Repair vs Replace Calculator

Enter your own repair and replacement costs plus how many more years each buys. This compares annualized cost — it is not a safety verdict.

Repair cost($)

Added usable life from repair(years)

How many more years of use the repair realistically buys. Your estimate.

Replacement cost($)

Usable life of replacement(years)

Expected usable years of the new unit. Your estimate.

Repair path — annual maintenance($/yr)

Replace path — annual maintenance($/yr)

Repair path — annual operating($/yr)

e.g. extra energy cost of keeping an inefficient old unit.

Replace path — annual operating($/yr)

Disposal cost (replacement)($)

Analysis time horizon(years)

The period you want to think over. If it exceeds the added repair years, you will be warned.

Contingency(%)

Important: A cost comparison is not a safety assessment. Items with safety, structural, gas, or electrical concerns should be evaluated by a licensed professional regardless of cost.

Estimated Project Budget

$1,520

Repair vs Replace

Materials: $1,500
Other costs: $20
Total: $1,520

Materials$1,500 (99%)
Other costs$20 (1%)

Annualized cost — repair

$193/yr

Annualized cost — replace

$145/yr

Lower annualized option

Replace (cost-only)

Break-even

Replace pays off after ~27.5 years of use

Itemized breakdown

Replacement unit (materials) $1,500	$1,500
Year-1 maintenance + operating $20 maintenance + $0 operating	$20

Actual decisions should also weigh safety, current condition, energy efficiency, code compliance, and a professional inspection — not cost alone.
This model caps the repair path at the added years you entered; it does not assume repeated repairs.
Your analysis horizon (12 yrs) exceeds the 3 added years a repair buys — the item will likely need replacement before the horizon ends. The repair path is annualized over the 3 years only.

This is a budgeting estimate for planning only — not a contractor quote. Actual costs vary by location, site conditions, material grade, and labor market. Always collect itemized quotes from licensed local professionals.

Pricing data version rvr-v1 · as of 2025-01-01 · includes your custom prices

How We Calculated This

Annualized cost = total cost of a path ÷ the usable years that path buys.
Repair path total = repair cost + (annual maintenance + annual operating) × added years, annualized over the added years only (no repeated repairs assumed).
Replace path total = replacement cost + disposal + (annual maintenance + annual operating) × replacement life, annualized over the replacement life.
Lower annualized option is reported as cost-only; paths within 5% are called "about equal".
Break-even = (replacement + disposal − repair) ÷ (repair recurring − replace recurring), shown only when replacing is both cheaper per year and the formula yields a positive number of years; otherwise "not applicable".

Assumptions

All useful-life and cost figures are YOUR inputs — this tool does not supply useful-life estimates.
No inflation/discounting is applied unless you build it into your inputs.

What's excluded

Financing / interest
Resale value impact
Tax credits
Inflation / discount rate

Sources & Pricing Methodology

User-input model (Renovation Cost Lab)
This calculator ships with no bundled price data. Every cost and useful-life figure is entered by you.

Full methodology: how we handle prices.

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