Should I Put My 3D Printer in My Bedroom?

Anyone using a 3D printer wonders to themselves “where should I put it?” and whether they should put it in their bedroom. It seems like the ideal area because it’s easy to keep watch. There are however some things to keep in mind when thinking about putting it in your bedroom which I will explain in this article.

Should you put a 3D printer in your bedroom? No, it’s not advised to put a 3D printer in your bedroom, unless you have a very good ventilation system with a HEPA filter. Your printer should be in an enclosed chamber, so particles don’t spread out easily.

There are a few important things to keep in mind when deciding where to put your 3D printer. In this article, I’ve pointed out red flags to look out for and other common issues that you should know about.

If you are interested in seeing some of the best tools and accessories for your 3D printers, you can find them easily by clicking here (Amazon).

Factors for Good 3D Printer Placement

The ideal place for where to put your printer is where you’ll get the best quality prints. There are a number of factors that can affect the quality of the final print depending on where your printer is placed:

Temperature
Humidity
Sunlight
Drafts

Temperature

The average temperature of the room you are printing in can have an effect on the quality of a print. You can find the specs of the required ambient temperature of your printer as many will differ.

If your 3D printer finds itself in a cold environment, the difference in the temperature it needs to adequately print can start to increase warping, and cause prints to become loose on the print bed before it finishes.

Ideally, you want your room temperature high as well as constant. A good way to tackle this would be to have an enclosure around your printer to retain the heat necessary for a good quality print.

If you want to take an extra step, get yourself an enclosure. A great one is the Creality Fireproof Enclosure from Amazon. It’s a great long term purchase if you love 3D printing that should last you years and usually results in better prints.

A good idea to lower how much heating your bed has to do is to use a FYSETC Foam Insulation Mat . It has great thermal conductivity and greatly reduces heat and cooling loss of your heated bed.

If your printer is in a cold environment, I’ve heard of people using an electric radiator to keep the temperature high which should work out. The room temperature, if not at an ideal level and fluctuates a lot, can negatively affect the quality of a print and even make some fail.

Humidity

Is your bedroom humid? 3D printing doesn’t tend to work very well in high humidity. When we sleep we let off quite a lot of heat which can increase the humidity of your bedroom and can ruin your filament when it soaks up the moisture in the air.

A high level of humidity in a room where your printer is printing can leave filaments brittle and easily breakable. Now there is a big difference between which filaments will be affected by humidity.

I wrote an article exactly about Why PLA Gets Brittle & Snaps which has good information and prevention methods.

PLA and ABS don’t absorb moisture too quickly but PVA, nylon and PETG will. In order to combat the levels of humidity, a dehumidifier is a great solution as it’s ideal to have as low humidity as possible for your filaments.

A good choice is the Pro Breeze Dehumidifier which is cheap, effective for a small room and has great reviews on Amazon.

For the most part, proper filament storage will fight the effects of humidity but once a filament is saturated from humidity, a proper filament-drying procedure is necessary to ensure high quality printing.

You want a good storage container, with silica gel beads to ensure your filament stays dry and isn’t affected by humidity. Go with the IRIS Weathertight Storage Box (Clear) and WiseDry 5lbs Reusable Silica Gel Beads.

To measure your humidity levels inside the storage container you should use a hygrometer. You can use something like the ANTONKI Humidity Gauge (2-Pack) Indoor Thermometer from Amazon.

This is how people used to do it, but there are more efficient methods now, like using the eSUN Filament Vacuum Storage Kit with 10 Vacuum Bags from Amazon. It has reusable humidity indicators and a hand-pump to produce a vacuum sealed effect to reduce moisture.

If your filament already has absorbed moisture you can use a professional filament dryer to solve your issues from here on out.

I’d recommend getting the SUNLU Dry Box Filament Dehydrator from Amazon today. These started making an appearance and got people getting them really quickly because of how well they work.

You wouldn’t believe how many people are printing at lower quality because their filament has so much moisture built up, especially if you live in a humid environment.

Sunlight

Sunlight can give the opposite effect from humidity, essentially over-drying out filaments and again, causing a low quality final print.

It can have the effect of making your end product brittle and easily breakable. Make sure the area where your printer is doesn’t have direct sunlight shining on it.

There are some 3D printers that have UV protection to combat against this like the ELEGOO Mars UV 3D Printer. It uses UV photocuring so it’s a necessary protection, but standard 3D printers like the Ender 3 won’t have this.

Drafts

When you have your printer in a bedroom, there can be issues with opening a window in relation to the quality of your prints. Draft from an open window can be a killer for your print quality so ensure your ventilation doesn’t create too much physical disturbance.

There can also be quite a lot of movement going on in a bedroom so you want to make sure your printer is safe during printing and storage to not get bumped in to.

So in brief, you want a room temperature which is fairly constant and not cold, a low level of humidity, out of direct sunlight and with minimal physical movement such as drafts and vibrations from movement.

Getting an enclosure is a great solution to prevent those drafts from affecting your 3D prints. A very popular enclosure that has increased the success rate of many 3D printer hobbyists is the Creality Fireproof & Dustproof Printer Enclosure from Amazon.

Common Complaints About 3D Printers in Bedrooms

There are things that people have in common when having their printer in the bedroom. One of these is the smell and fumes that the filaments give off while high temperatures are used.

PLA generally has a mild smell, depending on how sensitive your sense of smell is, but ABS can be a bit harsher and people do complain about feeling nauseous around it.

Some people will be more sensitive to fumes and respiratory problems than others so you have to take into account the health issues that can arise, especially over many hours in a day.

