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Energy Costs

Refrigerator Running Cost Calculator

A refrigerator is the appliance most likely to be quietly costing you real money, because it never turns off and because efficiency standards have tightened dramatically over the last thirty years.

Last updated Free, no sign-upHow it works

Your inputs
Your refrigerator

Most full-size refrigerators are 18 to 26 cubic feet.

Location

Optional. Picks the published price for your state; otherwise the US average is used.

Why we ask

A ZIP code is matched to its state with published postal prefix ranges and used only to look up that state’s row in a federal price table. We never ask for a street address, nothing is stored, and your inputs appear only in this page’s URL.

Results update as you type. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or stored.

Cost to run your refrigerator: $76, ranging from $59 to $98.

Cost to run your refrigerator

low confidence
$76Per year, at your electricity rate
$59 lowhigh $98
  • United States average
  • Assumptions 2026.07.1

Why low: no state was resolved, so national averages were used; the modeled range spans about 51% of the typical value.

Key figures

Per month
$6.33($4.92 – $8.16)
Electricity used
414 kWh(322 kWh – 534 kWh)
A new ENERGY STAR unit would cost
$61($47 – $78)Same size, style, and features, at current efficiency standards.
Annual saving if replaced
$15Energy only. Weigh against the purchase price and the environmental cost of scrapping a working appliance.
Electricity rate used
$0.18/kWhUnited States residential average of $0.1834/kWh (EIA, June 2026).

Cost breakdown

Estimated cost of each component, with low, typical, and high values.
ComponentLowTypicalHigh
Refrigerator electricityEnergy414 kWh per year at $0.1834/kWh.$59$76$98
Cost to run your refrigerator$59$76$98

The low and high columns above will not add up to the headline range. Each line has its own uncertainty, and every line landing at its worst case at the same time is unlikely, so the total combines them as partially independent rather than summing the extremes.

How this number was produced
  1. Base consumption2014 or newer baseline450 kWh/yr
  2. Adjustments0.92 style × 1.00 size × 1 ice × 1 location0.92
  3. Annual energybase × adjustments414 kWh
  4. Annual costkWh × $0.1834$75.93

Adjustments applied

  • Vintage — 2014 or newer×1.25

    Relative to a current ENERGY STAR model.

  • 20 cu ft×1.00

    Scaled from a 20 cu ft reference with an exponent of 0.55, because consumption rises more slowly than volume.

  • Top freezer×0.92

    Configuration affects door seal length and how much cold air escapes when opened.

  • Electricity rate×1.00

    United States residential average of $0.1834/kWh (EIA, June 2026).

Notes and sources2 notes, 2 sources

Worth knowing

  • The most accurate figure for your own unit is on its yellow EnergyGuide label, which states estimated annual kilowatt-hours. This calculator is for when that label is long gone.
  • Actual consumption also depends on how full the fridge is, how often it is opened, the room temperature around it, and whether the door seals still close properly. A failing seal can add a substantial amount.

Sources

  • U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A — Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by StateprimaryJune 2026retrieved 2026-09-11
  • Typical power draw compiled from U.S. Department of Energy appliance guidance, ENERGY STAR product criteria and certified product data, and manufacturer nameplate specificationssecondary2026retrieved 2026-07-31

A working 1995 unit in the garage can cost four times what a current model of the same size would.

Methodology

How this calculator works

Where the baseline comes from

Annual consumption is anchored to the federal minimum efficiency standard in force when the unit was manufactured. Those standards stepped down sharply in 1993, 2001, and 2014, which is why vintage matters more than almost anything else.

Capacity is scaled with an exponent of 0.55 rather than linearly. A larger cabinet has more volume relative to the surface area through which heat leaks in, so a 25 cubic foot unit uses considerably less than 25/20ths of what a 20 cubic foot unit uses.

Configuration and features

Side-by-side and french door units use more than a top-freezer of the same capacity, because of longer door seals and, for french door models, a wider opening that dumps more cold air when opened.

A through-door ice and water dispenser adds roughly 14%. It breaches the insulated door, and the ice maker runs a small heater to release cubes from the mold.

