Energy & Sustainability worked example

Equipment Energy ROI Payback with upgrade capital cost of 62,500 $: a worked example

This worked example runs the equipment energy roi payback numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: upgrade capital cost of 62,500 $ instead of the typical 125,000 $. Estimate payback for an equipment energy upgrade from capital cost, utility savings, and added support cost.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Upgrade capital cost: 62,500 $ (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 125,000)
  • Annual utility cost savings: 46,000 $ / yr (held at the documented default)
  • Annual added maintenance or service cost: 6,000 $ / yr (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Net annual energy savings = annual utility cost savings - annual added maintenance or service cost.
  • Equipment energy upgrade payback works out to 1.56 yr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Net annual energy savings works out to 40,000 $ / yr at these inputs.
  • Upgrade capital cost works out to 62,500 $ at these inputs.
  • Five-year net energy value works out to 137,500 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where upgrade capital cost sits at 125,000 $ and the headline result is 3.13 yr, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 1.56 yr.
  • Use it to rank energy-efficiency capital projects such as motor, VFD, lighting, compressed-air, or HVAC upgrades. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Equipment energy upgrade payback: 1.56 yr (headline result)
  • Net annual energy savings: 40,000 $ / yr
  • Upgrade capital cost: 62,500 $
  • Five-year net energy value: 137,500 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Equipment Energy ROI Payback calculator, set upgrade capital cost to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.