The same costing model in pounds sterling — filament at UK prices, electricity in pence per kWh, and a selling price for the UK market.
| Material cost | — |
| Electricity cost | — |
| Machine wear | — |
| Your time | — |
| Failure allowance | — |
| True cost per part | — |
| Suggested selling price | — |
Two things differ: the currency and the electricity price. UK unit rates are quoted in pence per kilowatt-hour and have moved considerably in recent years, so a calculator that assumes a US rate will give you a number that is wrong by a wide margin. Filament is also priced differently in the UK market, and spools are usually sold in 1 kg reels at sterling prices rather than converted from dollar pricing.
material cost = (grams ÷ 1000) × £ per kg electricity = (watts ÷ 1000) × hours × (pence per kWh ÷ 100) true cost = material + power + wear + labour + failure allowance selling price = true cost × (1 + margin ÷ 100)
Worked example: 120 g of PETG at £18/kg is £2.16. A 150 W printer for six hours at 24p/kWh is £0.22. Add £1.20 of wear, £4 of your time and an 8% failure allowance and the true cost comes to roughly £7.85. At a 60% margin that part should sell for about £12.60.
| Material | Typical UK price | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | £14 – £22 / kg | Widely stocked; the cheapest option for most prints. |
| PETG | £16 – £24 / kg | Better heat resistance than PLA. |
| ABS | £15 – £23 / kg | Needs enclosure and ventilation. |
| TPU | £25 – £38 / kg | Slower printing raises the power cost per part. |
| Nylon | £30 – £48 / kg | Dry it before printing or budget for failures. |
| Resin | £30 – £55 / L | Plus gloves, IPA and curing. See the resin calculator. |
UK electricity is priced per kilowatt-hour in pence, and there is also a daily standing charge that you pay regardless of how much you print. The standing charge is not part of any single print's cost, but it does mean that a printer you run rarely still has a fixed cost attached.
At around 24p per kWh, a 150 W printer costs roughly 3.6 pence per hour to run. An eight-hour overnight print is under 30 pence. Over a month of regular printing that is a few pounds — small per part, but not zero, and worth including if you quote tightly.
The practical advice for UK users is the same as anywhere else: measure the real draw with a plug meter rather than reading the power supply label, batch small parts to avoid repeated bed warm-ups, and switch the machine off when a job ends. For more detail on the energy side, see our electricity cost calculator.
At roughly 24p per kWh, a typical 150 W printer costs about 3.6 pence per hour. A six-hour print is around 22 pence of electricity. Larger enclosed machines drawing 300 W or more cost roughly double that.
It changes with the energy market and varies by tariff and region, so the only figure to trust is the one on your own bill or statement. Enter it in pence per kWh in the field above rather than relying on a published average.
If your business is VAT-registered, yes — on taxable sales above the registration threshold. Whether your prices are quoted inclusive or exclusive of VAT is a decision to make before you publish them. This calculator gives pre-VAT figures.
Sterling prices are usually somewhat higher than dollar prices once you strip out currency conversion, reflecting smaller market scale and shipping. The difference matters less than buying only the materials you actually use frequently.