While contemplating an investment in a solar water heater or other renewable energy technology it’s important to understand your true costs. For example…what is cable T.V. costing you? $40…$50…maybe $100 per month?

Are you sure?…

Cable television, like many other services we buy is a recurring expense. Chances are you will have cable television for the rest of your life, but let’s take a look at the next 25 years…

$50 (your monthly payment)  x 12 months = $600 per year

$600 x 25 years = $15,000

Price increases in your service plan are quite certain, but to keep things simple for this example I excluded them. $15,000 is a lot of money. It’s also just the service expense (operating cost). You need a T.V. to utilize the benefits of the cable service therefore you must include the cost of 25 years worth of television purchases, repairs, upgrades to have a better understanding of your true cost. We could figure (3) new, $1,000 television purchases over 25 years. Maybe more or less for you.

$1,000 x 3 = $3,000

$15,000 (monthly operating costs) + $3,000 (T.V. purchases) = $18,000 over 25 years!

So, in this example your cable television cost would be more like $18,000…not $15,000. We also did not include the electricity required. Taking into account the detailed costs over a long period of time is very important with investments like solar water heaters or solar PV. What are the true costs involved in heating your water? We will get into this in more detail shortly…stay tuned.