3D printers draw surprisingly little power, but long prints add up. Pick your country to load a typical electricity price, enter your printer’s average draw and the print time, and see the energy cost per print and per hour.
About this calculator
Energy cost is printer power (kW) × hours × price per kWh. The calculator preloads a typical residential electricity price for your country, which you can override. Currency and typical prices are auto-detected from your locale and fully editable, so it works whether you’re in the US, UK, Germany, India, Vietnam or anywhere else.
FAQ
What wattage should I use?
A typical bed-slinger averages 80–150 W once the bed is up to temperature; enclosed and large-bed printers can average 150–300 W. ABS/ASA with a hot bed pulls more. Measure with a plug meter for accuracy.
Is the electricity price accurate for my country?
It loads a representative residential average. Prices vary by region, tariff and time of day, so override the field with your own rate for an exact figure.
Does heating the bed dominate?
For hot-bed materials like ABS/ASA/PC, yes — the heated bed is the biggest continuous draw. PLA at 60°C costs noticeably less to run.
Reviewed 2026-08-18. Estimates for planning; verify critical values yourself.