Costs
What does it cost to hire a fogging machine? A worked example on real numbers
Suppliers love to quote a monthly figure and stop there. The number that matters to a finance director is cost per treated room, because that is what compares against the alternative. Here is the full arithmetic with nothing hidden.
In short
On a lease from £450–£550 per month + VAT with SanoChem from £15 per litre + VAT, treating a conservative two rooms a day — around 60 rooms a month — the lease payment works out at roughly £8.33 per room before chemical. An attended call-out is from £495–£1,095 + VAT per visit, so the crossover comes quickly.
7 min read ·
The inputs
Everything below is the actual commercial structure we lease on. Volumes are yours to set — that is the whole point of having a machine rather than buying visits.
- Lease: from £450–£550 per month + VAT, 36-month term, three months payable upfront
- Chemical: SanoChem from £15 per litre + VAT, minimum 100 litres
- Training: on-site operator training included at the start; additional visits from £450 + VAT
- Throughput: up to five rooms per hour per machine, depending on room size
- Comparison: attended visit from £495–£1,095 + VAT
The worked example
Assume the most conservative usage we ever see: two rooms a day, five days a week. That is roughly 60 rooms a month. From £500 monthly lease payment + VAT ÷ 60 rooms = £8.33 per room, plus the chemical actually used in each cycle.
Now assume a realistic operational month for a care home or a school — five rooms a day, 110 rooms a month. The same lease payment divided by 110 rooms is under £5 per room. The lease payment does not change; only the value you extract from it does.
What the comparison actually is
One attended visit, from £495–£1,095 + VAT, is roughly a whole month of leasing. If you would call an operator out even once a month, the lease is already competitive before you count the rooms you would never have paid for.
And that is the real shift. Leased machines get used on the offices, the changing rooms, the canteen, the minibus and the staff toilets — areas no organisation would ever raise a purchase order for.
What about the cost of downtime?
Add it in and the comparison stops being close. A closed ward bay, a shut classroom, a cancelled service or a vehicle off the road for 24 hours awaiting a contractor generally costs more than the entire annual lease.
With a machine on site the response starts in around five minutes and the space is usually back in use the same shift.
Are there hidden costs?
The ones to check with any supplier are delivery and collection charges, minimum chemical commitments, training fees, call-out surcharges outside working hours and end-of-term conditions.
Ours are set out plainly: lease payments monthly in advance, three months upfront, 100 litre minimum chemical, training included at the start, and our office as the point of contact throughout.
Frequently asked
- How much is a fogging machine per month?
- From £450–£550 per month + VAT on a 36-month lease, with three months payable upfront and chemical charged separately from £15 per litre + VAT.
- How many rooms can we treat for that?
- As many as you can run. One machine treats up to five rooms per hour depending on size — the monthly cost does not change with volume.
- Is training an extra cost?
- On-site operator training is included at the start of the lease. Additional visits later, typically for new staff, are from £450 + VAT each.
- Can we use the ROI calculator with our own numbers?
- Yes — each industry page has a calculator where you enter your own room counts, monthly lease payment and downtime cost to see the payback on your figures.
Sources: material published by Sanondaf UK at sanondaf.co.uk (news, research and case studies) and the technical and commercial documentation held by the Shropshire & West Midlands office. Figures are indicative and confirmed at survey. Efficacy is stated as up to 99.9999% reduction.