3D Printer Cost per Hour Calculator
A printer-hour is only useful when its included costs are explicit. Enter one representative print and this calculator converts material, power, wear, failure allowance, and labour into a modeled hourly rate.
Result
- Material per printer-hour—
- Electricity per printer-hour—
- Machine wear per printer-hour—
- Allocated labour per printer-hour—
- Failure allowance per printer-hour—
- Modeled cost of this job—
3D printer cost per hour: a worked example
Using the defaults above — a $25/kg spool, 80 g, 6-hour print, 120 W average draw, $0.17/kWh electricity, a $300 printer spread over 5,000 printing hours, 15 minutes of labour at $20/hour, and an 8% failure allowance — the modeled job costs about $8.08. Divide by six occupied hours and the modeled rate is about $1.35 per printer-hour.
| Component | Job cost | Per printer-hour |
|---|---|---|
| Filament | $2.00 | $0.33 |
| Electricity | $0.12 | $0.02 |
| Machine wear | $0.36 | $0.06 |
| Labour | $5.00 | $0.83 |
| Failure allowance | $0.60 | $0.10 |
| Total | $8.08 | $1.35 |
Machine hourly cost versus all-in hourly cost
Machine hourly cost usually means electricity plus depreciation and maintenance. All-in hourly cost also allocates material, failures, and hands-on labour. Use the all-in number when comparing products or quoting work; use the machine-only components when deciding whether another printer can pay for itself.
Use measured power and your actual electricity rate
Power varies with bed temperature, material, enclosure, and printer design. Prusa's manufacturer FAQ publishes model-specific consumption examples, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes current residential electricity prices by state. A plug-in energy meter and your own utility bill are better than any generic default.
How it's calculated
First calculate the job cost: filament price per gram × grams, plus kWh × electricity rate, printer cost ÷ useful hours × print time, and hands-on minutes × labour rate. Apply the failure allowance, then divide the all-in job cost by occupied print hours.
- Useful printer life is a planning input, not a manufacturer guarantee.
- Labour is allocated across machine hours for comparison; it does not mean you attend the printer continuously.
- Average power draw matters more than the printer's peak power rating.
- Maintenance parts, replacement consumables, software, rent, taxes, and other business overhead are excluded unless you allocate them through another input before using the result.
FAQ
How much does it cost to run a 3D printer per hour?
Should labour be included in printer cost per hour?
Is printer wattage the same as power consumption?
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