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Simple Payback Period Calculator

Years for an investment to recoup its outlay.

Compute the simple payback period — initial outlay divided by annual net cash savings — for an energy-efficiency upgrade, equipment purchase, or other capital investment. Reports the discounted payback under a chosen discount rate too.

Nadia Almasri By Nadia Almasri
Published Last reviewed 1 min read

Inputs

$
$
%

Results

Enter values and click Calculate to see results.
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How to use this calculator

  1. Fill in the inputs above using the units you already have.
  2. Values update automatically as you type — no submit button needed.
  3. Hover any result row for the underlying formula and intermediate values.

Formula

T_simple = outlay / annual_savings. T_disc ≈ ln(1 / (1 − outlay · r / annual)) / ln(1 + r).

In depth

Compute the simple payback period — initial outlay divided by annual net cash savings — for an energy-efficiency upgrade, equipment purchase, or other capital investment. Reports the discounted payback under a chosen discount rate too.