Total Cost of Ownership of a flashlight? Who are we kidding? Companies usually work that out for things like cars or a large computer system, not a torch.
We were recently approached by a small security company who wanted some help in the running costs of their torches. They had previously been using Magchargers, but had started using the smaller, lighter and brighter tactical torches for 2 reasons:
1) To reduce belt load as they already had one employee with a bad back. Moving to the smaller torches saved 1kg of belt weight.
2) To save damage to clients property which had occurred in an area which had tight access
They had previously tried 3 different torches, a Surefire L2, an Ebay torch with rechargeable kit and an Ebay torch running on primary (disposable) batteries.
As many of you know, one of the necessities of a small high output torch is the need for a small energy dense battery. The best of these is the CR123 battery, it has nearly 3 times the voltage of common AA, AAA, C and D batteries. The disadvantage is these are about $10 each bought in a shop and at least $3 each for quality batteries bought online.
The Ebay rechargeable was dismissed early due to its 20 min actual runtime (despite larger claims and a lithium ion battery rated at 3,000mah!). After a trial which established the suitability of our torches (in fact they were the favourite due to the higher output allowing more thorough inspections) we did a cost comparison for the company. The comparison was based upon 24 fortnights (1 month of holidays) and a set (2) of batteries every fortnight, about average for this usage. We also allowed for 2 replacement rechargeable batteries over a 5 year period. The results surprised even us, who knew torches were so expensive!
|
Torch
|
Initial Cost
|
Fortnightly cost
|
Annual Cost
|
5 year cost
|
Total Cost
|
| Sniper 260 |
$195
|
-
|
-
|
$55
|
$250
|
| L2 |
$265
|
$6
|
$144
|
$720
|
$985
|
| Ebay |
$60
|
$6
|
$144
|
$720
|
$780
|