3D printer electricity cost per hour: the math and a table
Average draw and peak: the two numbers on a printer
A 3D printer has two power figures, and only one of them drives your electric bill.
- Maximum power is the one on the spec sheet. Bambu Lab, for example, lists 350 W at 110 V for the P1S, X1C and A1, and 1,000 to 1,300 W for the same printers at 220 V. US outlets fall in the low-voltage range. The peak shows up at the start, when the heated bed pulls everything it can to reach temperature.
- Average power is what the printer uses over the whole print. Once the bed and nozzle are hot, they switch on and off to hold temperature, and the average drops to around 100 W for a desktop printer running PLA.
Your utility bills energy, in kWh, and the average is what sets it. The peak barely registers: suppose 10 minutes at 350 W. That is 350 W × 10/60 h = 58 Wh, or 0.058 kWh, about 1 cent at $0.17 per kWh.
The peak matters for something else: the outlet, extension cord, power strip and UPS have to handle the maximum power. The printing average is another story: for the P2S and X2D, Bambu Lab lists the same PLA draw at 110 V and 220 V.
How much each type of machine draws
Manufacturers measure average draw under stated conditions and publish the result. The table puts those figures together by type of machine and material.
| Machine | Averages published by the manufacturer | What changes the draw |
|---|---|---|
| Open frame, PLA | Bambu Lab A1 mini: 80 W; A1: 95 W; Prusa MK series: 80 W | Bed size and temperature, room temperature |
| Open frame, ABS (bed at 90–110 °C) | Prusa MK series: 120 W; Bambu Lab P1P: 170 W; A1: 200 W | Without a cover, the hot bed loses more heat |
| Enclosed (CoreXY), ABS | Bambu Lab P1S: 140 W; X1C: 150 W | The enclosure keeps the bed's heat in |
| Enclosed with a heated chamber | Bambu Lab X1E: 260 W with ABS; H2D: 395 W with PC | Chamber and material temperature |
| Resin (MSLA) | Prusa SL1: 25 W while stirring and 60 W while exposing; SL1S: about 100 W | Vat heater, screen size and UV light |
| Filament dryer | Bambu Lab AMS 2 Pro drying: 80 W; AMS HT drying: 170 W | Drying temperature, number of spools, room |
| Resin wash and cure station | Anycubic Wash & Cure 3 Plus: 36 W; Elegoo Mercury Plus: 48 W (spec sheet power) | Runs a few minutes per print |
Sources, checked November 2026: Bambu Lab wiki, Prusa FAQ (MK series, room at 26 °C), Prusa article on UPS backup (SL1), SL1S product page and the Anycubic and Elegoo spec sheets.
Three things the table shows:
- An enclosure saves power. The P1P and P1S are the same machine without and with an enclosure. With ABS, Bambu Lab measures 170 W open and 140 W enclosed.
- Material is not everything. On the A1 mini, PETG measured 75 W, below the 80 W for PLA. That is why it pays to measure with your own material and profile.
- A cold room asks for more. Prusa measured with the room at 26 °C (79 °F). In a cold garage or a drafty spot, the bed loses more heat and the heaters stay on longer.
Bambu Lab's figures were measured on short prints, 15 to 23 minutes long, heat-up included. To know what your machine draws in your room, measure it.
How to measure it with a plug-in meter
A plug-in energy meter, between the wall and the printer, shows the energy used in kWh. It is the most direct way to get your own number.
- Check the meter's rating. It has to handle the printer's maximum power, which is in the manual or on the spec sheet.
- Reset the kWh counter with the printer cold.
- Run a typical print from start to finish, with the heat-up inside the measurement.
- Write down the kWh and the duration. Average power is kWh ÷ hours × 1,000. Suppose 0.62 kWh over 5 h 30 min: 0.62 ÷ 5.5 × 1,000 = 113 W.
- Repeat for each material and printer you use often.
Do not use the watts shown on the meter at any given moment: that number jumps up and down as the heaters cycle. The kWh total is what counts. If the dryer or an exhaust fan is plugged into the same meter, they are already in the total; do not add them again.
