The purchase price of a radiator does not indicate the total lifecycle costs.

The purchase price of a radiator only tells a fraction of the actual costs. A unit that costs less to purchase can become significantly more expensive over its lifecycle than an option with a higher initial price, when energy consumption, maintenance, and production downtime are taken into account. In the following sections, we will go through the cost items that fall into the shadow of the purchase price and which determine the true overall economy.

If you're interested in exploring cooling solutions designed with low lifecycle costs in mind, Explore our cooling solutions.

What costs are excluded from the purchase price?

Beyond the purchase price of an industrial chiller, there are typically three significant cost categories: energy consumption, maintenance, and production downtime. These three items often constitute the majority of the equipment's total costs throughout its lifecycle, and their combined weight can multiply the mere purchase price.

In bulk material handling environments such as power plants, blast furnaces and sintering plants, coolers handle extremely hot and abrasive materials for years. In this operating environment, the equipment design and material selections directly affect energy consumption, maintenance frequency and the length of unscheduled downtime.

TCO thinking, or Total Cost of Ownership, is the tool used in investment decisions that brings these hidden costs to light. When a procurement decision is made solely on the price of the equipment, the organisation unknowingly takes on a risk that will materialise in operating budgets for years to come. The most common cost items that fall outside the purchase price are listed below:

• Total energy consumption over the entire service life
• Predictive and corrective maintenance
• Part procurement and storage
• Production losses caused by production stoppages
• Installation and commissioning costs
• End-of-life device disposal and recycling

How does energy consumption affect the total cost of a chiller?

Energy consumption is often the largest single operating cost during the lifespan of an industrial chiller. The energy efficiency of a chiller is determined by its structural design, and even a small difference in power consumption adds up to a significant amount when the equipment runs continuously for years or decades.

Energy efficiency is particularly affected by how well the cooler transfers heat from the material to the cooling water or the environment. Inefficient heat transfer means that the same cooling result requires more electricity and more cooling water. In addition, the mechanical efficiency of the device, such as the friction of rotating parts and load distribution, directly affects electricity consumption.

Energy costs are also subject to market fluctuations. As electricity prices rise, an energy-inefficient appliance will become progressively more expensive year on year compared to a more energy-efficient alternative. This makes energy efficiency a strategic issue, not just a technical detail.

When calculating the total cost of a radiator, it is advisable to estimate:

• The equipment's annual operating hours and load factor
• Electricity consumption in kilowatts relative to cooling capacity
• Cooling water consumption and its costs
• Energy price development forecast for the device's planned lifespan

How do maintenance and downtime costs accumulate over a lifetime?

Maintenance and downtime costs accumulate during the lifecycle, particularly for equipment whose design requires frequent servicing or whose parts are difficult to replace without extensive disassembly. In demanding bulk material handling applications dealing with hot and abrasive materials, wear is inevitable, but its speed and controllability vary significantly depending on the equipment's design.

The structure of maintenance costs consists of two main components: preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance. Preventive maintenance is planned and controlled, but corrective maintenance, arising from unexpected failures, is considerably more expensive. Unplanned downtime interrupts production, ties up human resources and often requires spare parts to be acquired through expedited delivery.

The modular design of the equipment directly affects the level of maintenance costs. If individual wear parts can be replaced or turned around without disassembling the entire unit, maintenance time is reduced and labour costs are lowered. This is particularly important in processes where the downtime of a cooler brings the entire production line to a halt.

For example, in a KRC chiller, the removable panels allow for individual replacement of wearing parts and swapping of panel positions to even out wear, which extends the equipment's lifespan and keeps maintenance costs down. This structural solution is a direct answer to the problem where traditional cooling screws require extensive maintenance work after only a reasonable period of use. Discover the KRC radiator and into its modular structure in more detail.

The overall picture of maintenance costs includes:

• Planned maintenance downtimes and their frequency
• Spare parts consumption and unit prices
• Maintenance work hours per maintenance visit
• The probability of unplanned downtime and the production losses it causes
• The need for spare parts storage and the capital tied up in it

How does lifecycle costing support investment decisions?

Life cycle costing supports investment decisions by bringing the actual total costs of different equipment options into a comparable format. Instead of comparing only purchase prices, life cycle costing juxtaposes energy costs, maintenance costs, and downtime for the entire planned service life.

In practice, life cycle cost calculation is done by defining the designed lifespan of the equipment, estimating the annual operating costs for each option, and discounting these costs to their present value to enable comparison. This approach often reveals that a cheaper purchase price leads to a higher total cost and a more expensive purchase price leads to a lower TCO.

Life cycle costing is particularly valuable when:

1. Let's compare technically different solutions that differ significantly in energy efficiency or maintenance requirements.
2. Let's assess whether it's worthwhile to replace an existing device or continue using it.
3. To justify a larger initial investment internally within an organisation or to funders
4. Let's set requirements for suppliers that will guide tender requests to factors other than the purchase price.

The challenge with lifecycle cost calculation is that it requires reliable source data: operating hours, energy consumption values, and maintenance history. It is advisable to request this information from equipment manufacturers for reference sites, so that estimations are based on real-world operational experience and not solely on theoretical calculations.

Kopar designs and manufactures radiators with total life cycle costs optimised, not just the procurement phase. If you wish to estimate which solution best suits your own process and what the life cycle costs look like for different options, Contact our experts. You can also Discover our cooling solutions and find suitable options for demanding environments.