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Industrial steamers

What cleaning costs you now, and whether a steamer would pay for itself.

Put in what you spend on cleaning today, and the calculator works out the rest.

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The calculator

Will a steamer pay for itself?

Three questions. Let's understand your cleaning needs.

1. What kind of business?
R a month
R a month
Costed on an Industrial steamer, diesel ChangeDone
Which steamer are we costing?

No price appears on this page. Yours is quoted for your site.

What power is on the site?

The heavy-duty electric unit, with nothing to refuel.

The diesel unit. It carries its own fuel and water. Its pump and controls draw about 0.3 kW, which a small inverter handles.

On typical figures, a steamer pays for itself in

18 months

Saves about R8 731 a month on these figures. After five years, with the steamer paid off, you are about R370 000 ahead.

Today5 years

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Your steamer is quoted for your site.

See how we worked it out
What you spend now Cleaning company plus chemicals
R14 250
What a steamer replaces Some contract work and chemicals stay, so we count R11 913 of your R14 250.
R11 913
What running it costs Your staff time, power or fuel, consumables and servicing
-R3 182
What you save each month
R8 731

Costs are held flat over the five years.
Check our figures

These start on our figures for a typical site like yours. About 24 and a half hours of contract cleaning a month at R500 an hour. With a steamer, we start your own staff at 19 hours a month, on our estimate that a steamer needs about three quarters of a contractor's time. R500 an hour is a typical South African deep-cleaning rate (Procompare price guide, 2026). Change any of them.

Starts below the contractor's hours, on our own estimate. Move it.

hours a month

The National Minimum Wage is R30.23 an hour from 1 March 2026. R45 an hour, once UIF, leave and cover are added, implies a wage of about R36.

R an hour

Each figure starts on a sourced default, with its source under it. None of them has to change for the calculator to work.

Your rate is on your municipal bill.

R per kWh

A typical South African small-commercial municipal rate including VAT, after the 9.01 percent municipal increase the energy regulator approved for 1 July 2026.

Only used for a diesel steamer.

R per litre

R28.79 a litre, the coastal wholesale price for September 2026. What you pay at the pump will be higher, so use your own figure.

The element cycles off once the boiler is hot.

percent of the hour

Our estimate, not a measured figure, and set high on purpose.

Only used for a diesel steamer.

litres an hour

The top of the Optima XD's published range of 0.2 to 1.1 litres an hour, taken on purpose.

Duct and canopy certification, the annual deep strip and specialist call-outs usually stay.

percent

Our estimate, and the figure that moves the answer most. Set it to what you would really cancel.

Steam replaces most degreasers and floor products. Most sites still keep a listed sanitiser on record for the food-safety file.

percent

Some products stay, such as the sanitiser, so this does not go to zero. Set it to what you think would really stop.

Water has no slider. At the volumes these steamers use it costs under forty cents an hour on any South African municipal tariff, so it is a flat rate in the working.

Reading the answer

What the answer means

You get one of three answers: the months until the steamer pays for itself, not yet at your volume, or that you are better off paying a contractor for now. It is arithmetic on your own figures, not a quote, so correct any figure that is a guess.

When it says not yet, note the figure in bold: the monthly cleaning spend at which buying starts to make sense. If your insurer or landlord insists on a certified contractor for some jobs, such as the extraction canopy, keep that cost in mind: the calculator does not include it.

We also clean with these steamers, as a local service: see what we clean.

What owning one costs to run

The calculator charges you for running the steamer, line by line: staff time, power or fuel and water, consumables, and a monthly share of servicing.

Where the running figures come from

An Optima XE 18K draws 18.2 kW while the element is on. An EST 05K draws 5.2 kW on a single-phase supply. A diesel unit such as the XD burns 0.2 to 1.1 litres an hour. Each is the manufacturer's published figure.

Water barely registers. Optima's brochure puts a vehicle wash at three to four litres, against 150 to 300 for a pressure washer.

Your tariffs and our main estimates each have a slider in the "Check our figures" panel, with its source. Consumables and servicing are counted at typical figures for each steamer level.

Next step

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