Thermal oxidation of VOC is extremely energy intensive, and necessitates high efficiency heat recovery from the exhaust heat. In this paper, two independent parameters heat recovery factor (HRF) and equipment cost factor (ECF) are introduced. HRF and ECF can be used to evaluate separately the merits of energy efficiency and cost effectiveness of VOC oxidation systems. Another parameter equipment cost against heat recovery (ECHR) which is a function of HRF and ECF is introduced to evaluate the merit of different systems for the thermal oxidation of VOC. Respective cost models were derived for recuperative thermal oxidizer (TO) and regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO). Application examples are presented to show the use and the importance of these parameters. An application examples show that TO has a lower ECF while RTO has a higher HRF. However when analyzed using ECHR, RTO would be of advantage economically in longer periods of use. The analytical models presented can be applied in similar environmental protection systems.