UV vs. Latex Printer TCO Calculator
Compare the total cost of owning a UV or a latex wide format printer over 3, 5 or 7 years. Starting values follow the worked example in our 2026 TCO article. Change any of them to match your quotes.
Advanced assumptions (every default can be changed)
The starting values are planning numbers from our TCO article, not quotes. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Cumulative cost by month
| Cost line | UV | Latex | UV minus latex |
|---|
What moves the result most
How the UV vs. Latex TCO Calculator Works
It adds up nine cost lines for each printer over the time horizon you choose: purchase price, one-time infrastructure, electricity, ink, coated media premium, consumables and service, downtime, head strikes and UV white ink. It then shows the difference per line, the cost per square foot printed, and the month where the cumulative cost lines cross.
Electricity is rated power draw times printing hours times your rate. Ink is volume times mL per 1,000 sq ft times the price per liter. Everything else is the monthly or one-time figure you enter.
The result is a cost comparison, not a recommendation. It leaves out revenue that only one technology can earn, resale value, financing and tax.
Default Assumptions and Where They Come From
| Input | UV | Latex | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | $32,000 (UV roll) | $25,000 | The two examples in our 2026 TCO article. UV hybrid ($55,000) and flatbed ($48,000) presets carried over from the earlier version of this tool, within the $20,000 to $65,000 UV range in the article. |
| Power draw while printing | 1.92 kW | 3.6 kW | Rated figures: Mimaki UCJV300-160 (spec) and HP Latex 730, 1.5 kW printer plus 2.1 kW curing (HP guide). Real averages are lower. |
| Printing hours per month | 160 | 160 | Basis of the TCO article’s examples. |
| Ink price | $190 / L | $110 / L | TCO article. |
| Ink used per 1,000 sq ft | 290 mL | 775 mL | Illustrative model in the TCO article, about 2.7 times more latex ink. Measure your own printer on the same test file. |
| Consumables and service reserve | $135 / month | $170 / month | TCO article example: heads or head reserve, cleaning supplies, service share. |
| Downtime allocation | $60 / month | $180 / month | TCO article example. A placeholder for calibration and maintenance time. Replace with your own. |
| Coated or heat-tolerant media | 0% of volume | 25% of volume | TCO article example. Premium of $0.19 per sq ft: coated media runs $0.63 to $0.77 against $0.45 uncoated. |
| Latex electrical service | n/a | $1,250 (new 220V circuit) | Installation runs $500 to $2,000 and a panel upgrade adds $1,500 to $3,500 in the article. The article’s examples leave it out, so this is the one place the starting values differ from them. Same default as the Latex vs. Eco-Solvent calculator. |
| UV ventilation, white ink, head strikes | $0, $0, 0.5 strikes per year | none | No benchmark. Mercury arc lamps produce ozone and white ink needs extra maintenance, so set these to your own quotes. Strikes apply only to hybrid and flatbed. |
Figures come from Wide Format Printer Cost: 2026 TCO Breakdown unless stated. They are illustrative U.S. dollar figures for two specific printer models, not market averages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this calculator free to use?
Yes. It is free for personal and commercial use, with no login. Everything runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Why does UV come out ahead at the starting values?
Three lines do most of the work: the media premium latex pays on coated or heat-tolerant stock, the extra ink latex uses per square foot in our model, and the larger downtime and consumables reserve. Electricity matters less than most people expect. The starting values follow the worked example in our 2026 TCO article, which uses 5,000 sq ft a month. Change the volume, the coated-media share or the reserves and the result moves. At very low volume the gap narrows because those lines scale with volume.
What power draw does the calculator assume?
It uses rated draw while printing: 3.6 kW for an HP Latex 730 (1.5 kW printer plus 2.1 kW curing) and 1.92 kW for a Mimaki UCJV300-160 UV-LED roll printer. Those are two specific 64-inch class machines, not the whole market. An HP Latex 830 lists 5.0 kW, and larger UV hybrids and flatbeds usually draw more than the UCJV300. Enter your own printer's rated figure under Advanced assumptions.
Does it account for UV-LED versus mercury arc lamps?
Not as a separate switch. The defaults describe a UV-LED roll printer. If you are pricing a mercury arc system, raise the UV power draw to your spec sheet value and add your lamp replacement cost into the UV consumables and service reserve. Lamp set prices and rated lamp life vary a lot by vendor and model, so there is no single default worth hard-coding.
How are head strikes handled?
Only for UV hybrid and flatbed configurations, which print on rigid substrates. You enter how many strikes you expect per year and the repair cost. The repair default is $4,000, the middle of the $3,000 to $5,000 range in our TCO article, which was written about eco-solvent printers. The strike frequency default of 0.5 a year has no benchmark. UV roll-to-roll and latex are modelled with no strike cost.
Why doesn't it model revenue from rigid jobs?
A hybrid or flatbed UV printer can print acrylic, wood, glass and other rigid media that latex cannot. That is real revenue, but it depends entirely on your local demand and pricing, so this is a cost model. Work out the rigid pipeline separately before you pay the hybrid price.
What does the break-even month mean?
It is the month where the cumulative cost lines cross, the point at which the printer with the higher upfront cost has caught up through lower monthly running costs. If one printer is cheaper upfront and cheaper to run, there is no crossover and the tool says so.
What about eco-solvent?
Eco-solvent has its own cost profile, including off-gassing time and ventilation. Use the Latex vs. Eco-Solvent TCO Calculator for that comparison.