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Procurement Guide

Total Cost of Ownership: Modeling a 5-Year Light Tower Fleet

Litenza Sales TeamFeb 4, 20265 min read

A single quote tells you what a fleet costs to buy. It doesn't tell you what it costs to own for five years — and for a fleet running continuously across multiple projects, that longer-horizon number is the one that actually matters for budgeting.

Start With the Purchase Price, Correctly Read

See our reading a quote guide for what's typically included in a standard kit versus priced separately — the starting point for any TCO model has to be an accurate, complete initial cost, not just the headline unit price.

Battery Pack Replacement Over 5 Years

Battery packs are the component most likely to need replacement within a 5-year horizon — see our battery lifecycle guide for what affects replacement timing. Budget for at least one replacement cycle per pack over 5 years of regular use, adjusted for your actual usage intensity.

Service and Maintenance Costs

Decide whether an AMC or pay-as-you-go servicing fits your fleet size and usage pattern — see our AMC guide. Either way, budget an ongoing annual maintenance line rather than treating service as a one-off, unplanned cost.

Downtime Cost, Not Just Direct Spend

A fleet with no accessible spare parts or slow service response carries a real, if harder-to-quantify, downtime cost — see our spare parts guide and service SLA guide for what to check on this before committing to a supplier.

What Ownership Avoids Compared to Repeated Rental

See our renting vs buying guide for the fuller comparison — a 5-year TCO model is most useful when weighed directly against the cumulative cost of renting equivalent equipment over the same period.

Building Your Own Model

List out: initial purchase (correctly itemized), expected battery replacement cycles, annual service cost (AMC or estimated pay-as-you-go), and a downtime-risk allowance based on your supplier's actual service reach. Contact us for the specific figures needed to build this out for your fleet size.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does a single purchase quote not represent total ownership cost?

It captures the initial purchase, but not battery pack replacement, ongoing service and maintenance, or downtime risk over a multi-year ownership period.

What should be budgeted for battery pack replacement over 5 years?

At least one replacement cycle per pack for regular use, adjusted for actual usage intensity — see the battery lifecycle guide for what affects timing specifically.

Is downtime a real cost to include in a TCO model?

Yes — a fleet with no accessible spare parts or slow service response carries a real cost even though it's harder to quantify than a line-item purchase price.

How does a 5-year TCO model help compare ownership against rental?

It gives a like-for-like total cost figure to weigh directly against the cumulative cost of renting equivalent equipment over the same period.

Building a multi-year budget for your fleet?

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More Guides

Total Cost vs Sticker Price: Reading a Light Tower Quote

What's often priced separately, and how to compare quotes fairly.

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Renting vs Buying a Light Tower in India

When renting makes sense vs when ownership pays off.

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Is an AMC Worth It? Service Contracts Explained

What an annual maintenance contract typically covers.

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