Announcement-Buying a New Dryer

[244]

I'd be interested in seeing the gas usage just for academic reasons.

A BTU is a BTU and turning energy into heat is pretty simple... obviously it's easy to be wasteful with gas but only when you aren't trying to use it for heat.  I'd HOPE that the difference is minimal... if you make commercial gas burners you better know a thing or two about it and make it fairly efficient.  Then again, when you got thousands of jets in there if you "cut corners" to save cost that can DEFINITELY get exponentially wasteful and quick!

The gas consumption on the dryer will be minimal. I estimate his gas bill for the dryer will be about $1.60-$1.80 per running hour which will be around$64-$72.00 per week or $256.00 - $288.00 per month. Just a guess but I won't be far off either way and that electric bill is not just for the dryer. the electric bill for the dryer is less than $100.00 per month.

[alan802]

Ok, I just averaged the last 10 months gas bill and that came out to $230/mo.  The latest gas bill was $176.  So we have more production capability, a bigger dryer and no worries of down time and it costs us less in gas.  Our gas bill went down $50 so far and obviously I have to have more months to get a good average but right now I'm pumped that it was so much less.  I'll keep an eye on the gas bill because typically the summer months are averaging about $170/mo with the old dryer so this could mean the new dryer might be around $125/mo which would kick some ass.

Based simply on the electricity and gas savings, we could pay the dryer off in 3.7 years, but that doesn't include anything else other than the savings we are getting from running the new dryer.  If we would have financed the dryer for whatever term, and say our payment was $600/mo, we'd be paying for the dryer with money we saved and still have $100 left over.  We actually have something to show for our payments instead of paying the power company all that unnecessary money by running an old, inefficient dryer.

[Gilligan]

Even if your gas bill doesn't change a penny you are saving since it's bigger.

[Socalfmf]

now that is using your head and running a business....it makes zero sense ( and cents ) to keep that old equipment...nice job..

[GraphicDisorder]

Great move Alan, will pay for itself in no time and your capabilities are much larger.

M&R should focus on details like this, HINT HINT lol.

[ZooCity]

I would definitely display this sort of thing on the m&r site or somewhere. 

It sounds like crazy talk when you say the payment on financing a piece like this is the same as the utilities you're wasting with old equip but when you see a real life example it now makes me feel crazy for having old, inefficient, unreliable equip. 

[244]

Great move Alan, will pay for itself in no time and your capabilities are much larger.

M&R should focus on details like this, HINT HINT lol.

We do. we have ROI's on just about everything we make.

[244]

I would definitely display this sort of thing on the m&r site or somewhere. 

It sounds like crazy talk when you say the payment on financing a piece like this is the same as the utilities you're wasting with old equip but when you see a real life example it now makes me feel crazy for having old, inefficient, unreliable equip.

We tell this to a lot of people but their thought process is we are just trying to sell them something. When a end user states it the difference in response is so drastic we just wait for them to tell others ! LOL! Just kidding.

[alan802]

I would definitely display this sort of thing on the m&r site or somewhere. 

It sounds like crazy talk when you say the payment on financing a piece like this is the same as the utilities you're wasting with old equip but when you see a real life example it now makes me feel crazy for having old, inefficient, unreliable equip. 

I knew that there was going to be some savings due to the radiant panels on the Texair, and everyone I talked to said the same thing, but hearing it and actually seeing it are completely different.  I worried that it might shave 100-200 off the electricity bill and that I would be disappointed overall but the numbers are literally better than the best case scenario that I was playing out on paper.  I knew the texair was drawing some major juice, but I can't believe that the bill was cut in half, and then some. 

For all of you shops out there that are running an electrical dryer that could be running gas, this should give you the real world proof that you are looking for.  And if anyone would like to see hard copies of these electricity bills for absolute proof that we are getting these kinds of savings then let me know.

[ZooCity]

Yeah, those numbers are crazy.  Personally, I'm less worried about our texair supporting a manual press or a slow auto as we'll be using either the forced, heated air, middle segment only for wb/discharge or possibly with a panel or two on very low wattage to bump up plastisol prints.  To me, given the fact that the texair dryer was insanely cheap, this was the most cost effective route.  Running that thing full-on sounds horrifying at 110+ amps of 3phase.  Seeing this example now, I'm going to look hard into financing a Heatwave or Sprint in the coming years, probably a Sprint with it's expandable drone chambers. 

One of those rare cases where the funny sales math actually adds up it seems!  Rather than saying "you can't afford not to buy this dryer" you could quite honestly say "You can afford this dryer. In fact, you're already paying the amount of it's monthly payments, with interest included, in your utility bill".   Who wouldn't rather have a 5 year old M&R dryer, easily re-sold on the used market, or kept in service, expanded as necessary in 5 years over a big fat utilities expense on the books?  So many other advantages there in productivity, less downtime and not to mention your balance sheet which give you additional leverage for other funding.  I'm impressed. 

Nice work Alan, I'm sure the boss man (your father in law right?) is happy with you after seeing that last bill.

[mk162]

We didn't have that much of a drop off here since we didn't have gas hooked up, and now we heat the shop in the winter.  There are about $75 in Georgia Natural Gas fees on our bill that weren't there when we didn't have gas.  That being said, now it's more comfortable in the shop in the winter, and in the office...although the furnace up front reeks of burning lint the first couple times it runs every year.

We still shaved off over $100 a month on our utilities..even with having to get natural gas hooked up, so it isn't that bad.  The inks are easier to use in the winter now.

I need to get a new AC unit for the front office, that would save some serious coin.  In the summer the air comes on, and doesn't shut off until the sun goes down.

[Gilligan]

I need to get a new AC unit for the front office, that would save some serious coin.  In the summer the air comes on, and doesn't shut off until the sun goes down.

Have you had that thing serviced?  A cleaning and top off of freon can go a long way... but depending on it's age nothing like a newer unit with a better seer rating and such.

If we were closer, I'd have you a hook up.

[mk162]

I've got a good hookup, the unit is probably from around the late 80's early 90's.  I clean it yearly inside coils and outside coils.  It just needs to be replaced...and I need to finish coating the roof with reflective white paint and insulate above the suspended ceiling better.

[Gilligan]

Word.

That spray foam insulation is a beast!  It ain't cheap but it works like a sunnavabitch!  I have it in my 30x30 shop, walls (10') and ceiling (about 32 linear feet)... cost me 2400 (maybe 2600)... I rarely run the AC or Heater in that thing.

If this new unit sucks like the one I'm in now I'll have to do something in there also... but being that it's not mine, I will be going with some cheap pink panther sh!t.

[mk162]

I will be looking into spray foam, if not it will be the cheap stuff rolled out.  It did wonders in another section of the shop.