Analysis of 3D-Printer Power Consumption Using Creality CR-10. TL;DR: 24/7 Operation = 2¢/Hour | #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Rob Cockerham has an interesting analysis of the power demands of his CR-10 3D-printer – when only the fans are running, when the nozzle is operating at 185°C, the heating bed is maintained at 45°C, and while the printer is operating on 2 axes.

The power use of a 3D printer is complex. The CR-10 is a loud machine, which can make it seem as though it is using a lot of energy. However, its main power draw is its heated printing bed.

Below I’ve illustrated some of the phases of a print job, and the power use I measured during those phases.

Read more.

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!