Can You Cook a Turkey in Your Copier?

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Did you know that copiers consume the most energy of all types of office equipment? That they consume power even when they are sitting idle? Simply by switching to a more energy-efficient type of printer, you can take a chunk out of your carbon emissions.

In addition to their cost efficiency, this is one reason that many businesses are looking at inkjet. Increasingly, even office-style machines have terrific image quality (commercial-quality inkjet presses are now as high as 1200 dpi) and they produce little or not heat. That means low energy use.

A very funny promotional video from RISO explains it well. Grandma may like her color copies because they are “nice and toasty,” but this is because of the heat generated by the machine and, consequently, their high energy consumption. Hence the line, “You could cook a turkey in there!” (I’ll leave the animation to your imagination). Inkjet printers, by contrast, do not use a heat and laser process and they consume a fraction of the energy required to run heat-intensive devices like traditional copiers.

RISO also promotes that its printers are free from ozone emissions, toner particle emissions, silica dust, and other air pollutants. At the same time, however, it’s important to note that, while you do save on the emissions, the industry is still working on recycling inkjet papers. (See related post, “Inkjet Reyclability Is Suspect.”) Chances are, the paper you print will not be able to be recycled into anything but tissue paper.

So high energy emissions or non-recyclability — take your pick.

Then again, if you start out with recycled paper (try 100% postconsumer content), then it probably won’t matter, since it will just end up as tissue paper anyway.

Like this post? See all my “Greening Print Marketing” posts.

20 thoughts on “Can You Cook a Turkey in Your Copier?”

  1. I took a look at the Ricoh commerical you referenced, it is actually a RISO commerical for the new comcolors.

    The comcolors are not for everyone, very high price point 25K-40K, limited media that you can print onto, and most of all Color Laser is sooo much better qulaity than the comcolor. Business owners will only turn to ink jet when they can get the same quality, speeds, feeds and price points of color laser. As for know, the comcolor is just too expensive for everyday office and the quality is not as good as color laser.

  2. I took a look at the Ricoh commerical you referenced, it is actually a RISO commerical for the new comcolors.

    The comcolors are not for everyone, very high price point 25K-40K, limited media that you can print onto, and most of all Color Laser is sooo much better qulaity than the comcolor. Business owners will only turn to ink jet when they can get the same quality, speeds, feeds and price points of color laser. As for know, the comcolor is just too expensive for everyday office and the quality is not as good as color laser.

  3. I disagree with the above comment that “business owners will only turn to ink jet when they can get the same quality, speeds, feeds and price points of color laser.” There are some documents that need the high quality of laser but there are many others that don’t. If ink jet running costs are low enough and copy volumes are high enough, then business owners will do the math.

  4. I disagree with the above comment that “business owners will only turn to ink jet when they can get the same quality, speeds, feeds and price points of color laser.” There are some documents that need the high quality of laser but there are many others that don’t. If ink jet running costs are low enough and copy volumes are high enough, then business owners will do the math.

  5. Art Post got two things right in his comment above:
    1) it is a RISO (not Ricoh) video. Ricoh has no inkjet products.
    2) the print quality from the RISO ComColor is not the 1200×1200 laser quality prevalent in the copier world.

    Having said that; how many of your (office) documents do you print, frame and hang on the wall? Do inspect your prints with an eye-loop before going to meetings? How many go in the recycling bin within 72 hours of being printed? Do you really need 1200×1200 dpi and are you willing to pay for it on every document?

    In this economy (and really anytime) – cost is king. At HALF THE COST PER FULL COLOR PRINT of laser and 90-150ppm, its easy to see why the ComColor 9050 was one of only 22 out of 4000 products from 650 exhibitors to win a “Must See ‘Em” award at PRINT ’09 this week. And at a list price of $27,000-$46,000 and a duty cycle of 500,000 per month, it’s pretty easy to see that this printer can replace multiple monochrome and color workgroup printers.

    Finally, the comment about limited paper stock support is misleading. The only real limitation is that the ComColor can not print on glossy stocks because the inks need to absorb into the paper. The ComColor prints well onto a wide variety of stocks from 12lb to 210lb index. Pages come out dry, cool and without any curl. The inks don’t run if they get wet – which makes the ComColor a perfect machine for printing full color, variable data envelopes too.

    Consider all these points plus the fact that RISO ComColor uses half the electricity of a toner device, emits no ozone or VOCs, and In-Plants, office managers and print shop owners alike are recognizing that paying for 1200×1200 dpi is a luxury they can live without.

    Check out http://www.newinkjet.com/ for the complete story.

  6. Art Post got two things right in his comment above:
    1) it is a RISO (not Ricoh) video. Ricoh has no inkjet products.
    2) the print quality from the RISO ComColor is not the 1200×1200 laser quality prevalent in the copier world.

    Having said that; how many of your (office) documents do you print, frame and hang on the wall? Do inspect your prints with an eye-loop before going to meetings? How many go in the recycling bin within 72 hours of being printed? Do you really need 1200×1200 dpi and are you willing to pay for it on every document?

