Outrageous cost for nitrox vs. air

[Quero]

Have you got a better word for it than "FREE"?

Yes. "No additional charge."

The problem with pricing nitrox fills, even on a break-even, no profit basis, isn't just the cost of oxygen (including availability, transport, storage), but also the cost of the compressors/compressor maintenance required. If a business buys a membrane compressor, for example, which requires no availability/purchase of medical-grade oxygen, it has to calculate a period of time (say three years) over which it wants the machinery to be paid off, including the cost of replacement membranes, lubricants, etc. If a company has relatively few divers who want nitrox fills, then the number of fills over that period will be reduced and thus the cost per fill over that period will be higher. If the shop is in an area where there's high demand for nitrox (for example on a liveaboard boat or at a dedicated dive resort with all those unlimited house reef dives), then the cost per fill over that fixed time will be lower. The maintenance costs for the compressor also have to be added in, but even with the lower total cost over the period for a compressor that clocks fewer fill hours (due to fewer fills) versus increased maintenance costs bumping up the total cost for a heavily used compressor, it won't make enough difference to even out the relatively high cost per fill for a lightly used compressor versus the relatively lower cost per fill of a heavily used one.

 

[beanojones]

In Hawaii, Aaron's gives one or two free fill a day if you are in their club, and they include banked Nitrox in that deal.

So, free once you pay for membership for a year, both air and nitrox are "Free", as in beer.

 

[redacted]

Yes. "No additional charge."

The problem with pricing nitrox fills, even on a break-even, no profit basis, isn't just the cost of oxygen (including availability, transport, storage), but also the cost of the compressors/compressor maintenance required. If a business buys a membrane compressor, for example, which requires no availability/purchase of medical-grade oxygen, it has to calculate a period of time (say three years) over which it wants the machinery to be paid off, including the cost of replacement membranes, lubricants, etc. If a company has relatively few divers who want nitrox fills, then the number of fills over that period will be reduced and thus the cost per fill over that period will be higher. If the shop is in an area where there's high demand for nitrox (for example on a liveaboard boat or at a dedicated dive resort with all those unlimited house reef dives), then the cost per fill over that fixed time will be lower. The maintenance costs for the compressor also have to be added in, but even with the lower total cost over the period for a compressor that clocks fewer fill hours (due to fewer fills) versus increased maintenance costs bumping up the total cost for a heavily used compressor, it won't make enough difference to even out the relatively high cost per fill for a lightly used compressor versus the relatively lower cost per fill of a heavily used one.

I have no doubt that it costs the operator something to pump the nitrox that he provides at "no additional charge". But he may well make up for it in other ways. In Bonaire, I favor the operator that provides "no additional charge" nitrox over the very similar facility next door that charges extra for nitrox. I could do without it but it is like it is FREE and definitely influences my choice of operators.

 

[Centrals]

Paid about US$6.00(P250.00) for a 11L tank(32% or 36%) in Philippines.

 

[RickyF]

$16.00 / tank on oahu!

 

[supergaijin]

Plenty of operators in the Maldives offer 'Nitrox for free!' however the price of the diving accounts for the cost. Many resorts need to operate with a Membrane-type as O2 supplies can be difficult at certain times due to weather and distance from the capital. The initial outlay for this compressor is prohibitive to smaller operators.

'Nitrox for free!' is a good marketing tool. I used to regularly up-sell using Pro-NRC which is/was popular here.

 

[lonebrave]

In Hawaii, Aaron's gives one or two free fill a day if you are in their club, and they include banked Nitrox in that deal.

So, free once you pay for membership for a year, both air and nitrox are "Free", as in beer.

That would have been good to know.

$16.00 / tank on oahu!

Aaron's 10-fill cards are $70+tax, if I remember correctly. They also offer a 100-fill card. Not the most convenient location if you are west/north, but cheapest I was able to find.

 

[Rhone Man]

It's all relative. When I lived in the BVI I could either travel to another island for nitrox fills or I could mix my own. Mixing my own involved paying for welder's oxygen (yes, I know) at prices which were in the ballpark of the sort of price people were paying for helium up in Florida (plus I had a lot more wastage). So I tended to dive air and do long decos - as it says in the Scuba Bible, 'tis better to waste an hour of your life looking at fishes at 20 feet than in the hot sun with a fill whip cursing all and sundry.

 

[beanojones]

$16.00 / tank on oahu!

As noted, Aaron's year long membership club gives you one fill for free per day, nitrox or air. Have to drive to Kailua, but.

(Note: this is according to people who pay for air. I don't pay for fills on general principle, which means I am diving air almost all the time, except when teaching a gas specific class.)

 

[DivemasterDennis]

The OP is paying within the standard range, though at the high end. Cost vary from location to location, of from shop to shop within a location. Free nitrox is usually a promo to get a diver to a destination, and the cost is buried in the package price. You might negotiate with your LDS, but you are not likely to succeed in negotiating at a destination resort.
DivemasterDennis