Just built the box

boiStone said:

Reflective tape is a lot like foil and it works fine. I saw a post on a competing forum where someone made a Rubbermaid+CFL tank. He used that foil tape made for sealing residential HVAC systems/ducting and it worked great. It's probably the most durable option out there.

How many watts does this setup use? (true watts, not equivalent) If electricity is running you about $0.10 per kilowatt-hour and you're pulling 250 watts of power, the increase will be approx:

$18/mo if on 24 hrs a day
$13.50/mo for 18/6
$9/mo for 12/12

Click to expand...

Well I have the 6 26 watts, thats like 156 total and a computer fan, so..eh?

yeah its tape with perfectly flat tinfoil on the back we carry them at my work i almost bought some with my discount but decided to save monay and went with the tall white garbage bags

boiStone said:

Reflective tape is a lot like foil and it works fine. I saw a post on a competing forum where someone made a Rubbermaid+CFL tank. He used that foil tape made for sealing residential HVAC systems/ducting and it worked great. It's probably the most durable option out there.

How many watts does this setup use? (true watts, not equivalent) If electricity is running you about $0.10 per kilowatt-hour and you're pulling 250 watts of power, the increase will be approx:

$18/mo if on 24 hrs a day
$13.50/mo for 18/6
$9/mo for 12/12

Click to expand...

So is that for sure if im pushing a little over 156 watts

Getbl4zed said:

So is that for sure if im pushing a little over 156 watts

Click to expand...

Nothing's for sure. What's your electric rate per kWh? That's the key to the increase in cost. Without it, no one can tell you how much the increase is.

The rest is 6th grade math that applies to everyone. Here is the forumula:

Wattage divided by 1000 X hrs on per day X 30 days per month X electric rate.

So 156 watts running 24 hours a day at a rate of $0.10/kWh will cost you:

156/1000*24*30*0.10 = 11.23 extra per month. (It would cost half this much when you change to 12/12.)

You can probably save this much per month by shutting off your computer when you don't use it, and changing the regular bulbs in the house to CFLs.