nice...what did it cost??
Loaded question..
Gross 21434.00
Net with all credits Fed State etc 8852.00
Annual Income from system, Minimum 1200.00 Maximum 2400.00 a year they auction your generated power to Utilities this is for 10 years so 12k to 24k back in our pockets over that time frame.
Electricity produced 4100kwh a year at .18 cents is 738.00 a year.
BaboonScience wrote:Yes, sometimes I make a profit. Sometimes not. I had sales last month that were good. This month is a down month for many of my customers so three orders so far have been canceled. Lesson, think ahead. Don't rely on this months sales for next months expenses.
From what I see, the only way turn a profit is to go slow. Of the many that I have seen try this, quite a few are out of the game.I guess that DavidM leaving the business has me down a bit, so I have been thinking about this.
We live in the country on A-1 Farm land. No water bill, Rain water Collector and deep Well water. Pressure pump does consume some electricity. Down here, summer AC bill is the worst thing. We heat with a wood burner (Parlor Stove) and pump the air around the house with the air handler from the furnace. That keeps the winter heating cost low, as the furnace only works after the stove burns down at night. Ad to that the heat added by the dehumidifier and winter is a good time. Still with all the conservation efforts, I believe the operation costs about $100 - 150/ month in electric for 60 5 - 20 gallon tanks and a 210 gallon tank plus accessories.
Food helps. My labor force is somewhat limited to me so this is difficult to maintain but I keep Algae cultures, Rotifer cultures (2 strains), Artemia hatchout, Artemia Growout and a copepod culture. Together, these are time consuming to maintain. I try to get growout over to pellet as soon as possible. I make my own conditioning diet for the pairs and there have been some good threads here on this topic. If you have a local fish market that can help. I purchase the scraps for a fraction of the cost of cleaned fish and they let me hand pick ten to twenty pounds at a time. The resulting mix costs be less than a dollar a pound and lasts almost half a year. I freeze in ice cube trays and store the cubes in freezer bags, removing and thawing what I need each day. About $50 every six months. Pellet and flake foods for growout, probably an additional $100 per year.
For equipment, I keep an eye on the local reef clubs for the bargains and only purchase what I have the money for. The Greenhouse, for example was $1,000 if I took the entire 40 foot by 60 foot structure down myself. I sold half of it after disassembly for $1000 and stored the rest. Did I say that my back yard looks like an aquarium store junk yard? Probably an additional $50 a month for bulbs, salt, etc. I minimize the water changes and follow the Randy Holmes-Farley (Reef Central) methods for maintaining water quality. Still, some salt replacement is necessary, usually due to things like plugged overflows causing overflow to the floor (human error). In my operation, that can be up to 50 gallons a month. Water is cycled from the recirc system through the algae cultures, through the rotifer cultures and back into the system. A good skimmer and a huge refugium in the greenhouse helps here.
So, although it is extremely variable, I am guessing that I spend on the order of $200 per month just to keep the system going. I don't think that I could get by with less, unless I used solar panels and made my own electricity and the start up cost is prohibitive right now.
These are a few thoughts off the top of my head to keep expenses low.
I do not yet advertise at this time, although it would probably help. I have a small customer list and sell out frequently. This month is a low before the expected fall pick up.
Hope they help.
John
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