Energy Calculator for Imaging Equipment
Instructions (back)
- You can change values for on/off/standby modes and hours by using the dropdown menus or you can type any value — e.g. from the ENERGY STAR database— directly into the text boxes.
- Please do not use the comma sign (,) for decimals. It will not be recognised by the calculator.
- Explanations can be found when clicking on items.
- If you click on the 'Calculate!' button, the new output will be added to the Calculator History.
Equipment
This calculator lists several printers, copiers and MFD's (Multi-Functional Devices, combining at least printer/copier/scanner; if a facsimile function is also included it is indicated as 'MFD + fax'). An MFD in the list is usually an inkjet-device unless indicated otherwise. These examples represent a choice for small, medium-sized and large workgroups, with speeds in the range of 6-10 pages per minute (ppm) for colour prints and up to 32 ppm for 'normal quality' black-and-white prints.
Draft quality is 50% faster, best quality is 50% slower with inkjet.
Resolution is in the range of 1200x1200 dpi or higher, unless indicated otherwise. Their robustness (indicated by what is known as 'Monthly Duty Cycle' ) covers the whole spectrum from 5000 (individual) to 100,000+ pages/month (large workgroups).
For 3 models a version is given with and without duplexing (double-sided printing or copying, saving 'paper energy').
Default values
The calculator shows typical presets for purchase price (incl. VAT) or annual lease costs, paper (plain paper set at around 1.6 EuroCts/page) and ink/toner costs, electricity rate (default EU average of € 0.15/kWh) and a given annual production that is typical for the device. As a general rule the default annual number of pages given in the presets is about the same as the Monthly Duty Cycle indicated by the manufacturer. The default product-life of the device is 6 years.
Energy use
The energy use for printing/copying ('on' mode) is calculated from the annual production, the speed (in ppm) and the operational energy use as indicated by the manufacturer.
Power management
If power management is enabled, which is unfortunately not always the case especially with volume printers/copiers, the device goes into sleep mode when it is not printing. An 'off'mode consumption is not given here in this simplified calculator, but -depending on the model— various sleep/deep sleep/standby modes can exist especially for larger printers/copiers. Ask your vendor.
Air-conditioning
When your room/office is cooled by air-conditioning, the heat load of the imaging equipment contributes to the electricity consumption of the air-conditioning installation.
Specify how many months per year the air-conditioning is used for artificial cooling (not heating).
The air-conditioning is assumed to function with an efficiency of 300% (COP is 3.0). Formula: Extra electric energy for air-conditioning = (energy use of equipment/3) * (Months/12).
Especially for medium-sized and large workgroups there are many more options than could be listed here. Notably options for scan-to-file, scan-to-e-mail and scan-to-ftp could save valuable resources (paper/toner/energy) and rationalize archiving, storage, data-sharing, etc.. Please ask your vendor.
Calculator History
The last 6 scores of the Energy Calculator are kept in a separate table, where column '1' represents the actual score, '2' the previous score, etc.. If you click the header ('1', '2', '3', etc.) of a column, the calculator will show the input values that produced those results.
Keeping the score helps you to see if (and how) you are improving. A new score is added (and an old score is dropped) each time you click the 'Calculate!' button.