Buy or rent a floor scrubber: how the decision actually works out

The comparison is almost always done wrong: take the price of the machine, divide it over a few years, compare with a daily rental rate. That calculation leaves out most of the real cost of ownership, which is why it nearly always favours buying.

This article gives no figures. Equipment, service and rental prices vary by model and supplier and they change. It gives the structure of the calculation, so the numbers you gather yourself get compared properly.

What ownership actually costs

The purchase price is only the first line. The full list, all of it payable regardless of how much the machine runs:

• Purchase price, or the instalment if financed
• Batteries: a consumable with a limited number of cycles, replaced before the machine itself
• Routine servicing and spare parts
• Wear parts: squeegee blades, brushes or pads, filters
• Storage space and somewhere to charge
• Operator training, and retraining when staff change
• Downtime when it breaks, while you wait for service, the work stops
• Loss of equipment value over time

Where the break-even sits

Rather than asking which is cheaper, work out how many days a year the machine has to run for buying to pay off. The method:

1. 1Add up every line from the previous list over a five-year period.
2. 2Divide that total by five. That is your annual cost of ownership.
3. 3Take the daily or monthly rental rate for the same class of machine.
4. 4Divide the annual cost of ownership by the rental rate per day. The result is how many days a year you must use the machine to break even.
5. 5Compare with your real number of usage days. Be honest, the estimate is usually too high.

If realistic usage sits clearly below that threshold, buying does not work at any machine price. If it sits clearly above, buying makes sense and the remaining question is who services and stores it.

When renting almost always wins

• Seasonal or occasional use: a few campaigns a year, deep cleans, preparing for an inspection or a handover.
• One-off jobs: cleaning after works, taking over a building, a move.
• When you need a larger or different machine than yours, buying a second one for a handful of uses makes no sense.
• When you have nowhere to store it or nobody to train.
• When you are testing whether that class of machine suits you at all before buying.

When buying makes sense

• Daily or near-daily use at the same location.
• Someone is responsible for the equipment and is staying in that role.
• You have storage and charging sorted.
• You have a service contract with a reasonable response time.
• Floor type and requirements are stable and no process change is expected.

What to ask before signing, either way

1. 1Is this machine right for my floor type and my chemistry?
2. 2What is included: delivery, training, consumables, chemicals?
3. 3What happens if it breaks, on a rental, who brings a replacement and how fast?
4. 4If buying: what is the real service response time, and are parts held in stock?
5. 5What is the actual working range per charge, against my floor area?
6. 6Does the machine fit through my doors, aisles and lifts?

The last question looks trivial and is the one most often forgotten. A machine that cannot get into the space it is meant to clean is a total loss whatever the calculation said.