Office Printer Energy Use: Compare, Measure and Reduce It

Office printer energy use is a small line in most budgets, but it is one of the easier costs to cut and an obvious item in any environmental report. The key point is that printers are idle most of the day. A device that sleeps properly may use little energy overall, while one with sleep disabled can draw power continuously for no output. This guide explains where the energy goes, how to compare models and how to measure and reduce consumption in your own office.

We do not give wattage or cost figures here, because they vary by model and electricity tariff. Instead we show where to find the numbers and how to measure them.

Where printer energy goes

A printer moves between several power states:

• Printing: the highest draw. In laser devices the fuser, which bonds toner to paper with heat, is the main consumer.
• Ready (idle): powered and able to print quickly. Some laser devices keep the fuser partly warm.
• Sleep: most components powered down, network card listening for jobs.
• Off or deep sleep: lowest consumption; some devices can be scheduled into it.

Because most office printers print for a small fraction of the working day, consumption in ready and sleep modes, and how quickly the device drops into sleep, often matters more than the peak figure.

Laser and inkjet differences

Laser printers need heat to fuse toner, so they draw more power while warming up and printing. Business inkjets do not use a fuser and generally draw less while printing. That does not automatically make inkjet the better choice for your office: volume, cost per page and reliability matter too. Our laser vs inkjet office printer guide covers the full comparison.

Using ENERGY STAR to compare models

ENERGY STAR certifies imaging equipment: printers, copiers, scanners and multifunction devices. Its specification uses a Typical Electricity Consumption (TEC) method for many printers and MFPs: a kilowatt-hour figure for a defined pattern of printing, ready and sleep over a standard period. Because every model is tested the same way, TEC lets you compare like with like.

How to use it:

1. Shortlist models that meet your needs for volume, size and features.
2. Look each one up in the ENERGY STAR product finder for certified imaging equipment.
3. Compare the TEC figures for models in the same class (for example, colour A4 laser MFPs).
4. Multiply by your electricity price if you want a rough running-cost comparison.

ENERGY STAR also says certified equipment is designed to enter and leave sleep quickly, and that its criteria require automatic duplexing for many products, which saves paper as well as energy.

Measuring your own printers

Published figures are a guide. Your real consumption depends on how you use the device.

• Desktop printers and small MFPs: plug them into a plug-in energy meter for a full working week and read the kWh total. Include a weekend if the device stays on.
• Large MFPs and copiers: these are often hard-wired or on dedicated sockets. Many have an energy or eco report in the device menu; your dealer or managed print provider may be able to provide data.
• Multiply weekly kWh by your tariff and by the weeks in a year for an annual figure to put into your total cost of ownership.

Settings that cut waste

1. Sleep timer: set the shortest delay that does not annoy users. Many devices wake quickly enough that a short delay is not noticed.
2. Auto-off or weekly schedule: switch to off or deep sleep outside working hours, if the device and your workflow allow it.
3. Do not disable sleep to make the device feel faster. If people complain about wake-up time, look at the specific model rather than switching off power saving.
4. Duplex by default: fewer sheets also mean fewer fuser cycles.
5. Check after updates: firmware updates and dealer service visits sometimes reset settings.

Why people turn power saving off

In many offices sleep is disabled because someone found the first page of the morning slow, or because a device dropped off the network while asleep. Both are worth fixing properly. Slow wake-up can often be improved with a firmware update or by checking the device’s wake settings. Network drop-outs are usually a configuration issue, such as an address reservation missing on the router, rather than a reason to keep the printer fully powered all night. Ask your dealer or IT support to solve the cause and leave power saving on.

Fewer, better devices

Every powered printer has a baseline consumption even if nobody uses it. Consolidating rarely used desk printers onto shared MFPs reduces the number of idle devices, as well as supplies and maintenance. Our guide on how many printers an office needs shows how to size a fleet, and our print audit checklist shows how to find the idle ones.

Reporting energy for sustainability

If you report on environmental performance, keep the data simple and checkable:

• Device list with ENERGY STAR status and TEC where available.
• Measured or reported kWh per device per year.
• Pages printed per device from the counters.
• Changes made (sleep settings, devices retired) and the before-and-after figures.

Avoid claims you cannot support with your own measurements.

Older and refurbished devices

Energy use is one of the hidden differences between an older device and a current one. If you are considering a refurbished copier, look up its ENERGY STAR status and power figures before buying, and factor energy into the comparison alongside supplies and parts. A machine that cannot sleep properly, or whose sleep settings have been disabled by a previous owner, can cost more to run than its low price suggests.

Energy is only one part of a printer’s environmental footprint. Consumables are another: see toner cartridge recycling for businesses for how to handle empty cartridges, drums and waste toner containers.

Summary

Look at how printers behave when idle, not just when printing. Use ENERGY STAR TEC figures to compare new models, measure your own devices with a meter or device reports, keep sleep enabled, and remove printers that sit powered all day doing nothing. These steps cut energy use without affecting how people work. For more ways to cut running costs, see how to reduce printing costs.