A method of ejecting fluid from a printhead nozzle is provided. The printhead nozzle has a fluid chamber, a fluid ejection port, electrodes on opposite sides of the chamber and a heater element suspended between the electrodes. The heater element has a cross section with a lateral dimension at least triple that of the thickness of heater element. The he thickness of the heater element being less than 0.3 microns. In the method the heater element is heated to a temperature above the boiling point of the fluid to form a gas bubble that causes ejection of a drop of the fluid from the ejection port, and the chamber is supplied with a replacement volume of the fluid equivalent to the ejected drop.