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I'm developing my business plan and I am trying to do some forecasting on my financials.

Can anyone help me get a clue as to what is average electricity usage (kWh) for a startup.

Lets say electricity usage will be from: 300 sq ft office, broadband connection, lights on for ~12 hours a day, 4 desktops, 2 phones, small fridge, coffee machine etc - you get the idea.

I'm looking for a ball-park figure, nothing too specific. I have some pretty hefty hardware which is going to be guzzling electrons, but I already know what the consumption for that will be.

Thanks.

p.s. sorry there don't seem to be any relevant tags.

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What are the electric rates in your location? It varies dramatically from one place to another. – JonnyBoats Apr 6 '12 at 20:53
Where are you located? If you are in Alaska your furnace will run 8 - 9 months out of the year. The blower takes real power. If you are in another area you may not need much heat or airconditioning. – Gary E♦ Apr 6 '12 at 21:02
Based in England, office space is pretty well insulated, but lets say electric heater running for 3 - 4 months out of the year. – Griffin Apr 6 '12 at 21:15
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I think you might be building overly detailed financials! Are you also accounting for the cost of paperclips in your projections?? More seriously, if a cost is not a driver of your business model, have a "miscellaneous" category and explain that it contains electricity, paperclips and toilet paper costs:) And then you can always have your model account for dynamically growing miscellaneous expenses because these COMBINED expenses do add up and become a cost driver. But how could electricity cost alone be a major cost driver of your business???? – frenchie Aug 6 '12 at 16:35

4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Ask somebody with a place in the building. They will know best. You are just looking for a rough order of magnitude.

You mention the hefty hardware, that will probably impact how much heating/cooling you will need.

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I would ask but it's a new building, so it's empty atm! I was just hoping someone had a similar setup and could tell me from their experience. Other factors I can workout myself. – Griffin Apr 8 '12 at 11:27
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We operate in a 500 square foot office, with 3x developers each running a dedicated machine, plus one dedicated server. Our office has a fridge that runs constantly and lights that are on 12-14 hours a day. We consumed 350 kWh last month. Our rate is about $0.15 per kWh, so works out to be $52.50.

I'm not sure you should be putting this much detail in your financial forecast. Investors do want to see you have put some thought into it, but they don't expect you to get it 100% right. As long as you put realistic numbers, you'll get away with it.

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cca 300kWh without heating/cooling with:

2 desktops 4 laptops 2 lcd monitors lighting small fridge

active for 9h a day, 5 days a week.

Don't forget to take in consideration AC which can take major chunk of your electricy cost.

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You should be able to do the math yourself. Find your rate, and how much your power supplys are rated at, lights are rated at, etc.

Anything else is pure speculation. Asking people in the building is nice, but it really comes down to how much you use.

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