Nozzle Notes

3D print cost calculator

Put in the numbers from your slicer and your electricity bill. The defaults are illustrative starting points, so swap in your own.

USD per kg

The price of the spool divided by its weight in kg.

grams

From your slicer estimate (model plus supports).

%

Purge, brims and the odd failed print. 5-15% is a sensible start.

hours

Also from the slicer. 90 minutes is 1.5.

watts

Averaged over a whole print. Measure yours with a plug-in energy monitor.

cents per kWh

The unit rate on your bill, not the standing charge. The starting value is only illustrative.

cents per hour

Nozzles, belts and build plates. Leave at 0 to ignore.

Cost of this print

$2.30

$2.30 per 100 g of finished part

Filament
$2.20
Electricity
$0.10
Wear
$0.00
Filament used (with waste)
110 g
Energy used
0.60 kWh

How the maths works

Filament is the part weight plus your waste allowance, divided by 1,000, times the price per kilo. Electricity is average watts divided by 1,000, times hours, times your unit rate. Wear is optional: a per-hour allowance for nozzles, belts and build plates. The total is the three added together.

For a worked example and what to include (and ignore), read how much it costs to run a 3D printer in the UK.

Frequently asked questions

How much electricity does a 3D printer use?

It depends on the printer and the material, because heated beds and enclosures draw the most power. Averaged over a whole print it is often somewhere around 80 to 200 watts. The reliable way to know is to put a plug-in energy monitor on yours for one print.

Is filament or electricity the bigger cost?

For most home printing, filament. A 100 g part from a $20-a-kilo spool costs about $2 in plastic, while five hours at 120 W on a 17 cents-per-kWh rate is roughly 10 cents of electricity. Long prints on a hot enclosed printer shift the balance, but rarely by enough to overtake the plastic.

What should I put for the waste allowance?

Waste covers purge and priming, brims, and the occasional failed print. Five to fifteen per cent is a sensible start. If you print a lot of multi-colour parts, purge can push it higher, so check your own spool-to-part ratio over a few weeks.