    In this economy (and really anytime) – cost is king. At HALF THE COST PER FULL COLOR PRINT of laser and 90-150ppm, its easy to see why the ComColor 9050 was one of only 22 out of 4000 products from 650 exhibitors to win a “Must See ‘Em” award at PRINT ’09 this week. And at a list price of $27,000-$46,000 and a duty cycle of 500,000 per month, it’s pretty easy to see that this printer can replace multiple monochrome and color workgroup printers.

    Finally, the comment about limited paper stock support is misleading. The only real limitation is that the ComColor can not print on glossy stocks because the inks need to absorb into the paper. The ComColor prints well onto a wide variety of stocks from 12lb to 210lb index. Pages come out dry, cool and without any curl. The inks don’t run if they get wet – which makes the ComColor a perfect machine for printing full color, variable data envelopes too.

    Consider all these points plus the fact that RISO ComColor uses half the electricity of a toner device, emits no ozone or VOCs, and In-Plants, office managers and print shop owners alike are recognizing that paying for 1200×1200 dpi is a luxury they can live without.

    Check out http://www.newinkjet.com/ for the complete story.

  7. I’m confused by Art’s statement about the RISO ComColor series Inkjet printers being limited in the media it can run. I’ve seen this product run everything from 12lb to 210lb stocks including an assortment of envelopes even envelopes with a plastic window, I haven’t seen a toner based printer that could do that. Additionally at 150 pages per minute there are very few machines that can run full color at that speed for the price. Sure you can pay $250,000 for a high quality slow 70 page per minute machine, but is the difference in quality really worth the extra $200,000??

  8. I’m confused by Art’s statement about the RISO ComColor series Inkjet printers being limited in the media it can run. I’ve seen this product run everything from 12lb to 210lb stocks including an assortment of envelopes even envelopes with a plastic window, I haven’t seen a toner based printer that could do that. Additionally at 150 pages per minute there are very few machines that can run full color at that speed for the price. Sure you can pay $250,000 for a high quality slow 70 page per minute machine, but is the difference in quality really worth the extra $200,000??

  9. I also disagree with Art’s statement. Marketing materials are where client’s require high quality on glossy substrate. Client’s are becoming more aware that color doesn’t always have to be brilliant. They are becoming more concerned with reliability, cost per print, and environmental impact. Being inkjet technology doesn’t require heat (fusing units), they see inkjet as a true green technology and much more reliable than toner based products>

  10. I also disagree with Art’s statement. Marketing materials are where client’s require high quality on glossy substrate. Client’s are becoming more aware that color doesn’t always have to be brilliant. They are becoming more concerned with reliability, cost per print, and environmental impact. Being inkjet technology doesn’t require heat (fusing units), they see inkjet as a true green technology and much more reliable than toner based products>

  11. I believe that the Color on a ComColor is good quality. If you use 300dpi at high quality it slows the machine down to a crawling 112 PPM! We have put together a Toner -vs Ink quality comparison and I have yet to receive a negative comment about the ComColor Ink print. In some ways it is better because the color POPs much brighter, it is cold press and can run directly into a mailing system without being curled from the heat of a fuser and it does not crack when folded like a toner based document.
    Pitney Bowes recommends the RISO solution over any toner based machine.

  12. I believe that the Color on a ComColor is good quality. If you use 300dpi at high quality it slows the machine down to a crawling 112 PPM! We have put together a Toner -vs Ink quality comparison and I have yet to receive a negative comment about the ComColor Ink print. In some ways it is better because the color POPs much brighter, it is cold press and can run directly into a mailing system without being curled from the heat of a fuser and it does not crack when folded like a toner based document.
    Pitney Bowes recommends the RISO solution over any toner based machine.

  13. Also there is a mis statement that the ComColor Ink is non recyclable. The ComColor Waterproof Ink is New and IS Recyclable as well as the Cardboard containers the Ink bladders are packaged in.

  14. Also there is a mis statement that the ComColor Ink is non recyclable. The ComColor Waterproof Ink is New and IS Recyclable as well as the Cardboard containers the Ink bladders are packaged in.

  15. I believe that the Color on a ComColor is good quality. If you use 300dpi at high quality it slows the machine down to a crawling 112 PPM! We have put together a Toner -vs Ink quality comparison and I have yet to receive a negative comment about the ComColor Ink print. In some ways it is better because the color POPs much brighter, it is cold press and can run directly into a mailing system without being curled from the heat of a fuser and it does not crack when folded like a toner based document.
    Pitney Bowes recommends the RISO solution over any toner based machine.

  16. I believe that the Color on a ComColor is good quality. If you use 300dpi at high quality it slows the machine down to a crawling 112 PPM! We have put together a Toner -vs Ink quality comparison and I have yet to receive a negative comment about the ComColor Ink print. In some ways it is better because the color POPs much brighter, it is cold press and can run directly into a mailing system without being curled from the heat of a fuser and it does not crack when folded like a toner based document.
    Pitney Bowes recommends the RISO solution over any toner based machine.

  17. I am entirely disappointed that the author did not follow through on the “Turkey recipe.” Its the only reason I tuned in!

  18. I am entirely disappointed that the author did not follow through on the “Turkey recipe.” Its the only reason I tuned in!

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