Epson announces heat-free EcoTank printers

Cartridge-free ink jet printers
The EcoTank ET-8500 and ET-8550 were made with creatives and photographers in mind.

The EcoTank ET-8500 and ET-8550 were made with creatives and photographers in mind.

Epson has added four new printers to its EcoTank range that it says are heat free and cartridge-free and were developed especially to have a low environmental impact.

The new products include two premium printers for creatives and photographers, the Eco-Tank ET-8500 and ET-8550, and two entry-level printers for the home office, the EcoTank Pro ET-5170 and ET-5150.

Epson is touting two features that set the four printers apart. The first is their low heat production. The two premium models feature Epson’s Micro Piezo Heat Free Technology, while the EcoTank Pros have PrecisionCore Heat-Free technology that the company says greatly reduces the heat they generate when printing. Epson claims this technology makes them more environmentally friendly than predecessors, since they’ll also require less energy to run.

To emphasise this new feature, Epson kicked off an environmental campaign to save the world’s melting permafrost. Dubbed “Turn Down the Heat,” the campaign is a partnership with National Geographic and permafrost environment scientist Dr Katy Walter Anthony. It aims to tackle global warming by encouraging people to consider the energy consumption of the printers in their home offices and how they might reduce it.

Epson's Turn Down the Heat campaign is a partnership with National Geographic. Credit: Epson
Epson's Turn Down the Heat campaign is a partnership with National Geographic.

To that end, Epson wants a global shift away from using energy demanding laser printers to ink jet products like those in its new EcoTank line-up. “Just by switching from a laser printer to a heat-free ink jet printer you can save up to 90 per cent of the energy you would use for printing,” an Epson company spokesman said.

The ET-8500 and ET-8550 are premium printers with photographers and creatives in mind. Credit: Epson
The ET-8500 and ET-8550 are premium printers with photographers and creatives in mind.

The second thing Epson really wants you to know about its new EcoTank printers is they are cartridge-free and can be topped up with Epson Auto-Stop ink bottles. According to Epson, the big benefit of this is that there’s less fussy cartridge changing and they can print more pages on a single set of ink bottles.

That’s not to say there’s no maintenance. You'll still need to top up the ink tanks when they run low, but Epson says the EcoTank Premium printers can print 2,300 photos or 6,700 pages in black and white or 6,200 pages in colour on one set of ink bottles. The EcoTank Pro printers can print 7,500 black and white or 5,200 colour pages with a single replacement ink bottle.  

The EcoTank printers can be topped up with replacement ink bottles. Credit: Epson
The EcoTank printers can be topped up with replacement ink bottles.

 Common features across the ET-8500 and ET-8550 are:

  • Dedicated paper and photo trays
  • 4.3-inch colour touchscreens
  • Built-in USB and memory card slots
  • Wi-Fi as well as Ethernet
  • Six Colour Premium Claria inks

The Six Colour Premium Epson Claria inks are a step-up from Epson’s standard inks since they contain an extra dye-based photo black ink that is meant to make blacks richer in colour prints and photos.

The EcoTank Pro ET-5170 and ET-5150 include the following features:

  • 2.4-inch colour touchscreens
  • 250-sheet paper trays
  • Bonus one year warranty 
  • Wi-Fi and Ethernet 
    • ET-5150 and ET-5170 are designed for the home office. Credit: Epson
    ET-5150 and ET-5170 are designed for the home office.

The EcoTank ET-8500 prints documents and photos up to A4 while the ET-8550 prints to A3. The ET-5150 and ET-5170 have similar functionality, except the ET-5170 can also send facsimile. All four printers can be purchased from Epson. See below for pricing:

ET-8500 = AU$999 

ET-8500 = AU$1149

ET-5150 = AU$639

ET-5170 = AU$649