{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/translate-the-premium-into-cost-per-use",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9052",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Translate the premium into cost per use",
  "summary": "A premium becomes easier to judge when you spread it across the use it is supposed to improve.",
  "kind": "template",
  "body": "Estimate the extra price, expected useful life and realistic number of uses or contact hours. Divide the premium by expected uses, then ask whether the named improvement is worth that amount each time. Use a conservative estimate rather than an optimistic lifetime. This is a decision aid, not proof of value: a cheap cost per use cannot rescue a product that does not fit, cannot be repaired, creates new friction or solves the wrong problem.",
  "limits": [
    "Cost per use can bias you toward overbuying high-frequency items. Budget constraints, opportunity cost and diminishing returns still matter."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-interaction-weighted-purchases"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-38FAB1598536D55D"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Life-cycle cost analysis compares alternatives over a defined service period instead of treating the initial purchase price as the only cost.",
      "source_id": "RS-38FAB1598536D55D",
      "role": "contextualizes",
      "note": "The NIST method is designed for federal energy and building decisions; personal cost-per-use calculations are a simplified editorial adaptation.",
      "locator": "Life-cycle cost method"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A better version costs noticeably more and the sticker-price difference feels large in isolation."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Cost per use can bias you toward overbuying high-frequency items. Budget constraints, opportunity cost and diminishing returns still matter."
  ],
  "example": "A €300 premium on a device used 1,500 hours a year for four years is about €0.05 per contact hour. That may be reasonable for a real reliability or comfort gain; it says nothing about whether the gain exists.",
  "check": "The calculation uses conservative use and lifetime assumptions and ends with a named benefit plus a reject condition.",
  "template": "Price premium: [amount]. Conservative service life: [years]. Expected uses or contact hours: [count]. Premium per use/hour: [amount]. Improvement bought: [specific benefit]. Reject if: [trade-off or failure condition].",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-38FAB1598536D55D",
      "title": "Life Cycle Cost Manual for the Federal Energy Management Program",
      "url": "https://www.nist.gov/publications/life-cycle-cost-manual-federal-energy-management-program"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9052",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9053",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/pay-for-fit-where-your-body-meets-the-tool"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-74CA3FEDEC162686",
      "title": "Spend more carefully on the things that touch your life most",
      "url": "/collections/spend-more-carefully-on-the-things-that-touch-your-life-most"
    }
  ]
}