Utility cost for IBA?

[Turbo]

How much does it cost in utilities to run an IBA?

I have a 17 year old Southern Pride Turbo. My top wash is:

-(1) 15 second HP undercarriage
-(2) LP 35 second presoak cylces
-(3) HP rinse cylces
-(1) LP spot free cycle
-(1) 45 second dryer cylce with 3 10hp motors that start 3 seonds apart

The HP pump is 3 phase 25 HP. The LP pumps are 220v 1.5 HP.

I pay .0025/gallon of water or 25 cents per 100 gallons (for those who thougt it was a type O). I am guessing I use 50 gallons per wash or 12.5 cents per wash. I only heat the presoak so that is maybe .10 cents. I have been told a good number for the soap I use is .35 cents per cycle ( I am validating that). Please feel free to comment on above.

But I really don't know how much each HP cycle costs in electricity. Of course rates vary but I have no reason to think that my rates are not approx average (vs my water rates which I know are low). My understanding is that alot of the electricity is used on the start. Mine starts twice: undercarriage (15 seconds) and rinse/wax cylces (105 seconds).

The reason I want to know is I am considerng converting to hand wash and using IBA to rinse(see IBA HAND WASH thread). IF I did then I would eliminate the presoak cycles and one HP rinse and the spot free cycle. Then the HP pump would run for 85 seconds and the the dryers would run for 45 seconds. I may add back a spot free with some rinsing agent in before teh dryers.

 

[soapy]

Pick a rainy or slow day when no one is at the wash and do the following: Record your water meter reading and your electrical meter reading with everything shut off like lights etc. Then run your own car throught each of your wash selections recording the numbers from the meters after each wash. Then you will know exactly what you are using per wash.

 

[tobaccofarmer]

or buy a water meter you can connect to your machine in parallel and use it when you want to check, also can get a meter that does the same for voltage, and have a virtual utility monitor 24/7 if you change something you can see the results instant!

 

[Jim Caudill]

Not nearly enough information to answer your question.
#1 Do you soften your water? If so, figure the salt and regeneration period into your figures. (I have relatively soft water and can go about 16,000 gallons between regenerations).
#2 Do you supply a spot-free rinse? If so, the figure the water useage plus any other costs associated with the RO system.
#3 Do you have "demand metering" for your electricity? I do, and this can double the rate that I pay for ALL electricity used at my wash.
#4 Do you have doors? Do they cycle with every wash? Are they air operated? Figure the cost of operating doors.
#5 How about in-bay heat for wintertime operations? The last time I figured this out, it was costing me about 50cents per wash for heat during the winter months. My gas rate has doubled since then, but I quit operating the automatic (still keep the bay from freezing though).
#6 Do you use hot water? I did, other wise I couldn't keep up the temp of my presoak. I used to try and deliver the presoak to the car at around 130 degrees. Used an immersion heater for the presoak tank, and then hot water to resupply the tank. Just keeping the water in the main hot-water tank hot costs me about $100 per month in natural gas (doesn't include electricity for circulating pump).
#7 Does you IBA use air? If so, better figure the cost of running that air compressor.

contd. due to character limit

 

[Jim Caudill]

#8 How about heated rails or other external heating requirements? In my case, I heated the apron leading up to the bay and the concrete pad exiting the wash. If you don't, it becomes a big sheet of ice very quickly and could result in a lawsuit when a vehcile accident occurs because someone exiting the wash couldn't stop.
#9 Do you have in-bay lighting? Even during daylight hours, I operated 4 175Watt Halogen lights 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.
#10 Do you have a separate sewer charge? Mine is included with the water bill, but the water was around 1/3 of the bill and the sewer cost is around 2/3.
#11 Not exactly a utility charge, but don't forget the cost of pit cleanout.

There are lots of other costs associated with operating an IBA. Many operators overlook some of them, or don't actually have them (think warm-weather locations). These are just the costs that I can think of "offhand" regarding my own utilities.