A garage location adds about 35%, and in a cold winter can cause a non-garage-rated unit to stop cycling the freezer at all.

Location and data

Where the numbers come from

Location is optional, and we only ask for a ZIP code or a state — never a street address. A ZIP code is matched to its state using published postal prefix ranges, and that state is used to look up labor and price rows in the tables below. If you leave it blank, or your ZIP cannot be matched, the estimate falls back to a national average and says so on the result.

Nothing you enter is transmitted or stored. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, and the only place your inputs appear is in the page URL, so you can bookmark or share a result if you choose to.

  • primaryJune 2026v2026.06

    U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A — Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State

    Residential sector average retail price. State averages blend all utilities and rate classes in the state; an individual household bill can differ substantially, especially in deregulated markets and for customers on time-of-use tariffs.

  • secondary2026v2026.07.1

    Typical power draw compiled from U.S. Department of Energy appliance guidance, ENERGY STAR product criteria and certified product data, and manufacturer nameplate specifications

    Running watts describe draw while actively operating, not standby. Appliances that cycle on a thermostat (refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners) are modeled with a duty cycle rather than continuous operation, because nameplate watts times hours would overstate their use several-fold. Individual units vary widely by age, size, efficiency tier, and setting; treat these as class averages.

Full detail on every dataset is on the data sources page. Spotted something wrong? Report incorrect data.

Calibration

The judgements behind this estimate

These are the figures we chose rather than measured. For each one we record the range of values found across references, what we selected, and why — because an estimate you cannot interrogate is not much better than a guess. The 0 marked high risk are the ones most likely to be wrong and most consequential when they are.

  • Refrigerator consumption scaling with capacitymedium confidence
    Observed range
    0.4 — 0.75 (typical 0.55)exponent
    Why this value
    Consumption rises with capacity but less than proportionally, because a larger cabinet has more volume per unit of heat-losing surface. Regressions across certified product data give exponents between 0.4 and 0.75 depending on the product class mixed in. We selected 0.55 as the central estimate for full-size units. A linear model (exponent 1.0) would overstate large units by roughly 20%.
    Applies to
    Not regionally variable.
    Known limits
    No additional limitation recorded.
    Sources
    Recorded before the richer schema; see rationale for provenance
    Last verified
    2026-07-31 · reviewed biennial

Cost factors

What changes the price most

Age
The dominant factor. A pre-1990 unit can use three to four times what a current model does.
Capacity
Matters, but less than proportionally — bigger boxes are more efficient per cubic foot.
Configuration
Top-freezer is the most efficient layout; french door and side-by-side cost more to run.
Ice and water dispenser
Roughly 14% more.
Location
A hot garage forces the compressor to work far harder than a conditioned kitchen.
Door seals
Not modeled. A perished gasket can add a lot, and is cheap to replace.

Questions

Frequently asked

How much does it cost to run a refrigerator per year?

A current 20 cubic foot model typically uses 350 to 500 kilowatt-hours a year, which is roughly $65 to $95 at the national average rate of about 18 cents. In Hawaii or California the same unit can exceed $200.

Is it worth replacing an old refrigerator?

If it predates 2001, often yes on energy alone — the annual saving shown above frequently exceeds $100, which pays back a mid-range unit within a few years. For anything made after 2014 the energy case is weak, and replacing a working appliance has an environmental cost that the energy saving may not offset.

Should I keep a second fridge in the garage?

It is one of the most expensive habits in a typical home. An old unit in a hot garage can cost well over $200 a year to run for a few extra drinks. If you need the capacity, a modern garage-rated unit costs a fraction of that.

Does a full refrigerator use less electricity?

Slightly. Thermal mass helps hold temperature when the door opens, so a reasonably full fridge cycles a little less. The effect is small and not worth stocking a fridge you do not need. Keeping the coils clean and the seals intact matters more.

What temperature should my refrigerator be?

The FDA recommends 40°F or below for the fridge and 0°F for the freezer. Setting it colder than necessary wastes energy without improving food safety, and each degree costs real money over a year of continuous operation.