Defining Printer Costs

 Total Sum = (Consumables / Number of pages)

Cost per page only shows part of the story. To determine the real cost of ownership, you need to calculate the cost per page of typical consumables, such as toner, and the cost of maintenance and of replacement items, such as fusers. A common method that takes all of these issues into consideration is the NPV (net present value) calculation. NPV uses the concept of the time value of money, which is based on the cost of capital. During a review of network printers several years ago, I found that while some printers had lower cost per page, their cost of ownership over five years showed them to be more expensive the printers with high cost per page.

In addition to analyzing cost of ownership, there are some practical things that can reduce printing costs and thereby lower your total cost of ownership. This includes using a printer that is Energy Star compliant, using duplex to print on both sides and using software that allows multiple pages to be printed on the same side of the paper in a two, four or even eight-up fashion. Some printers also support a setting in which less toner is used to print a page image. This is perfect if all you are doing is printing draft text and black and white documents.