Bed Temperature Calculator — Material & Surface Guide

Bed temperature keeps the first layers warm enough to bond to the surface and to each other. Too cold and the part lifts. Too hot can cause elephant foot (first layers bulging outward).

Many users set the first layer bed temperature 5°C higher than the rest of the print to improve initial adhesion, then lower it to reduce elephant foot.

Not the bed temperature itself. Manufacturer slicer profiles use the same bed setpoint on smooth PEI, textured PEI, glass and BuildTak. This calculator recommends a generic PETG bed of ~80°C (first layer ~85°C) on every surface; some brands run hotter — Prusament PETG, for example, can use a bed around 90°C — but the figure stays the same across smooth and textured sheets. What changes between surfaces is adhesion strength and release: smooth PEI grips PETG so hard it can damage the sheet, so a glue-stick release layer or a textured sheet is preferred. Adjust the surface, not the temperature.

No. An enclosure raises the chamber (air) temperature to roughly 40–50°C, which stops warp-prone materials like ABS, ASA and PC from cooling unevenly. The bed setpoint stays at the datasheet value — Prusa specify a bed of at least 100°C for ASA even inside an enclosure. Treat the chamber temperature as a separate target from the bed temperature.

The glass transition temperature (Tg) is where a plastic softens. Setting the bed near or just above Tg actually helps the first layer fuse to the plate — PETG (Tg ≈ 80°C) is commonly run on an 85–90°C bed on purpose. This calculator flags when the bed is at or above Tg so you know adhesion is being boosted; only worry if you see the part deforming or sagging at the base.