diff --git a/src/coin_selector.rs b/src/coin_selector.rs
index 0d42a56..85d3e8f 100644
--- a/src/coin_selector.rs
+++ b/src/coin_selector.rs
@@ -283,6 +283,14 @@ impl<'a> CoinSelector<'a> {
         (self.weight(drain_weight) as f32 * feerate.spwu()).ceil() as u64
     }
 
+    /// The actual fee the selection would pay if it was used in a transaction that had
+    /// `target_value` value for outputs and change output of `drain_value`.
+    ///
+    /// This can be negative when the selection is invalid (outputs are greater than inputs).
+    pub fn fee(&self, target_value: u64, drain_value: u64) -> i64 {
+        self.selected_value() as i64 - target_value as i64 - drain_value as i64
+    }
+
     /// The value of the current selected inputs minus the fee needed to pay for the selected inputs
     pub fn effective_value(&self, feerate: FeeRate) -> i64 {
         self.selected_value() as i64 - (self.input_weight() as f32 * feerate.spwu()).ceil() as i64
@@ -647,6 +655,11 @@ impl DrainWeights {
             + self.spend_weight as f32 * long_term_feerate.spwu()
     }
 
+    /// The the fee you will pay to spend this otuput in the future.
+    pub fn spend_fee(&self, long_term_feerate: FeeRate) -> u64 {
+        (self.spend_weight as f32 * long_term_feerate.spwu()).ceil() as u64
+    }
+
     /// Create [`DrainWeights`] that represents a drain output with a taproot keyspend.
     pub fn new_tr_keyspend() -> Self {
         Self {
diff --git a/src/metrics/lowest_fee.rs b/src/metrics/lowest_fee.rs
index c9027a1..fe99a8b 100644
--- a/src/metrics/lowest_fee.rs
+++ b/src/metrics/lowest_fee.rs
@@ -6,11 +6,15 @@ use crate::{
 /// Metric that aims to minimize transaction fees. The future fee for spending the change output is
 /// included in this calculation.
 ///
-/// The scoring function for changeless solutions is:
-/// > input_weight * feerate + excess
+/// The fee is simply:
 ///
-/// The scoring function for solutions with change:
-/// > (input_weight + change_output_weight) * feerate + change_spend_weight * long_term_feerate
+/// > `inputs - outputs` where `outputs = target.value + change_value`
+///
+/// But the total value includes the cost of spending the change output if it exists:
+///
+/// > `change_spend_weight * long_term_feerate`
+///
+/// The `change_spend_weight` and `change_value` are determined by the `change_policy`
 #[derive(Clone, Copy)]
 pub struct LowestFee {
     /// The target parameters for the resultant selection.
@@ -55,13 +59,19 @@ impl BnbMetric for LowestFee {
             return None;
         }
 
-        let drain_weights = if drain.is_some() {
-            Some(drain.weights)
-        } else {
-            None
+        let long_term_fee = {
+            let fee_for_the_tx = cs.fee(self.target.value, drain.value);
+            assert!(
+                fee_for_the_tx > 0,
+                "must not be called unless selection has met target"
+            );
+            // Why `spend_fee` rounds up here. We could use floats but I felt it was just better to
+            // accept the extra 1 sat penality to having a change output
+            let fee_for_spending_drain = drain.weights.spend_fee(self.long_term_feerate);
+            fee_for_the_tx as u64 + fee_for_spending_drain
         };
 
-        Some(Ordf32(self.calc_metric(cs, drain_weights)))
+        Some(Ordf32(long_term_fee as f32))
     }
 
     fn bound(&mut self, cs: &CoinSelector<'_>) -> Option<Ordf32> {