Finding your inputs

Where to find the numbers the calculators ask for: slicer grams and hours, spool price, electricity tariff, printer watts, breaker rating and enclosure size.

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Most inputs come from four places: your slicer’s print summary, the spool label or receipt, your electricity bill, and the printer’s spec sheet or a plug-in energy meter. Below is where each common number lives and which calculator uses it. Most input groups on the calculators carry a short hint too.

From your slicer

Filament grams and print time

Slice the model with your real print settings and open the print summary. It lists the filament used (in grams, meters or both) and the estimated print time. Enter both as shown.

Typical throughput in the hourly rate calculator is slicer grams divided by slicer hours, averaged over the jobs you run most.

Multi-color figures

The multi-color waste calculator takes the filament change count and the purge tower weight from the print summary, and the flush volume from the slicer’s flushing or purging volumes table. Model grams are the filament in the part alone.

From the spool

Spool price and filament weight

Use the price on your receipt. The spool label gives the net filament weight, usually 1,000 g, which excludes the reel.

The calculators take price in two forms:

Calculator Field What to enter
Print cost Spool price, filament per spool The price and the label’s net grams
Failed print cost, printer hourly rate, multi-color waste Price per kg Spool price divided by net weight in kg

A $25 spool holding 750 g is $33.33 per kg.

Filament left on a spool

Weigh the spool, then weigh an empty spool of the same brand and size. The filament length to weight converter subtracts one from the other and tells you whether the next print fits.

From your electricity bill

Enter the price you pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh), including delivery charges. If your bill splits the per-kWh price into supply (or generation) and delivery (or distribution) lines, add every line billed per kWh. Leave out fixed monthly charges, which stay the same however much you print.

If your tariff has tiers or time-of-use rates, use the rate that applies when your printer runs. The same field appears on the print cost, failed print, hourly rate, electricity cost and chamber heater calculators.

From the printer

Printer wattage

The calculators ask for two different wattages. Check which one a field wants.

  • Average draw is what you pay for. The print cost, failed print, hourly rate and electricity cost calculators want this. Measure it with a plug-in energy meter or a smart plug with energy monitoring: run a typical print from a cold start and read the average watts, or the kWh counter at the end. The electricity cost calculator accepts either reading directly.
  • Maximum or peak power is what the circuit sees during warm-up. The circuit capacity calculator wants this. Read “max power” or “rated power” from the spec sheet or the nameplate on the printer, for the voltage you run it on. If the label gives amps instead, multiply amps by volts.

The power supply’s rating is neither. It is a ceiling, and the average sits far below it because the heaters cycle.

Component watts for an estimate

Without a meter, the electricity cost calculator’s estimate method asks for the rated watts of the heated bed and hotend heater, from the printer’s or the part’s spec sheet.

From your electrical panel

The breaker rating (15, 20 or 30 A) is stamped on the breaker handle. The circuit capacity calculator also needs the voltage. A standard North American household outlet is 120 V (NEMA 5), and a 240 V outlet (NEMA 6) has horizontal blades.

List every device plugged into outlets on the same breaker, not only the printer’s outlet. If the panel directory is missing or unclear, a licensed electrician can identify which outlets share a circuit.

From your enclosure

The chamber heater calculator needs:

  • Inside dimensions of the heated space (width, depth and height) in inches or millimeters.
  • Panel thickness in millimeters. Measure an edge with calipers: 1/8 in is 3.2 mm.
  • Foam thickness and coverage, if you insulated the walls. Coverage is the share of wall area under foam. Doors and windows usually stay clear.
  • Printer and frame mass in kilograms. Weigh the printer or use the shipping weight the maker lists.

From your own records

Some inputs exist only in your own logs: failure rate (failed prints divided by prints started), hands-on minutes per print, and your labor rate. The failed print cost calculator’s explainer shows a simple log layout. A failure rate needs at least a few dozen logged prints before it means much.

FAQ

Short answers about this part of the calculators

Which electricity price should I use if my bill splits supply and delivery?
Add every charge billed per kWh, supply and delivery together. Leave out fixed monthly charges, which do not change with how much you print.
Should I use my printer's rated wattage or its average draw?
Use the average draw for cost calculators and the maximum or peak power for the circuit capacity calculator. The rating on the power supply is a ceiling, not an average.
The print cost calculator asks for a spool price but others ask for price per kg. Why?
The print cost calculator divides the spool price by the filament on the spool for you. The failed print, hourly rate and multi-color waste calculators want the price per kilogram, which is the spool price divided by its net weight in kg.
What if my slicer reports filament in meters, not grams?
Convert it with the filament length to weight converter, using the density from your spool's data sheet.