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Recurring Cost of Sprinkler System
July 6, 2009 | Comments Off
In an era where everyone wants to be Green and save money, it is wise to ask oneself what is the recurrent cost of a home lawn sprinkler system. While the government requires large home appliances to specify the utility/energy cost, they do not require the sprinkler manufacturers or installers to tell you how much it will cost to operate. That $2,000 to $5,000 sprinkler installation cost may be pale in comparison to the yearly water bills. In my estimates below, I am concluding that it costs around one water “Unit” per hour — or $7.70 — to operate the sprinkler system. Not too far from some online estimates putting it at $10 to $12 per day (I guess they are asuming 1.5 or 2 hours operations like I do).
For many years I have been getting a water and sewer bill that shows water usage in “Units”. I had to do a bit of research online to find out what a unit was: “One unit is equal to one hundred cubic feet (ccf) or 748 gallons of water.“ In my town, unit costs are: $4.90 for Water and $2.80 for sewer.
That alone will not help me find out the cost of my lawn system. Sprinkler systems do not come with a note saying how many “Units” they consume. I did a bit of research at the Toro sprinklers website to find out that sprinkler heads spit out between 0 to 5 gallons per minute. Some of my lawn areas use up to 5 heads at a time. However, I am asuming that not all of them are running at full capacity, so just to take a swag I am asuming that I am running about 10 gallons per minute average. You may want to make more precise calculations.
If this is true, I am spitting out around 600 gallons per hour (60 minutes times 10 gallons per minute). That would mean that I am using around one “Unit” per hour. Do that too many times a week over the whole summer, and you can end up with a $1,000 bill.
One way to reduce sprinkler system costs is to get rid of the “sewer” part of the bill for that water. It is water that it is never going through the sewer system. Some towns allow for a second water meter for that water – it costs you about $1,000 to install. It is a job that is better done when you are building a new home, as meter installation prices may end up costing about the same that you may be saving. Still a good option to consider.
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