Running cost
Electricity cost estimates for an aquaponics, hydroponics, or planted aquarium setup. Add your equipment, set a local rate, see the monthly and yearly bill.
- Add equipment to see breakdown.
What this estimates
Operating electricity. The big monthly cost for these systems is the pumps that run 24/7, the heater that cycles on through winter, and indoor grow lights when applicable. This calc rolls them up and multiplies by your local rate.
What it does not include: initial equipment cost, replacement parts (impellers wear, bulbs lose output), nutrients or feed, top-off water (negligible at hobby scale; even a 1000L system using municipal water for evaporation is maybe a dollar a month).
Sanity check on what you should see
A few real-world ranges to gut-check the numbers:
- Outdoor aquaponics, temperate climate. Submersible pump + air pump running 24/7, no heater, no lights (sun does it). About 30 kWh per month. At US$0.15/kWh that's $4.50/month.
- Indoor aquaponics, with grow lights. Same pumps plus a 150W LED running 16 hours and a small heater duty-cycling. Around 100-130 kWh/month. $15-20/month.
- Hydroponic tent, single 4x4. LED at 200W for 16 hours dominates everything. About 100 kWh/month from the light, plus 15-25 from circulation and ventilation. $18-25/month.
- Planted aquarium, 200L. Filter, heater duty-cycling, lights, maybe CO2 solenoid. Around 40-60 kWh/month. $6-9/month.
If your number is wildly off from these, you've either got something unusual (very cold climate, very large setup) or you've entered something wrong.
Why heaters get tricky
A 200W aquarium heater isn't pulling 200W constantly. It cycles on when the water drops below setpoint and off when it rises. In a 22°C room with a 25°C tank, that might be 30-40% duty cycle, so the effective draw is more like 60-80W average.
You have two ways to enter it: peak wattage at its real duty hours (200W × 8 hours = same as 67W × 24 hours), or average wattage at 24 hours. Same answer. The presets here use average × 24 because it's easier to think about.
If you live somewhere with proper winter, the heater is the variable. A heater that's 30% duty in October might run 70%+ in January. Add a winter scenario row if you want a worst-case bill.
On electricity rates
Defaults to US$0.15/kWh which is roughly the US average. Real rates vary wildly: Pacific Northwest is around $0.10, Hawaii is over $0.40, UK is around £0.27 (US$0.34), most of the EU is €0.20-0.35, and Australia is around AUD$0.30. Pull your last bill, divide total $ by total kWh, and use that number for the most honest estimate.