Epson Heat Free Printing?

[AlphamaleZed]

Wanted to ask if anyone has used epson heat free printers at all as We have an upgrade shortly and will need to shop around.

Looks good and eco friendly on paper but whats it like real world?

Would be keen to hear your feedback.

[Davit2005]

Skeptical on the Eco firendly part personally, lol.

[psydii]

EcoTank seems quite similar to HP's old PageWide series.

 

I would say that domestic to small office/low-end professional epson printers notoriously clog their print heads, and while better at being recovered than they were, can be a right pain.  The larger low-end commercial epson we have has never been a problem.

 

Pagewides also suffered from this.

Pagewides were phenomenally good value for money, at the time you'd need to be pushing 1m+ pages on a Riso for the TCO of the Riso to be actually be lower than the four or five PageWides (per year) you'd need to handle that volume. (it would however be insanity to actually do that).

Last time I checked, as long as they get regular use and are printing *at least* 20-40K per year, they are excellent value compared to laser printers doing the same volumes.

[Rob_D]

I don't see how this isn't just inkjet?

[psydii]

1 minute ago, Rob_D said:

I don't see how this isn't just inkjet?

For the business range of the ecotank's the print head(s) are fixed and span the entire width of the page. They don't move so speeds are closer to those of lasers.

Epson have a different pricing model than HP. HP priced theirs like they did the lasers, and the device was basically a loss leader. Epson charge about three times what HP did for comparable devices. HP shut their Pagewide line because it never became profitable (most devices never printed volumes that allowed purchased ink to  turn the initial sale into profit. 

[TraceurElmo]

I think we've a dozen or so of these Epson 'Heat Free' across three models (WFC879, WFC579 & AMC4000). Single sided speeds are fairly quick. They feel a little slower compared to our old Utax models - but I never did do a drag race between them (maybe I will...). When it comes to double-sided, that's where we notice the slow down the most and where most of our staffs' gripes trickle their way back to us. There is also an obvious print quality difference, but your milage may vary on that. 

[mrbios]

We've got a bunch of Epson WorkForce Pro wf-c529r printers. They're great. Make sure you get an agreement with your print provider that they'll supply the XL ink bags and you'll find toner (ink) replacements a rare old thing, they last aggggees. Jamming is incredibly rare too.  

  

If you only buy the ultra cheap super recycled paper that's 65-75gsm though them print quality can be crap. They really benefit from better paper 80gsm+. 

[Danp]

Yes, over 18 months and really pleased with them across our 7 schools. Drop me a message if you want any more info, and I'll put you in touch with the company that looks after them for us.

[PaulCowley]

We are looking at the Epson AM-C range across our 8 schools, with a couple of WF 21000 for reprographics. Would be interested to hear from current users how they are holding up down the line. How reliable are they? any print head issues (Especially over summer?) Any issues with lower usage machines? Staff feedback? 

[PaulCowley]

On 19/05/2026 at 12:16, Danp said:

Yes, over 18 months and really pleased with them across our 7 schools. Drop me a message if you want any more info, and I'll put you in touch with the company that looks after them for us.

@Danp How are you finding the Epson Heat free range in your schools?

[Danp]

16 minutes ago, PaulCowley said:

@Danp How are you finding the Epson Heat free range in your schools?

 

Really happy. Quality of print, speed of device, less power consumption. Feels like a no brainer

[TraceurElmo]

We have a couple AM-C4000s on site, we find them a little slow compared our previous laser printers, but I honestly think that's just the teachers complaining! 

They seem to have been fine sitting over the summer with no issues being run back at full speed again now that term's back.