3D Printer Electricity Cost Calculator

1. Enter your printer average power in watts.
2. Enter the print time in hours.
3. Enter your electricity price per kilowatt-hour.
4. Read the electricity cost, the energy used and the cost per hour.

The electricity cost of a 3D print is the value of the power the printer draws while it runs. Most of that power goes to the heated bed and hotend, with a little for motors, fans and electronics.

For most hobby prints the energy cost is small compared with filament, but it adds up over long prints and busy print farms. Knowing it lets you include power honestly in your costing and see how much high energy prices really add. It is also reassuring for anyone nervous about leaving a printer running overnight: seeing that a long print costs only a few pennies of power takes the worry out of the electricity, leaving fire safety as the thing that actually deserves your attention.

1. Divide the power in watts by 1000 to get kilowatts.
2. Multiply by the print time in hours for kilowatt-hours.
3. Multiply by your electricity price for the cost.
4. The cost per hour is simply the kilowatts times the price.

The key is using the average power over the whole print, since the printer draws less once the bed and hotend are up to temperature.

A printer averages 150 watts and runs for 10 hours, with electricity at 0.30 per kilowatt-hour. That is 0.15 kilowatts times 10 hours, or 1.5 kilowatt-hours. At 0.30 each, the electricity costs 0.45. Each hour of printing therefore costs about 0.045. Over a 100 hour month of printing, the power bill for that machine is around 4.50. Put next to the filament that same machine gets through in a busy month, the power is clearly the smaller line on the bill, but it is real money once a print farm runs several machines around the clock.

Printer Power

Bigger printers and heated chambers draw more, so an enclosed machine costs more to run than an open one.

Print Time

Long prints use proportionally more energy, so slow, tall or detailed parts cost more in power.

Electricity Price

Your unit price varies by region and tariff and directly scales the cost.

Bed and Chamber Temperature

High-temperature filaments keep the bed and chamber hotter, raising the average power draw.

Rough average power and the cost of a 10 hour print at 0.30 per kWh.

A plug-in power meter gives the most accurate average for your own machine and filament.

Costing a Print

Add the power cost to filament and failures for a full print cost.

Running a Print Farm

Estimate the monthly power bill across many hours of printing.

High Energy Prices

See how much a jump in electricity price adds to your printing.

1. Using Rated Power

The label wattage is a peak, not an average; the machine draws less once warm.

2. Ignoring the Heated Bed

The bed is often the biggest power user, especially for large or high-temperature prints.

3. Forgetting the Tariff

Use your real unit price, including any standing differences between day and night rates.

4. Overstating the Cost

For most hobby prints electricity is minor; do not let it dominate a sensible price.

The cost is exact for the power, time and price you enter. Its accuracy depends on using a realistic average power for your machine.

A typical FDM printer averages 100 to 200 watts, so a 10 hour print uses about 1 to 2 kilowatt-hours, costing well under a dollar at common prices.

Multiply the power in kilowatts by the print hours by your unit price. A 150 W printer for 10 hours at 0.30 per kWh costs 0.45.

No, electricity is usually a small part of the cost. Filament dominates for most prints unless energy prices are very high.

Use the average draw, not the label peak. A plug-in power meter gives the best figure; otherwise 120 to 180 W suits most FDM printers.

Yes, the bed is often the biggest single draw, especially for large prints or high-temperature filaments that need a hot bed.

Resin printers are low power, often 40 to 80 watts, so their electricity cost is even smaller than an FDM machine.

Check your energy bill for the unit price per kilowatt-hour. Enter that figure, including tax, for an accurate cost.

No, the per-print maths is the same. Multiply by the number of machines and hours to estimate a farm total.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• Kilowatt hour (Wikipedia).
• Electric power (Wikipedia).
• 3D printing overview (Wikipedia).