Laundromat utility costs: work out cost per cycle

Why a total is not enough

If your gas bill rises 20 percent, is that a price rise, more drying, or a problem? You cannot tell from the total. Two ratios answer it: cost per cycle and utilities as a share of takings.

Cost per dryer cycle

Gas (or electricity) cost for the period ÷ number of dryer cycles in the same period.

Example with made-up numbers: a shop's gas bill for a quarter is $4,000 and its dryers ran 9,500 cycles. That is about $0.42 a cycle. Next quarter the bill is $4,800 but cycles are 9,600. The cost per cycle rose to $0.50, so usage did not drive the increase. Look at the rate, the supply charge or an estimated read.

Cost per wash

Washers use electricity, water and sometimes gas for heated water. Divide the electricity and water cost for the period by wash cycles. Water is billed on a different cycle, so line up the dates carefully.

Utilities as a percentage of takings

Gas + electricity + water ÷ takings for the same period. Track this per shop. It lets you compare a busy shop with a quiet one fairly, and see whether costs are creeping up faster than income.

Comparing shops

If two shops with similar machines show a clear gap in gas cost per dryer cycle, something differs: an older dryer, a lint or venting problem, a tariff, a rate, or a bill error. That is a thing to go and look at.

Getting clean inputs

• Match the dates. Use the bill's service period, not the invoice date, and count cycles for the same days.
• Use one source for cycles. Your payment or machine-control system should report cycles by day and by shop.
• Adjust for estimated reads. An estimate can push cost into the wrong period, so compare a few periods rather than one.

Doing it automatically

LaundroMetrics lines up the bill, the machines and the takings for you, so cost per cycle and cost per dollar of takings update as bills arrive. See the plans, or start with how to read a gas bill.