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How Much Does It Cost to Run a Printer (Inkjet or Laser)? (2026)
Inkjet printers draw 10 to 30 watts while printing. Laser printers spike to 400 to 600 watts to heat the fuser, then drop to a few watts in sleep. Standby draw matters more than printing for most home users.
A typical printer (inkjet or laser) (30 W) costs $0.005 per hour, or about $0.081 per month at 0.5 hours a day in United States (average). Cheap to run
| Wattage | Per hour | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (10 W) | $0.002 | $0.001 | $0.027 | $0.33 |
| Typical (30 W) | $0.005 | $0.003 | $0.081 | $0.99 |
| High (600 W) | $0.11 | $0.054 | $1.62 | $19.71 |
Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 0.5 h/day ≈ 5 kWh per year.
How to lower the cost of running a printer (inkjet or laser)
- Enable sleep mode with a short timeout.
- Use a smart plug to cut power entirely overnight if the printer is used rarely.
- Print in batches so a laser printer warms up once.
In standby it draws about 3 W, which adds roughly 26 kWh ($4.73) per year if it is never unplugged.
Frequently asked questions
Does a printer use a lot of electricity when idle?
Around 2 to 5 watts in sleep, roughly 20 to 40 kWh a year if never switched off.
Is a laser printer more expensive to run than inkjet?
Per page it uses more electricity for the fuser, but ink costs usually dwarf electricity for both.
How much does it cost to print a page?
Electricity is negligible per page. Toner or ink is the real cost.
Cost by region
- United States (average)
- California
- Texas
- New York
- Florida
- Canada (average)
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- France
- Australia
- India