Electricity cost calculator
A desktop printer draws far less than most people guess, but hours add up. Enter the printer's average draw and your electricity rate: the math is instant.
Enter the printer's draw in watts.
Typical: bed-slinger FDM 100–150 W, enclosed/high-speed 130–250 W, MSLA resin 40–80 W. Heated-bed warmup spikes higher, but the printing average is what matters.
Enter your price per kWh.
Enter the print time in hours.
This print
How the math works
Energy is power × time: a 120 W printer running for 3 hours uses 0.36 kWh. Multiply by your rate (say $0.17/kWh) and that print cost about 6 cents of electricity. The monthly figure assumes your weekly printing pace, averaged over 4.35 weeks. Warmup draws more for a few minutes and idling draws less; an average printing draw is accurate within a few percent.
Related: the full print cost calculator (filament + electricity + machine wear), the filament calculator, and what a 3D print really costs.