UV Curing worked example

Mercury UV Lamp Energy Cost with lamp electrical draw of 8 kW: a worked example

Suppose lamp electrical draw falls to 8 kW. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Cost out a mercury arc UV lamp per shift and per part - including the always-on idle period mercury lamps need between jobs.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Lamp electrical draw (energized): 8 kW (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 16)
  • Energized hours per shift: 8 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Blended electricity rate: 0.14 $ / kWh (held at the documented default)
  • Parts cured per shift: 2,400 parts (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Energy used (kWh) = lamp electrical draw × energized hours.
  • Shift energy cost works out to 8.96 $ / shift at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Energy used per shift works out to 64 kWh at these inputs.
  • Energy cost per part works out to 0 $ / part at these inputs.
  • Hourly energy cost works out to 1.12 $ / hr at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where lamp electrical draw sits at 16 kW and the headline result is 17.92 $ / shift, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 8.96 $ / shift.
  • It computes the electricity cost of running mercury UV lamps per shift, the kWh consumed, and the energy cost allocated to each cured part. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Shift energy cost: 8.96 $ / shift (headline result)
  • Energy used per shift: 64 kWh
  • Energy cost per part: 0 $ / part
  • Hourly energy cost: 1.12 $ / hr

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Mercury UV Lamp Energy Cost calculator, set lamp electrical draw to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.