3D printer electricity cost is watts divided by 1,000, times print hours, times your price per kWh. At the 2026 US residential average of 18.31 cents per kWh, a printer drawing 80 W costs about 1.5 cents an hour. Take watts from a plug-in meter and treat a maker's maximum rating as a ceiling.
You need three numbers: the printer's average power in watts, how long the print runs, and what you pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh). This guide shows the formula, uses power figures the printer makers publish, and explains how to measure your own. It is research-based and uses published specifications; it is not a measurement of any particular printer by us.
If you only read one thing. Cost = (average watts / 1,000) x print hours x price per kWh. Take the price from your bill, take the watts from a plug-in meter if you can, and treat a maker's maximum rating as an upper limit.
The formula
Electricity is billed in kWh: one kilowatt (1,000 watts) used for one hour.
- Convert watts to kilowatts: kW = watts / 1,000.
- Find the energy used: kWh = kW x hours.
- Multiply by your rate: cost = kWh x price per kWh.
In one line: cost = (watts / 1,000) x hours x price per kWh. Use your slicer's estimated print time for the hours. If you add the printer's standby draw when idle, count that separately.
What power figures do makers publish?
Makers rarely publish a typical draw. What they do publish falls into two kinds, and mixing them up is the most common mistake.
| Printer | Published figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Original Prusa MK4S | 80 W (PLA settings), 120 W (ABS settings); 240 W power supply | Consumption figures by material setting, the closest to a typical draw |
| Bambu Lab P2S | 200 W steady state while printing PLA; maximum 1200 W at 220 V and 1000 W at 110 V | A steady-state figure for an enclosed printer, plus a maximum reached while the bed heats |
| Bambu Lab A1 | Max power 350 W at 110 V, 1300 W at 220 V; input 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz | A maximum rating, reached only at peak load such as heating |
| Bambu Lab P1S | Maximum 350 W at 110 V and 1000 W at 220 V | A maximum rating, not an average |
| Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra (resin) | 24 V, 6 A power requirement (144 W) | The supply requirement, a ceiling for the printer, not an average |
The Prusa figures are listed on the product page as power consumption for PLA and ABS settings, which differ because bed and nozzle temperatures differ. The Bambu Lab sheets list maximum power, which the P2S sheet pairs with a steady-state PLA figure. The Saturn 4 Ultra figure is the rated input of its power supply (24 V multiplied by 6 A), so a real print should draw less most of the time. These are specification numbers, not measurements from our own testing.
How much does a 3D print cost in electricity?
Very little: a few cents for most prints. The examples use 18 cents per kWh, a round number close to the US residential average of 18.31 cents per kWh that the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported for July 2026 in its Electric Power Monthly (preliminary estimate, released September 24, 2026). Use your own rate instead. The same formula works in any currency.
| Print time | 80 W (kWh / cost) | 120 W (kWh / cost) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | 0.08 kWh / $0.01 | 0.12 kWh / $0.02 |
| 5 hours | 0.40 kWh / $0.07 | 0.60 kWh / $0.11 |
| 10 hours | 0.80 kWh / $0.14 | 1.20 kWh / $0.22 |
| 24 hours | 1.92 kWh / $0.35 | 2.88 kWh / $0.52 |
Worked through for the 10-hour PLA case: 80 W / 1,000 = 0.08 kW; 0.08 x 10 = 0.8 kWh; 0.8 x $0.18 = $0.144, about 14 cents. For the ABS case: 120 / 1,000 = 0.12 kW; 0.12 x 10 = 1.2 kWh; 1.2 x $0.18 = $0.216, about 22 cents.
Even as an upper bound the numbers stay small. The Bambu Lab A1 sheet lists 350 W maximum at 110 V. If a print somehow ran at that maximum for 10 hours, the energy would be 3.5 kWh, or $0.63 at 18 cents, and real prints sit well below the maximum. The resin example is similar: the Saturn 4 Ultra's 144 W supply rating over a 6-hour print would be at most 0.864 kWh, or about 16 cents at 18 cents per kWh.
What rate should you use for 3D printer electricity?
Use the price per kWh on your own bill, excluding fixed charges, since those do not change with printing. Tariffs vary by country, region and supplier, and time-of-use plans charge different rates at different hours, which can matter for long prints. EIA data shows how wide the spread can be: in July 2026 residential prices ranged from 12.72 cents per kWh in Louisiana to 48.00 cents in Hawaii.
What does 3D printer electricity cost in the UK?
The formula is identical and the result is in pounds. For reference, the Ofgem price cap for a Great Britain direct debit customer from 1 October to 31 December 2026 is 26.32p per kWh (unit rate only). At that rate 80 W for 10 hours is 0.8 kWh, or about 21p. The cap changes each quarter, so use the pence-per-kWh figure on your own bill. The running costs guide has a UK table.
How to measure your actual draw
- Plug the printer into a plug-in energy meter (check it is rated for your printer's maximum load).
- Reset the meter, start a typical print and note the kWh at the end.
- Divide kWh by print hours and multiply by 1,000 to get average watts, or simply multiply the kWh by your rate for the actual cost.
- Repeat for different materials. Heated beds, enclosures and chamber heaters change the draw, and ABS-style settings use more than PLA settings.
Other things that change the cost
- Preheat and cooldown. Warm-up time is energy too, and it is a larger share of a short print.
- Enclosure and chamber heating. If your printer has an active chamber heater, include it.
- Idle and standby draw. Leaving a printer on overnight adds up slowly. A smart plug with energy monitoring will show it.
- Dryers, wash stations and curing lights. Filament dryers and resin wash and cure units draw power too. See how to dry filament.
Putting it in context
For most home printers, electricity is a minor share of the cost of a print compared with filament or resin and the printer itself. The cost to run a 3D printer looks at the whole picture, and how much a 3D printer costs covers the purchase side. To add your own numbers, use the print cost calculator. If you are curious how much plastic is behind each print, see how much filament costs.
Related: Cost of one print from filament weight.
