How much does it cost to run a home office multifunction printer?
A typical home office multifunction printer draws about 350 watts. Used 2 hours a day, that works out to roughly $0.12 per day, $2.48 per month, and $29.75 per year on an average electricity rate of 17¢ per kWh. Office printers consume energy while printing and in standby mode, with duty cycles varying widely based on work frequency.
Home Office Multifunction Printer running cost calculator
- Per day
- $0.12
- Per month
- $2.48
- Per year
- $29.75
- CO₂ / year
- 70 kg
Based on 175 kWh per year. Adjust the price per kWh to match your latest electricity bill for an exact figure.
The number that matters most is your own electricity rate. Rates range from under 11¢ per kWh in some regions to over 30¢ in others, so the same home office multifunction printer can cost two or three times as much depending on where you live. Enter your exact rate in the calculator above to get a figure tailored to your bill.
As a office device, the home office multifunction printer sits in the middle of most household energy budgets. The number that moves your bill is total run time, so the usage hours in the calculator above matter as much as the wattage.
At 350 watts, the home office multifunction printer is a low-power device, so its cost per hour is small. The annual total only becomes meaningful if it runs for many hours a day — which is exactly why long-running low-wattage devices are easy to overlook on a bill.
Over a full year this home office multifunction printer uses about 175 kWh of electricity and is responsible for roughly 70 kg of CO₂ emissions on an average grid. Since it is used only part of the year, your real footprint scales with the season — the annual figure assumes a typical usage pattern.
To put the draw in everyday terms, one hour of running this home office multifunction printer uses about as much electricity as charging a smartphone 29 times. It is a rough comparison, but it makes an abstract wattage figure easier to picture.
If this home office multifunction printer is one you use daily, even small efficiency gains compound. Cutting its usage or wattage by 20% would save around $5.95 every year — money that an efficient replacement can recover over its lifetime.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to run a home office multifunction printer per hour?
- At 350 watts and a 17¢/kWh rate, a home office multifunction printer costs about $0.06 per hour to run.
- How much electricity does a home office multifunction printer use per month?
- Running 2 hours a day, a home office multifunction printer uses roughly 14.6 kWh per month, costing about $2.48.
- How many kWh does a home office multifunction printer use per year?
- Used 2 hours a day for 250 days a year, a home office multifunction printer consumes about 175 kWh annually — that is the figure your electricity rate is multiplied by to get the $29.75 yearly cost.
- Is a home office multifunction printer expensive to run?
- Not particularly — at around $29.75 per year, a home office multifunction printer is a relatively minor part of most electricity bills.
- How much CO₂ does a home office multifunction printer produce?
- On an average grid, a home office multifunction printer used this much is responsible for roughly 70 kg of CO₂ per year. The exact figure depends on how clean your local electricity supply is.
- How can I reduce my home office multifunction printer running costs?
- Use it during off-peak hours if your utility offers time-of-use pricing, reduce daily run time, and consider an ENERGY STAR rated home office multifunction printer, which uses less power for the same job.