power inverters

[PRTA79]

my electric bill went up over $60 this month without warning.
has anyone thought of using a power inverter full time say to run halides,
i was thinking of running the inverter off a AC to DC power supply,instead of a battery sounds great on paper but im not sure if there meant to run constant longterm
any input??????

 

[smcnally]

Dude, that doesn't work. In order to get the proper wattage, you need to feed it the proper wattage. No matter what you are using the same amount of electricity, so your bill would be the same. Inverters only transfer DC voltage to AC, but the current still needs to add up. The reason you can run a decent load off of a car battery is because they provide about 400 Cold Cranking Amps. Most power supplies supply about 1 amp. Some do 2 amps, but if you go higher than that they are HUGE and cost big bucks. And, oh yeah...did I mention you would still use the same amount of electricity?

 

[nunofs]

The two conversions -- first AC to DC, then DC to AC -- would waste even more electricity, as the inverters and power supplies have some internal electrical consumption/losses as well.

Nuno

 

[smcnally]

He said it better than me. Good job Nuno! Sorry...too much wine for me tonight!

 

[delta]

i would say check the electrical calc on RC against what you are using pumps,
lights, fans etc. then see whats killing you and switch it out i dropped my electric $50/mo. by switching out a few pumps PHs and reduced my lighting schedule just little.

http://reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php

 

[NateHanson]

That's like using an electric lamp to power a solar panel to make electricity. You'll always come out behind. There are losses with every conversion.

If you ever were able to break even, it would be an engineering miracle.
If you ever were able to come out ahead, it would violate the First Law of Thermodynamics, and the universe might implode.

 

[smcnally]

Yep...I believe what I learned was that in order to create energy, you must use equal or more energy. Something to that effect.