Print cost calculator for resin (MSLA) printers
MSLA resin printers — Elegoo Saturn and Mars, Anycubic Photon Mono, Phrozen Sonic — expose a whole layer at once through an LCD screen. They use little electricity and print at the same speed no matter how many parts are on the plate.
- File
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- Size (X × Y × Z)
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- Volume
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- Surface area
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- Triangles
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- Mesh check
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- Build volume
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Cost estimate
| Cost | How | Amount | Share |
|---|
Printer, time & electricity
Labor, failures & markup
Running cost at a glance
| Examples | Elegoo Saturn / Mars, Anycubic Photon Mono, Phrozen Sonic Mini |
|---|---|
| Average power | ≈ 60 W (0.06 kWh per hour) |
| Electricity per hour | $0.01 at $0.18/kWh · $0.02 at $0.35/kWh |
| Machine wear | $0.25 per hour |
| Typical build volume | 218 × 123 × 250 mm |
| Speed assumption | 7 s per 0.05 mm layer |
Example prints on a resin msla
Standard resin, solid with 15% supports, $30.00/kg, $0.18/kWh and a 10% failure buffer:
| Model | Weight | Time | Electricity | Machine | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mm calibration cube | 10.6 g | 53 min | $0.01 | $0.22 | $0.60 |
| 50 mm sphere | 86.5 g | 2 h 03 min | $0.02 | $0.51 | $3.44 |
| 70 mm twisted planter (sample) | 63.8 g | 2 h 49 min | $0.03 | $0.71 | $2.92 |
| 50 mm ring (torus) | 13.0 g | 29 min | $0.01 | $0.12 | $0.57 |
| 100 × 100 × 3 mm plate | 39.7 g | 13 min | $0.00 | $0.05 | $1.37 |
A resin printer draws around 40–80 W while printing; the calculator uses 60 W. Electricity is rarely more than a few cents per print. The real costs are resin, supports and consumables: FEP or ACF film, LCD screens that wear out after a few thousand hours, isopropyl alcohol and gloves.
Print time depends on height: with 0.05 mm layers and about 7 seconds per layer (exposure plus lift), a 50 mm tall model takes roughly two hours whether it is one miniature or a full plate. That is why the cost per part falls sharply when you batch prints.
Machine wear for resin printers is mostly the LCD screen and film. A $300 printer with a $60 screen replaced every 2,000 hours and $40 of film per year works out to about $0.20–0.30 per hour — the calculator uses $0.25.
Learn more in how much electricity a 3D printer uses and how to calculate 3D printing cost.
FAQ
How much electricity does a resin msla use?
About 60 W on average while printing (40–80 W depending on model and settings), or 0.06 kWh per hour — about $0.01 per hour at $0.18 per kWh.
What does it cost per hour to run a resin msla?
About $0.26 per hour: $0.01 of electricity plus $0.25 of machine wear and depreciation, before material and labor.
What size parts fit on a resin msla?
Typical build volumes are around 218 × 123 × 250 mm. The calculator warns you when a model is too big and shows the largest scale that fits.