is needed for them.