In the calculator, the Calculate using a bill or meter helper in the Energy section takes the energy measured at the plug and the duration and fills in the average power.
The kWh math, with an example
kWh = average power in W ÷ 1,000 × print hours
electricity cost = kWh × price per kWh
Suppose a 10-hour print at 120 W, the calculator's starting average, with power at $0.17 per kWh:
- 120 W ÷ 1,000 × 10 h = 1.2 kWh.
- 1.2 kWh × $0.17 = $0.20.
Your price per kWh depends on your utility and your state. The US average residential price was 18.16 cents per kWh in August 2026, from under 13 cents in the cheapest state to over 47 cents in Hawaii (EIA, preliminary data, checked November 2026). At Hawaii's rate, the same 10-hour print costs about $0.57. To find yours, divide the usage charges on your bill (supply and delivery per kWh, plus taxes) by the kWh used on the same bill. Leave out fixed monthly fees, which you pay whether you print or not. The same helper in the Energy section does that division.
How much electricity your print uses
This print
Energy used
Per month (30 days)
Calculated in your browser, with the same formulas as the calculator.
What a print of 1 to 100 hours costs
| Duration | 80 W (A1 mini, PLA) | 120 W (calculator default) | 200 W (A1, ABS) | 50 W (resin default) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 h | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.03 | $0.01 |
| 4 h | $0.05 | $0.08 | $0.14 | $0.03 |
| 8 h | $0.11 | $0.16 | $0.27 | $0.07 |
| 12 h | $0.16 | $0.24 | $0.41 | $0.10 |
| 24 h | $0.33 | $0.49 | $0.82 | $0.20 |
| 100 h | $1.36 | $2.04 | $3.40 | $0.85 |
Math examples, not measurements: power at $0.17 per kWh and the average draw in each column header. Swap in your own rate.
Even a busy month with 100 hours of printing at 120 W adds up to 12 kWh and $2.04. In the example in the guide to 3D printer cost per hour, electricity is the smallest part of the machine rate: wear on a $600 printer costs about five times what it spends on power.
What else shows up on the electric bill
- A printer left on and idle. Bambu Lab lists 5.2 to 6 W on standby for the P1S and about 25 to 27 W for the H2D. Left on for a whole month (720 h), 6 W adds up to 4.3 kWh, or $0.73; 27 W adds up to 19.4 kWh, or $3.30.
- A filament dryer. It can run for hours before the print starts. Suppose 6 hours at 80 W: 0.48 kWh, about $0.08.
- Exhaust fan, lights, camera and computer running during the print.
- For resin, the wash and cure station, a few minutes per print.
In the calculator, the Other equipment running field adds a dryer, exhaust fan or heated chamber to the printer's power. For resin, the wash and cure station has its own field.
Frequently asked questions
Does 120 V or 240 V change how much it costs to run?
The average barely changes: Bambu Lab lists the same PLA draw at 110 V and 220 V for the P2S and X2D. What changes is the heat-up peak: for the P1S, Bambu Lab lists a 350 W maximum at 110 V and 1,000 W at 220 V, and with less power the bed takes longer to heat. Your utility bills kWh, not volts.
Is it worth switching the printer off between prints?
Between prints on the same day, the difference is fractions of a cent. If it will sit for days, switching it off saves from about $0.70 to $3.30 a month, depending on the model's standby draw. Check your model's figure in the manufacturer's table or measure it with a plug-in meter.
Does printing faster use less electricity?
Per part, it tends to use less, because the bed and nozzle stay hot for fewer hours. The average in watts may rise a little with a hotter nozzle and stronger fans, but energy is average × hours. To be sure on your machine, measure the same part with both profiles on a plug-in meter.
With solar panels, is printing free?
No. With grid-tied solar, every kWh the printer uses is a kWh you do not send to the grid for credit or do not offset on your bill. For costing, use your utility's price per kWh, as if you were buying the power.
Why does the reading on the meter keep going up and down?
Because the bed and nozzle are not on all the time: when they reach temperature, they switch off, and when they cool a little, they switch on again. That is why an instant reading is misleading. Use the kWh total for a whole print and divide it by the hours.