Definition

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Total Cost of Ownership is the sum of every dollar a piece of equipment will cost across its useful life: purchase price, install, utilities (energy + water), consumables, scheduled maintenance, unplanned repairs, downtime cost, and end-of-life disposal. For commercial kitchen equipment, purchase price is typically only 15-25% of TCO.

Operators who buy on price-tag alone routinely overpay across a 10-year horizon. A cheaper fryer with worse energy efficiency, a shorter compressor warranty, and a less-available parts network will quietly cost more than its sticker-shock-pricier alternative.

A TCO model needs four inputs at minimum: purchase + install, annual energy/water spend, expected annual maintenance spend, and expected useful life. EquipTrack's TCO view pulls the second and third from your actual service history rather than asking you to guess.

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