Heat Treatment, Furnaces & Thermal Processing calculator
Stress Relief Cost Calculator
Cost the furnace time reserved by a stress-relief load. Use occupied hours, the booked hourly rate, separate certification and released part count.
What this calculator does
- Price occupied furnace hours and a separate certification fee for a stress-relief load.
Formula used
- Furnace occupation expense = occupied furnace hours × hourly rate
- Stress-relief expense = furnace occupation expense + certification fee
- Cost per accepted part = stress-relief expense ÷ accepted parts
Inputs explained
- Occupied Furnace Time: Logged loading-to-release time including required furnace cooling.
- Occupied Furnace Rate: Booked furnace-hour rate including its stated labor and utility scope.
- Separate Certification Fee: Test or certification invoice outside the hourly rate.
- Accepted Parts: Accepted components released from the same stress-relief load.
How to use the result
- Best suited to long cooling reservation Cost, stress relief job review.
- No temperature, holding time or cooling recipe is selected. Separate fixturing or transport charges are outside this estimate.
Current U.S. benchmarks
- Industrial electricity averages 9.77 cents per kWh across the U.S. (EIA, Jul 2026), up 4.7% from a year earlier. Energy-intensive steps carry this directly into unit cost.
Common questions
- Do I enter only the soak hours? No, enter the time charged to this load while it occupies the furnace. Include loading and required cooling when those hours are billed.
- Should energy be added to the hourly rate? Only if it is outside the booked rate. Build a consistent hourly rate before entering it rather than counting the same utility expense twice.
- What if no parts have been accepted? The recorded expense remains visible. Cost per accepted part is blank until the accepted count is positive.
- Does the estimate establish an acceptable stress-relief cycle? No, it prices an existing schedule. The applicable material requirements and approved process establish the thermal cycle.
Last reviewed 2026-10-06.