If you have asthma, the quality of air will be affected when 3D printing if you don’t have adequate ventilation systems put into place so this is something to keep in mind.

To the light sleepers out there, 3D printers do tend to make noise while in action so it may not be a viable option for you. 3D printers can be noisy and cause surfaces to vibrate, so having one printing in your bedroom while you try to sleep can cause issues.

Check out my popular post on How to Reduce Noise on Your 3D Printer.

Using an enclosure should minimize the sound your printer makes, as well as some kind of vibration absorbing pad underneath the printer.

The fan and the motors are the main culprits for the noise made by printers and printers do differ in just how much noise they make. There are many ways to reduce the noise made so it’s not the biggest factor, but does still matter.

Safety Issues with Where to Put your 3D Printer

Surroundings

3D printers get really hot so you wouldn’t want objects that hang over it. Things that are hung up such as paintings, clothing, curtains and pictures can be damaged by the heat of a 3D printer.

So, you want to make sure there aren’t things that can be damaged, which can be difficult especially in a small bedroom.

Another thing to take into account is whether you have a 3D printer kit or a manufactured 3D printer. These are two very different things in regard to fire safety.

When you buy a 3D printer kit, the manufacturer is technically yourself, so the packer of the kit wouldn’t be responsible to ensure the fire or electrical certification of the end product.

As 3D printers develop, the safety features improve so there is a much lower chance of fire risks. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible so having a smoke alarm is a good solution, but isn’t a preventative measure.

Make sure your 3D printer has the latest firmware as it is one of the main things that put safeguards in place.

Possible Fumes & Dangerous Chemicals?

PLA has been considered one of the safest filaments to print with, but since it’s a relatively new material the information on long-term health effects are lacking.

Even though PLA is known for it’s safety and lack of dangerous fumes, it still gives off particles which can still cause health issues.

Some people do complain of respiratory irritation and other related issues when printing with PLA. Even though the fumes aren’t considered dangerous, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to easily tolerate them while you relax in your bedroom or sleep.

It’s advised, if printing with PLA, to try and use the lower temperature limit of around 200°C to minimize the fumes it gives off.

You probably don’t want to be printing with ABS if you put your printer in the bedroom due to the well-known harsh fumes it can release.

PLA is biodegradable and made from renewable starches, whereas many other filaments are made from less safe material such as ethylene, glycol and oil-based materials and usually require higher temperatures to print.

We deal with harmful fumes on a daily basis, but the difference is, we aren’t subjected to them for longer than a few minutes or in other cases a few hours.

In many cases, simply being in an urban city will expose you to similar harmful particles, but you definitely don’t want to be inhaling that in an enclosed room.

With a 3D printer, you could be running it all day and night resulting in polluted air. It is recommended to not have your printer running while you occupy the room.

This is why putting your printer in a bedroom is not a very good place when taking this into account.

One of the best and most popular filters is the LEVOIT LV-H132 Purifier with HEPA Filter.

You can check out my article about the 7 Best Air Purifiers for 3D Printers.

It’s very effective in removing harmful pollutants in the air due to its advanced 3-Stage Filtration System – pre-filter, HEPA filter & high-efficiency activated carbon filter.

This purifier does an amazing job and removes 99.97% of airborne contaminants as small as 0.3 microns.

It would be ideal to have a printer with an enclosure, as well as with some type of fan or vent to remove harmful fumes. Simply opening a window while your 3D printer prints won’t necessarily direct the particles in the air away.

Your best bet is using a ventilated enclosure, as well as a high-quality filter. In addition to this, have some kind of vent/window to recirculate fresh air into the space.

Flammable Safety Issue

Bedrooms are prone to have flammable materials and may not have the best ventilation, which are both red flags for where to put your 3D printers.

Now, if a 3D printer is in your bedroom, you are much more likely to catch any electrical or fire issues that occur, but this benefit also comes at a cost where it could cause harm.

Should I Put My 3D Printer on the Floor?

For the most part, if you have a solid floor, it’s going to be a flat surface which is exactly what you want for a 3D printer. Having your 3D printer on the floor, however, does increase certain risks such as accidentally stepping or knocking over your printer.

You’ll also get a lot more dust affecting your printer, filament and bed surface which can decrease print quality and bed adhesion. Rather than put your 3D printer on the floor, you should at least get a small table like an IKEA Lack table, which is popular in the 3D printing community.

The Ender 3 is around 450mm x 400mm in width and length so you need a table a little bigger to house a medium-sized 3D printer.

A pretty good table that you can get yourself on Amazon is the Ameriwood Home Parsons Modern End Table. It’s highly rated, sturdy and looks good in a home or apartment setting.

Can You Use a Resin 3D Printer Inside an Apartment or Bedroom?

You can use a resin 3D printer inside an apartment or bedroom, but you want to use low-odor resins that have low VOCs and are known to be safe. Many people recommend not to use a resin 3D printer in living spaces, but rather in places that aren’t occupied. You can build a ventilation system to reduce fumes.

Many people do 3D print with resin indoors in their bedroom without issues, though some people have reported that they get respiratory problems or allergies as a result.

One user mentioned how he thought he had the flu for a few months, but was actually being affected by being next to an active resin printer.

Resins should have an MSDS or Material Safety Data Sheet which provides reliable information about the safety of your resin. Generally speaking, resin fumes aren’t considered hazardous and are fairly low-risk if you have the right ones.

The biggest safety risk for resins is getting uncured resin on your skin because they can easily be absorbed and cause skin irritation, or even hypersensitivity after long-term use.