What temperature should I dry PLA at?

Bambu Lab lists 50 °C for 8 hours in a forced-air oven and 45 °C for 12 hours in an AMS 2 Pro or AMS HT for PLA Basic and PLA Matte. Prusa lists 45 °C for 6 hours for PLA. Both guides were accessed Oct 17, 2026. Follow your filament's own data sheet when it differs.

How much does it cost to run a filament dryer?

Power × hours × your rate. At the July 2026 U.S. residential average of 18.31 cents per kWh (EIA), an 18-hour TPU run in a Bambu Lab AMS HT at Bambu's listed 170 W drying power uses about 3.1 kWh, about 56 cents. A 12-hour run on a Creality SpacePi at its listed 145 W uses at most 1.7 kWh, about 32 cents. Heaters cycle once warm, so a rated figure is an upper bound.

Filament drying chart and dryer cost

Bambu Lab dries PLA Basic at 45 °C for 12 hours in its AMS units and PETG at 65 °C for 12 hours; Prusa lists 45 °C for 6 hours and 55 °C for 6 hours. Pick your filament and dryer to see the maker's settings and what the run costs at your electricity rate.

Last updatedOct 17, 2026

DataBambu Lab Wiki (edited Jul 31, 2026), Prusa Knowledge Base and dryer makers' pages, accessed Oct 17, 2026

Settings and cost

Cost of this run, at most$0

Per spool$0

Other results
Energy, at most	0 kWh
Dryer power source	n/a

Bambu Lab drying chart

Temperatures and times from Bambu Lab's Filament Drying Recommendations, Appendix I (page last edited Jul 31, 2026; accessed Oct 17, 2026), arranged in SpoolQuote's own table. Bed drying applies to enclosed H, X, P2S and P1S printers only; Bambu says open-frame printers can't dry filament.

Prusa drying chart

Temperatures and times from the Prusa Knowledge Base article Drying filament (accessed Oct 17, 2026), arranged in SpoolQuote's own table. Prusa says not to exceed these temperatures, or the filament may soften and stick together.

How this is calculated

Energy = dryer watts × hours ÷ 1,000. Cost = energy × your rate. Per spool = cost ÷ spools in the run.
It's an upper bound. The cost assumes the dryer draws its listed power for the whole run. Heaters cycle once the chamber is warm, so the real figure is usually lower; a plug-in power meter will tell you yours.
Times come from the guides. For an AMS 2 Pro or AMS HT, the time is Bambu's own setting for that unit. For other dryers the time shown is the guide's forced-air oven time (Bambu) or general drying time (Prusa); check your dryer's manual.
Sources can differ. Settings can differ between a maker's wiki, its product pages and the filament's data sheet. Follow the data sheet for your exact filament when they differ.

Sources

Electricity: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3, U.S. residential, July 2026 (accessed Oct 17, 2026).