How many watts does a refrigerator use? Cold numbers

Updated: Jan 29, 2025
Created: Feb 26, 2024
9 min

Andrei GorichenskiiAuthor

A tenth of your monthly electric bill is your fridge’s fault. How many watts does a refrigerator use? What about mini-fridges, side-by-side refrigerators and French-door ones? Can you make it more energy-efficient? Let’s raid the fridge and see what numbers we can work with.

Key takeaways

Average refrigerator’s wattage ranges from 100 W to 400 W, and they use 1 to 2 kWh every day.
Even though your home fridge itself needs little energy, it usually runs 24/7 and makes up about 5-10% of your electric bill.
Running a fridge may cost approximately $8 per month and almost $100 annually.

Refrigerator consumption changes throughout the day

Refrigerators typically have power ratings ranging from 100 W to 400 W. You can find this information on the label of your fridge. If you only see volts and amps, multiply them to get the power.

Volts, amps, watts – what’s the difference?

You’ve likely encountered these terms while trying to understand your energy usage. Let's clarify their roles:

Volts represent the electrical "force" or "pressure" that drives the flow of electricity.

Amps measure the rate of electrical flow, or the amount of electricity passing a point in a given time.

Watts are the unit of power, indicating the rate at which electrical energy is being used. It's calculated by multiplying volts by amps.

Kilowatt-hours measure the total amount of electricity consumed over time. Your electricity bill is based on the number of kWh you consume.

In essence, voltage is necessary for current to flow, enabling appliances to function. Amperage determines the capacity of wires and fuses to safely handle the electrical flow. Power determines how much energy an appliance consumes. Kilowatt-hours measure the total energy used, impacting your electricity costs.

Refrigerator type dictates its power usage

	Volume	Average power consumption	Annual energy use
Mini fridge	2 to 5 cubic feet	80-150 watts	150-400 kWh
Bottom-freezer refrigerators Top-freezer refrigerators	15 to 25 cubic feet	100-800 watts	300-800 kWh
Side-by-Side refrigerators	20 to 30 cubic feet	200-1000 watts	500-1200 kWh
French Door refrigerators	20 to 30 cubic feet	200-1200 watts	500-1400 kWh

Compact refrigerators are small, portable units commonly used in dorm and hotel rooms, offices, or as a secondary fridge. They usually have a single door and limited storage space inside. A mini fridge can be a good choice for a boat or an RV.

Top-freezer and bottom-freezer models are fairly similar in terms of size and energy-efficiency. Bottom-freezer refrigerators have an advantage in a way that fresh food is always at eye level. Top-freezer ones tend to use electricity better.

Side-by-side refrigerators are a type of refrigerator that features two vertical doors, with one side dedicated to the fresh food compartment and the other to the freezer compartment. French-door refrigerators also have a double-door design for the fresh food section but with a bottom freezer drawer. These two types are stylish but bigger in size and have slightly higher energy consumption.

Refrigerator is 5-10% of your electric bill

Even though a fridge itself needs little energy, it usually runs 24/7 to keep your food from spoiling. That’s why your refrigerator makes up about 5-10% of your electric bill.

899 kWh — average monthly energy consumption of a US household

Let’s do a little math to see how many watt-hours does a refrigerator use per day, per month and per year. We’ll then explore how it impacts your electric bill. Here is the method.

Say, we have a small refrigerator that is rated at 200 watts. We keep it running all day long and we’ll count the daily consumption as if it works 8 full hours. So we take your fridge's wattage and multiply it by 8 hours. Thus, a refrigerator consumes 200W × 8 hours ≈ 1.6 kWh daily. This translates to 1.6 kWh × 30 days ≈ 48 kWh per month. Finally, the approximate annual energy consumption of this refrigerator equals 48 kWh × 12 months ≈ 576 kWh.

It’s easy to then calculate the expenses. The average cost of one kilowatt-hour of electricity in the US in 2024 is 17 cents. This refrigerator needs a quarter per day, about $8 per month and almost $100 annually.

Refrigerators are required by the government to have an EnergyGuide label. This label is a yellow tag you can find on many appliances. It tells how much energy an appliance consumes, gives an estimate on yearly consumption and bill, and helps to compare it to other models. More energy-efficient appliances are cheaper to run and lower your utility bills.

Monthly and yearly costs to run a fridge by state

The consumption cost heavily depends on the cost of electricity, and each state has its own cost per kilowatt hour. Let's see how much it would cost you to run a fridge every day throughout the year.

State	Average Electricity Rate ($/kWh)	Monthly Cost ($)	Annual Cost ($)
California	0.30	14.4	172.8
Texas	0.13	6.2	74.4
Florida	0.14	6.7	80.4
New York	0.21	10	120
Pennsylvania	0.16	7.6	91.2

7 tips to make your fridge more energy-efficient

Keep your fridge full. It takes more energy to cool an empty fridge than a full one.
Place the fridge away from the stove and radiators.
Defrost your freezer regularly – it boosts the unit's efficiency. Start when the frost reaches ¼ inch thickness.
Clean the fridge doors, coils and sides. Dust and dirt make it harder for the fridge to cool down. Condenser coils in particular clog and pick up dust and pet hair. It makes the condenser work harder and consume more energy.
Cover liquids and soups in the fridge. They release moisture, making the fridge compressor work harder.
Old fridges use more energy than new ones. Consider upgrading to an energy-efficient model with Energy guide stickers.
Avoid setting the temperature too low. Lower temperatures require more energy. Aim for 37 °F for the fridge and 0 °F for the freezer.