Around 1994, after I bought my first PC, I soon realized that I needed a printer. My work colleagues recommended that I buy the Canon BJ10SX model.
I bought a HP DeskJet 340. But that proved to be a bad decision. Even though this was a colour printer, and the Canon printer wasn't, the black print quality was poor. So that printer was returned and the Canon took its place.
I tell that story to illustrate an important point: I didn’t thoroughly research my printer needs and ended up buying the wrong machine. Now, generally speaking, most people who buy a printer are happy with their choice. But that happiness soon turns to shock when it is time to replace the ink.
The ink cartridges for our home Epson printers are just under $30 each - for genuine replacement parts. So if both the colour and black cartridges were replaced at the same time that’s $60. Now if both cartridges had to be replaced every two months that’s $360 per year.
If I said to my wife that I was going buy a year's supply of ink do you think she’d OK the cost? I don’t think so. So just like genuine Microsoft software, OEM printer ink is just way too expensive.
Some people may think that a $25 printer is a bargain. But in its first year of service the ink cost alone may end up being several times the cost of the printer. So if you’re thinking about buying a printer you need to think about what your printing needs really are and how much you’re prepared to pay for consumables.
Third party ink
The majority of printers in use today are based on inkjet technology. And since OEM ink is generally very expensive that has spawned a bunch of companies which offer own ink and remanufactured cartridges at a significant saving over what the OEM manufacturers charge.
The black ink cartridge life figures for our Epson printer is 900 pages of text (ISO/IEC 10561 letter pattern) and 634 pages of graphics at five percent coverage. For the colour cartridge that drops down to 300 pages at 15% coverage.
If the cartridge cost is divided by Epson’s ink life figures then the cost of ink per page can be calculated:
Black cartridge cost per page: $29.95/900 = 3.3 cents, $29.95/634 = 4.7 cents
Colour cartridge cost per page: $29.95/300 = 10 cents
Those costs quickly mount up as our Epson printers are used pretty much daily. We couldn’t justify that expense so we began using third party ink. We’ve used that ink for the past two years and our late 1990s printers continue to give excellent service. So what are we saving?
The Meritline ink that we’re currently using costs $8.95 for 60ml of black ink and $8.78 each for the 60ml magenta, cyan and yellow colors. To calculate the cartridge refill cost, the price of the ink is divided by the number of refills.
The refill number is obtained by dividing the total amount of ink by the ink injected into the cartridge, as our Epson printers don’t run their ink cartridges dry. So the injected amount for the black cartridge is 24ml; for the colour cartridge it’s 7.5ml per chamber for a total of 22.5ml.
Number of refills for the black cartridge: 60/24 = 2.5
Number of refills for the colour cartridge: 180/22.5 = 8.0
Black cartridge refill cost: $8.95/2.5 = $3.58
Colour cartridge refill cost: $26.34/8 = $3.29
That’s pretty much an order of magnitude lower cost. Now that we know the refill cost we can now calculate the ink cost per page.
Black cartridge cost per page: $3.58/900 = 0.4 cents $3.58/634 = 0.6 cents
Colour cartridge cost per page: $3.29/300 = 1.1 cents
Those numbers are a lot more palatable than their counterparts. Because of that, my printer cost worries are now a thing of the past.
High volume ink users
Some inkjet users get through crazy amounts of ink and may still be paying too much for it. But those looking to cut costs can consider the Continuous Ink System (CIS) add-on.
This is an external, high capacity ink tank that connects to a permanent cartridge by way of tubing. The external tank holds over eight times the amount of ink that the regular cartridges hold. So when it is time to fill up it’s just a case of adding ink to the reservoir.
Because ink is being used in such volume, the cost comes down markedly. We’re going to assume that the CIS add-on can be attached to one of my Epson printers so that cost comparisons can be made.
Ink for the CIS add-on is bought in volume. Meritline sells ink in one litre bottles that costs $34.01 for each colour. So this will be our ink cost reference.
Number of refills for the black cartridge: 1000/24 = 41.7 refills
Number of refills for the colour cartridge: 3000/22.5 = 133.3 refills
Black cartridge refill cost: $34.01/41.7 = $0.82
Colour cartridge refill cost: $102.03/133.3 = $0.77
Black cartridge cost per page: $0.82/900 = 0.09 cents, $0.82/634 = 0.13 cents
Colour cartridge cost per page: $0.77/300 = 0.26 cents
Compared to the OEM costs, these numbers should tell you that you’re pretty much getting your ink for free.
Back in 2006, the CIS add-on only supported a limited number of Canon and Epson printers. Today it’s a very different story. Brother and HP have joined the manufacturer ranks and the number of printers supported has increased significantly.
Laser printer savings
We have two monochrome laser printers at home that aren’t currently used. Both machines are out of toner. One of those machines is a HP Laserjet. Instead of paying HP $65 for a brand new print cartridge, I could pay the Printer Ink Warehouse $16 for just the toner and refill the cartridge myself.
The page yield for the HP cartridge is 2500 pages. We’ll use that number to compare page costs.
$65/2500 = 2.6 cents per page
$16/2500 = 0.6 cents per page
That's a significant saving. But compared to the black 60ml ink cost numbers the page cost is about the same. If you use a colour laser printer, toner is now available for a wide variety of machines.
Don’t want to use third party ink?
Some people just want convenience when it is time to replenish their printer and are insistent on only using OEM consumables. I’m sure these people would like to save some money as well. So it is good to know that at least one printer OEM doesn’t charge an exorbitant amount for its ink. That company is Kodak.
In February last year, Kodak entered the consumer printer market when the company launched three inkjet printers. Its printers use the company’s pigment-based ink.
What sets the company’s printers apart from all the others is the ink cartridge cost: $10 for black and $15 for colour - very reasonable indeed. Kodak claimed that when a Kodak Photo Value Pack is purchased, a 4x6 inch photo costs as little as ten cents per print. The company also claimed that its printers would save consumers up to 50% on everything they print.
Savings for everyone
If you’re thinking about using third party consumables but don’t know what’s involved I’ve linked the relevant instruction guides below.
Anyone who wants to should be able to reduce the cost of their printing. But for those who want to save as much as possible it really does pay to shop around. X
Check Out
How using third party ink can save you money
Inkjet refill instructions - PDF
Toner refill instructions - PDF
CIS add-on
Kodak printer review
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