Anycubic Photon Mono 4 Resin 3D Printer
A resin 3d printer, a detail-focused choice for miniatures and detailed models.
Do 3D Printers Use a Lot of Electricity?
If you're printing for hours at a time, it's natural to wonder about the electricity bill. The good news is that home 3D printers are fairly economical. Here's the picture.
Quick answer
No, most home 3D printers use relatively little electricity - roughly on a par with a lightbulb or a laptop while running, because the heaters cycle on and off rather than drawing full power the whole time. A typical print costs only a few pence to a few tens of pence in energy.
How much they draw
An FDM printer's biggest power user is the heated bed, with the hotend and motors adding a little more. Once up to temperature, the heaters switch on and off to hold the setting rather than running flat out, so the average draw over a print is well below the peak. Resin printers use even less, mainly for the UV screen and motor.
What a print costs
The actual cost depends on the printer's wattage, how long the print runs and your electricity tariff, so check your machine's power rating for a precise figure. As a rough guide, most prints cost only a small amount in electricity - filament is usually the bigger running cost than power.
Reducing it
An enclosure helps the printer hold heat so the bed heater cycles less, printing at sensible temperatures avoids waste, and batching several models into one print run is more efficient than many separate heat-ups.
Our top picks
#1
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Creality Ender 5 Max 3D Printer
A FDM 3d printer (700 mm/s), a versatile choice for everyday printing.
#3 
Elegoo EU-EHJ-3DL-S4U Saturn 4 Ultra Resin 3D Printer
A resin 3d printer, a detail-focused choice for miniatures and detailed models.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a 3D printer?
Usually only a few pence to a few tens of pence per print, depending on the wattage, print length and your tariff. Filament typically costs more than the electricity.
Do 3D printers use more electricity than an oven?
No - a 3D printer draws far less than an oven. Even on long prints, the heaters cycle on and off, so the average power use is modest.
Is it expensive to 3D print at home?
Not really. Electricity per print is small; the main ongoing cost is filament or resin. Overall, home 3D printing is inexpensive to run.
Bottom line
Our top pick is the Anycubic Photon Mono 4 Resin 3D Printer (our score 9.6/10) - A resin 3d printer, a detail-focused choice for miniatures and detailed models..