3D Printing Cost per Hour Calculator
Estimate the operating cost of one FDM printer-hour from your actual printer price, lifetime printing hours, power draw and energy tariff. This is an hourly operating-cost calculator, not the price a shop charges its customers.
Your results
These are estimates based on your supplied inputs, not measured usage or current market prices.
Calculation formula
Machine allocation per hour = printer purchase cost ÷ assumed usable printing hours. Electricity per hour = average watts ÷ 1,000 × electricity price per kWh. Add maintenance allowance and active operator minutes ÷ 60 × hourly pay. This estimate does not claim an observed power draw.
Worked example
120 W ÷ 1,000 × $0.18/kWh = $0.0216 per hour
Total = $0.1216 per hour without maintenance or active labor
If you enter $0.05 of maintenance reserve and 10 minutes of active operator time at $15/hour, the result becomes $2.6716 per printer-hour under those assumptions. In practice the active operator time may occur mainly at setup rather than every machine hour.
Why a machine-hour estimate is not your sales price
A shop may charge a much higher hourly rate because it must recover materials, setup, failed jobs, equipment downtime, facility costs and profit. An operating-cost calculator does not set those service prices for you. Read the seller pricing guide before using this number in a customer quote.
Use measured average wattage where possible
A printer rated for a high peak wattage may use much less power after warm-up. If your printer reports power consumption or you have a trustworthy meter, use the measured average during a representative print instead of its peak power supply rating.
Maintenance and unattended time
The useful-life calculation is a budgeting assumption, not a warranty claim. Add maintenance only if those costs are not already included in your model. Keep unattended machine time separate from hands-on human time.
Explore related tools and calculation assumptions
See the complete methodology for the models, exclusions and source code.
Estimate filament cost per gram and per item, then combine all expenses in the complete 3D printing cost calculator.