Payback calculator
Simple payback is the most-used metric in energy management: the capital cost of a project divided by its annual saving, giving the years until the money comes back. Drag the sliders and notice how sensitive the answer is to the annual saving, which is exactly why good measurement matters before capital is committed.
Simple payback calculator
Adjust the figures to see how the payback period responds.
Moderate payback — typically attractive.
Using the result well
A payback under three years is almost always worth doing; over seven deserves harder scrutiny; and for large or long-lived investments, payback alone misleads because it ignores everything that happens after the cost is recovered. A project paying back in four years but lasting twenty looks identical to one lasting five. For decisions that matter, move to net present value, which our NPV and IRR lesson covers with worked examples.
This calculator comes from the free Simple Payback lesson in our Level 1 foundations course, which explains where the metric works and where it quietly kills good projects.