PLA filament cost for a 20 g print
| Filament20 g at $15/kg | $0.3 |
|---|---|
| Waste (5%)purge, skirt, supports, the odd failed print | $0.01 |
| Electricity0.12 kWh at $0.15/kWh, 120 W average | $0.02 |
| Total | $0.33 |
| Filament length1.75 mm filament | 6.7m |
| VolumePLA at 1.24 g/cm³ | 16.1cm³ |
| Share of a 1 kg spool50 prints per spool | 2% |
| Print conditions | 60 °C bed, no enclosure |
Notes
- Electricity is 5% of the total here, which is usually a surprise. On long prints of cheap filament it stops being a rounding error — a 40 hour print costs about $0.72 to run at $0.15/kWh.
- This is material cost, not price. Selling a print means adding machine depreciation, failed prints beyond the 5% here, post-processing time and your own labour. A common shop rule is material × 3 as a floor, and that still undercharges for anything with supports to remove.
- Density is doing real work in this calculation. The same object in PLA weighs 0% more than in PLA, so switching material changes the cost even at the same price per kilo.
- $0.15/kWh is a US household average. Multiply the electricity line through for your own rate — parts of Europe run three times this, and it changes which prints are worth running at all.
What it costs to make
20 g of PLA at $15/kg is $0.3 of filament — 6.7 m off the spool, 16.1 cm³ of plastic, and 2% of a 1 kg roll.
Add 0.12 kWh of electricity over 1 hours and a 5% allowance for purge, skirt, supports and the occasional failure, and the print costs $0.33.
Electricity stops being a rounding error
It is $0.02 here. On a long print of cheap filament the power bill can approach the material cost, which surprises people who have only ever thought about spool price. A 48 hour print draws about as much as leaving a bright bulb on for two days.
Density is doing real work
PLA is 1.24 g/cm³. The same object printed in a denser material weighs more and therefore costs more at the same price per kilo — comparing materials on $/kg alone hides that.
Material cost is not a price
If you are selling prints, this number is the floor and not the answer. Machine depreciation, failed prints beyond the 5% allowed here, post-processing and your own time all sit on top. A common shop rule is material × 3, and even that undercharges for anything with supports to clean off.
Nearby sizes
Read more
- How Much Filament a Print Uses — The Slicer Knows, and It Rounds DownThe estimate on screen is for the part. What leaves the spool includes the priming line, the purge tower and the print that failed at hour nine.
- PETG Overhangs — More Fan Than You Think, Less Than PLAPETG at zero fan bridges badly and droops. PETG at 100% delaminates. The useful setting is in between and it is narrower than PLA's.
- Part Cooling for PLA — 100% Is Right, Except When It Is NotThe same fan setting that gives clean overhangs gives weak layers. There is no setting that does both, which is why it is a per-part decision.
- Wet Filament — Popping, Steam, and a Surface That Went Rough OvernightA spool that printed perfectly last month and produces rough, weak parts today has not changed chemically. It has absorbed water.