As you’ll discover below, printers can be very energy efficient devices if you select the right type. There is no set power consumption on these devices and it depends on the style or function you are using. Inkjet, laser, scanning, and copies, we’ll discover it all to help you understand power consumption and electricity usage.
Below we will discuss and test printer wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Printer?
An inkjet printer uses between 10 and 50 watts.
A laser printer can use over 250 watts. Below we will discuss inkjet printer power consumption, you can find more information on laser printers here.
The exact number depends on the size, model, and function of your printer. For example, while heating up an inkjet printer can use 50W, and then it will drop to less than 30W when printing.
Of course, the exact numbers vary from printer to printer. Smaller portable devices will consume less power than larger options. Plus power consumption will often be lower when using functions like scanning.
A printer will also use 0.3W – 2W when on standby.
How to Find Out Your Printer Wattage
There’s 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a printer.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the printer’s specification. The watts (W) is usually written on a sticker on the base of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or the manufacturer’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can simply plug it into your printer to get instant information.
I used one to test my Canon inkjet printer which gave a live reading of 21.3W when printing.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your printer you can use this to find the maximum watts. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Printer Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a printer draws. Below is a collection of modern printers with their listed power ratings.
| Printer Model | Printing Consumption (Watts) |
| HP DeskJet 4530 | 27.7 |
| HP ENVY 4510 | 27.7 |
| HP Officejet 4400 | 20 |
| Canon PIXMA iP7250 | 24 |
| Canon TS700 | 23 |
| Epson StylusPro 7600 | 50 |
| Epson EcoTank ET-2850 | 12 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different printers. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Printer Use?
You can use printer wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your printer.
A watt (W) is a measurement of power at a single point in time. A watt-hour is the total amount of electricity used in an hour. For example, a printer drawing 25W would use 25Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 25W printer running for 1 hour uses 0.025kWh.
In reality, you might run a printer for 10 minutes a week (Most things are paperless these days!). This means a printer uses about 4.16Wh or 0.004kWh electricity a week. That’s 0.017kWh a month and 0.214kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $0.03 a year to run an inkjet printer for 10 minutes a week.
Using a Printer Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your printer in an off-grid situation like a power outage, boat, semi-truck, or similar, the information above is important. It enables you to pick the correct power products and know how long everything can run.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to produce AC electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your printer. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient. To print or make a copy, you will need at least 75W of power capacity. This will give you enough capacity without overloading, plus is the smallest size inverter you can find.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the printer for the required amount of time. As we already know, it will use about 25Wh electricity for 1 hour of printing. This is the equivalent to 2Ah on a 12V battery.
How Many Watts Does a Printer Use Summary
I hope you now have a clear understanding of how many watts a printer uses.
As you discovered, an inkjet printer doesn’t use much power at all. In fact, most models use less than 30W when printing. Plus you should be aware that your device will consume energy when left in standby mode. So it’s wise to do all your printing at once and then shut off the device completely. You could also use an inkjet printer off-grid with a small power inverter and battery.
