Cost Comparison: LoRa Wireless vs. 4-20mA Wired
(Based on a 10-sensor deployment in West Texas)
| Cost Factor | 4-20mA Wired | LoRa Wireless | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware (per sensor) | $500 (transmitter + cable) | $700 (LoRa transmitter) | similar |
| Installation Labor | $2,000 (trenching/terminations) | $200 (mounting + pairing) | 90% cheaper |
| Maintenance (annual) | $1,000 (wire repairs) | $50 (battery check) | 95% cheaper |
| SCADA Integration | $3,000 (I/O card upgrades) | $500 (gateway software) | 83% cheaper |
| Total 5-Year Cost | $26,000 | $6,250 | 76% savings |
Wired 4-20mA requires more engineering and planning to install. When installing, you have to dig planned trenches, which also limit retrofits and cause a hazard for future plant modifications. In water facilities, you can’t trench and have to use conduit and generally have to install the conduit into concrete which has its own downsides. The retrofits in indoor facilities are even harder.
Furthermore, in the oilfield, you have to then install the 4-20mA wires, which means digging trenches and all the disruption from that. You have to put conduit in the trench, and wisely should fill the conduit with a bunch of wires that are unused but still cost money, but would simplify future equipment installations.
Heaven help you if you get a broken wire. If you didn’t install spare wires, you now are stuck having to find the break. Now you have the cost of the repair, the cost of the downtime, and lost revenue.
Wireless 4-20mA avoids all of these hassles.
No recurring fee is necessary. This is because these are EXACTLY a replacement for a wire. You don’t pay a recurring fee on a wire, so you won’t with wireless either.
No. You do not need a gateway. LoRaWAN is a protocol overlay on the LoRa wireless protocol. LoRa can operate without LoRaWAN as a simple point to point link.
Yes you can keep your sensors. The wireless 4-20mA links reads standard 4-20mA on the remote side and transmits the remote reading to the receiver which is located next to your monitoring equipment, like a PLC.
Yes you can keep your PLC. The wireless 4-20mA links reads standard 4-20mA on the remote side and transmits the remote reading to the receiver which is located next to your monitoring equipment, like a PLC. This is all 100% standard and only the wire is replaced.
No. The wireless 4-20mA wire replacement replaces the wire. You don’t have to talk to the central operations people at all if you don’t want to.
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