Price a Workshop Machine From Its Run Hours — Free
A compressor, a kiln or a dust extractor runs for hours at a time and its electricity is a line in the accounts nobody can name. Priced from the run hours and the tariff, the machine has a number, and a replacement has a payback.
The proof surface
Free path: the tool computes locally in this browser with no key and no account. Where an AI step helps, any free chat assistant works — free tiers exist (Google AI Studio, Groq), but plans and limits change, so check the provider's own page. No third-party service is claimed here as verified: UNCONFIRMED — model has no browsing access this session.
Why the flat version breaks
The label wattage is a maximum and the duty cycle is a guess, which is why machine running costs are usually left as an unexamined overhead. Two numbers from your own week and your own bill turn it into a figure that can be compared with a repair quote.
How to use the machine running-cost ticket in four passes
Motors pull several times their running current at start-up, and a rating plate often quotes the maximum. A clamp meter reading during normal running is the number the arithmetic needs.
Not the hours the workshop is open and not the theoretical throughput. A compressor that charges for a few minutes an hour is running far less than the working day suggests.
Commercial tariffs include standing charges and sometimes capacity charges that do not belong in this figure. Use the unit rate that applies during the run hours and note the basis on the ticket.
The replacement line uses identical hours and rate, so the difference is the machine. Divide the quoted price by the annual saving and compare the result with the warranty period before ordering.
SAMPLE DATA, NOT A VERIFIED CLAIM: the starter record is a 2,200-watt compressor running four hours a day on a 29-cent commercial tariff. Replace these values with your own source before you rely on anything.
What breaks first
Assuming a higher-wattage machine costs more to run
A more efficient machine can draw more watts for far fewer hours, which is exactly what the payback line shows when the hours are entered honestly for both.
Using the domestic tariff for a workshop
Business rates, capacity charges and VAT treatment differ. A domestic rate understates the cost of every machine in the building.
Replacing a serviceable machine on a long payback
A payback longer than the warranty plus the repair history of the current machine is a poor trade. The number is one input, not a decision.
What you pay otherwise
| The usual route | What it leaves out | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| An energy consultancy | Day rate for an audit whose main finding is a running-cost figure you can compute | $400–$1,500 a visit |
| A clamp meter | One-off cost that pays for itself the first time a duty-cycle guess is corrected | $40–$120 once |
| Running an old machine to failure | Repairs plus the higher running cost, both of which the ticket prices | the annual difference |
| This page + the free machine running-cost ticket | Computed in your tab, result on screen before you type anything | $0 |
Try the free machine running-cost ticket right here
Load the starter compressor and change the run hours to eight to see the annual figure double.
FIRST-LOAD · sample record filed
Take it into the free machine running-cost ticket
The companion app runs the same logic with a numbered intake, three starter records, a stateful share link, the one-time printable layer, and the local history shelf.
Open the free machine running-cost ticket →Keep the work if you will use it again
The full ticket: daily, monthly and annual draw, the annual cost, the replacement comparison and the payback, unlimited re-runs.
The on-screen result is free and complete. The one-time layer adds a tangible file you keep and the saved history that comes with it.
Boundary: This estimates running cost from figures you enter; it is not an electrical inspection, an energy audit or a safety assessment. Fixed wiring, machine guarding and portable appliance testing are legal duties in most jurisdictions — have the work checked by a competent person and check the machine's own documentation.