Fuel, electricity, wiring, ice, labor, insurance, one incident
The true cost of a buffet heat source over three years
A cell costs more on day one and less every day after. Here is the model, and the assumptions, so you can put your own numbers in.
Compare four options over three years of daily service for one six-dish line. Gel fuel: cans per service, times services. Induction: warmers, circuit, electrician, cords, pans, electricity. Ice, for the cold side: machine energy and water, bagged ice, labor. Cells: cells, batteries, one dock, electricity to charge.
The lines people forget
Labor: refueling, ice hauling, floor mopping. Insurance excess and premium loading after an incident. The value of a service that did not stop when the breaker tripped.
What the model usually shows
Gel is cheapest at the till and most expensive over three years once labor and one incident are in. Induction is competitive in a fixed line and expensive everywhere else. Cells are the highest first cost and the lowest total.
Build your own
Dishes, services per week, weeks per year. Price each line. Add one bad night.