7

!rant
Eletronics question.
Hey guys.
Question here.
How do I calculate the cost of a machine in power consumed?
Like, my 3D printer has a 40A power suply, how could I calculate to get a € value from it?
Thanks

Comments
  • 2
    40A x 110v = 4400W
    But that's probably the peak power consumption, not the usual. You should have a better estimative in the printer manual.
  • 0
    Oh, and to convert W to money spent, first multiply the number of hours the equipment operated (in a month, usually) to have Watt-hour, and divide by 1000 to have the amount of kWh.
    Then just multiply by the cost of the kWh you're paying.
  • 0
    @davenall that's cheap, I'm paying around twice that.
  • 2
    @lucaspar I highly doubt it's 40A at the input, much more likely to be a 5V supply at 40A which equates to 200W
  • 0
    @lucaspar well depends on country we got here 230V
  • 0
    @milkybarkid yes, that could be the case. Op should check his power supply for voltage values.
  • 0
    Sorry, babysitting day.

    So, 30A x 220V = 6600W = 6.6 KWh , that's the maximum amount it takes (I think the power suply consumes less when Idle? Or is it always eating the 30A?)
    Now I just need to find the price in my area.
    The price is €0,1634 (€/kWh) ...
    6.6 x 0,1634 = €1.08 . Is this my cost per hour?
  • 0
    I checked the same yesterday. Used 24W, 1kWh was €0.25 so it was around 30 euro a year.

    Heated beds are about 200W
  • 0
    @GyroGearloose check the voltage of your supply, it's probably not 220v. Other than that, that'd be the peak consumption per hour.
  • 0
    You should check the adapeter u can see there uotput voltage and also ampers these two values u need to multiply and u can count only the max power from it also u need count the loss. For examle 10v 40A is 400W this is the max your device use but this value is higher bcos adapters not convert it 1:1
  • 0
    @ivrat thanks for bringing up the power loss, but that's useful for the peak consumption only. The usual power drain will be lower than the maximum. Therefore, even with some loss, the average consumed energy will be lower than the nominal (400W in your example).
  • 0
    @lucaspar So... The In V is 220V and out is 12V. Should I calculate with the 12V?
  • 0
    Btw how do I check/ calculate the Amps with the multimeter?
  • 0
    @GyroGearloose yes, do it with the 12v, because it's the voltage you're actually using. To measure current your multimeter has to be part of the circuit (all consumed charge should pass through it and back to the equipment). i.e. place it in series / in-line with the circuit.
  • 0
    @lucaspar Er... how do I do that?
  • 0
    @GyroGearloose didn't you say it is 40A? You can use this number instead of measuring it. If you choose to measure however, you'll likely have to cut some wires to place the multimeter in the circuit.
  • 0
    @lucaspar Ohhh that's to much for me....
    it's 30A, not 40A sorry

    So I must calc
    30A x 12V = 360W = 0.36KWh
    0.36KWh x €0.1634 = €0.058824 /h
  • 0
    @GyroGearloose seems about right. Remembering this is the peak consumption, so the average is likely to be lower, even with some waste taken into account.
  • 0
    @lucaspar yes searching for such information.
    Found a low quality video with a voltimeter that shows the average W, max 160-180
    So, I would say, €0.06 at peak, €0.03 average cost per hour.
    A lot less than I expected.
  • 1
    Get yourself a smart meter.
  • 1
    @Haxk20 haha, I rather pay a bit more and have a good infrastructure then pay less and live in America
  • 1
    @davenall nope? Its running fine
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