Have you ever wondered if that new gadget or new light bulb is worth the cost? Today we are announcing the Power Payback Calculator to allow you to quickly determine how long it will take to recover money spent on a new product or upgrade to save power.
To put this into context, the simple example is changing a light bulb. Today you may have a 40 watt incandescent light bulb in your closet, and you are considering a pricey $15 LED light bulb that only uses 2.5 watts. You figure that the closet light is on for 30 minutes a day – how long will it take for the energy savings to offset the $15 spent?
In my case (12.5 cents per KwH), it would take around 17.5 years for that LED light bulb to pay off – probably not the best financial decision. Now, if you had been replacing a 60 watt bulb that ran for 2 hours per day, you’d be looking at a payback in under 3 years. And if your power cost is very high, such as in Hawaii or New York City, your payback may be under 2 years.
I like to use this tool for those exact scenarios. It helps you determine if a project makes sense for you, and it also helps give you an idea of how long a product may need to last before it pays for itself. 4.5 years for an LED bulb should be likely, for example. I’ve also used this for determining if a Smart Strip makes sense in a particular application.
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