One of many greatest causes to purchase a brand new fridge is healthier power effectivity in contrast with an older mannequin. However how a lot of a distinction does power effectivity make within the long-term prices of a fridge? I am right here to crunch the numbers in a battle royale between fashionable fridges and people from 10 years in the past (2016).
Honest warning earlier than I get began, I did a whole lot of math on a pattern dimension of two,630 fridges. I focus virtually completely on long-term power prices as a result of I gained easy accessibility to the suitable Vitality Star information.
The place my fridge information comes from
Publicly obtainable Vitality Star information is a significant participant on this evaluation.
For my 2025 samples, I analyzed power utilization in fashionable Vitality Star-certified fashions. For 2016, I could not depend on Vitality Star information, as a result of it lists solely fashions that qualify for the latest requirements, not previous ones.
As a substitute, I sourced my 2016 information from the California Vitality Fee’s Modernized Equipment Effectivity Database System. Relatively than cowl 42 fridge courses individually, I grouped them into the next broad classes:
Fridge sorts analyzed
| Pattern dimension: 2025 | Pattern dimension: 2016 | |
|---|---|---|
| High-mounted freezers | 385 | 137 |
| Backside-mounted freezers | 440 | 192 |
| Aspect-by-sides | 23 | 68 |
| Compact fridges | 1,235 | 150 |
| Complete | 2,083 | 547 |
I did not have a look at standalone fridges as a result of there wasn’t sufficient information from both pattern group to carry out a significant comparability. Standalone freezers are a distinct Vitality Star dataset that I did not embody.
It was important to exclude older merchandise from the fashionable information
I excluded any fridges manufactured earlier than 2021.
The present slate of Vitality Star-qualified fridges consists of fashions from way back to January 2014, so I narrowed my checklist of candidates to merchandise that hit the market in 2021 or later — the final time Vitality Star up to date its standards. Whereas this technically implies that this is not a one-to-one comparability of 2025 and 2016, it displays necessary particulars:
- Shops do not completely carry fridges from the present calendar yr, so the information ought to no less than mirror what’s obtainable at retail.
- Lots of the best fridges had been launched earlier than 2025.
- It is fully potential {that a} fridge rolled off the manufacturing facility line a month in the past, regardless of incomes a certification in 2021.
Evaluating your present fridge
I recommend utilizing Vitality Star’s Flip Your Fridge Calculator to check your present fridge with this evaluation. It supplies a tough estimate based mostly in your fridge’s age, dimension, configuration and native electrical energy worth. For extra present electrical energy costs, verify your current billing assertion.
Likewise, you possibly can search for an Vitality Information Label along with your fridge’s mannequin quantity for a precise yearly electrical energy use determine. I take advantage of the newest Vitality Info Administration information from 2024 for my calculations — 2025’s information is not finalized as of the publishing of this text. It lists the residential nationwide common at $0.1648 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The magic quantity for every kind of fridge
As a result of all of it boils all the way down to a fridge’s class and quantity, I can not offer you a common quantity that applies to each fridge. As a substitute, I am going to break down the highlights and common stats in every class. Discovering retail pricing from 2016 (and 2025) proved to be a way more tough process than I may resolve within the time I had for this evaluation. As a substitute, I used the information to create easy power financial savings pointers beneath.
Fridges with essentially the most potential financial savings over 10 years
Vitality-efficient side-by-side fridges yield essentially the most financial savings, in line with my calculations.
If the added price of upgrading to a brand new fridge (in contrast with shopping for or repairing a used one) is decrease than the numbers beneath, the brand new fridge will seemingly offset that worth distinction by power financial savings alone over the subsequent 10 years:
- Aspect-by-side fridges: $340
- Backside freezers: $272
- High freezers: $83
- Compact fridges: $0 (common power effectivity stays largely unchanged since 2016)
If a brand new fridge prices greater than this effectivity premium, it can take longer to interrupt even. Do not forget that whereas averages can provide you a great rule of thumb, essentially the most environment friendly home equipment will save much more in power prices. These numbers additionally do not account for potential rebates out of your utility firm, so precise financial savings could also be even larger.
Crucially, these numbers assume you are not switching to a distinct fridge kind. For instance, you may seemingly see even larger power financial savings when changing a side-by-side fridge with a bottom-freezer fridge.
Key takeaways
- New side-by-side fridges will, on common, minimize your power prices greater than every other kind of fridge, although backside freezers additionally noticed some good enhancements during the last 10 years. Upgrading both kind of fridge to a contemporary model might be price it.
- The $83 in power financial savings for prime freezers over 10 years in all probability will not be sufficient to justify an improve in case your present prime freezer nonetheless works.
- Fashionable compact fridge know-how is essentially similar to that of 2016. You do not have to be choosy with most fashions.
A brand new top-mounted fridge may save simply $83 in electrical energy over 10 years.
High-mounted freezers
High-mounted freezers
| High-mounted | 2025 (common) | 2016 (common) |
|---|---|---|
| Effectivity (vs. U.S. commonplace) | 10.80% | 4.10% |
| Annual power utilization | 344 kWh/yr | 394 kWh/yr |
| Annual power price ($0.1648/kWh nationwide common) | $56.62 | $64.94 |
| Month-to-month financial savings vs 2016 | $0.69 | – |
| Annual financial savings vs 2016 | $8.31 | – |
| 10-year financial savings vs 2016 | $83.14 | – |
- Over 10 years, a brand new top-mounted freezer saves an estimated $83 in electrical energy payments in contrast with a 2016 mannequin.
- I could not discover a single instance from the pattern information (together with the 2016 MAEDBS information) that does not already meet the necessities for Vitality Star Most Environment friendly 2025.
- The common effectivity of contemporary Vitality Star-rated prime freezers is sort of triple that of 2016.
- High freezers use much less power per cubic foot, on common, than backside freezers and side-by-sides. They’re additionally the smallest full-size fridges.
A brand new bottom-mounted freezer ought to save round $272 in electrical energy over 10 years.
Backside-mounted freezers
| Backside-mounted | 2025 (common) | 2016 (common) |
|---|---|---|
| Effectivity (vs. U.S. commonplace) | 14.80% | 8.50% |
| Annual power utilization | 468 kWh/yr | 633 kWh/yr |
| Annual power price ($0.1648/kWh nationwide common) | $77.09 | $104.27 |
| Month-to-month financial savings vs 2016 | $2.26 | – |
| Annual financial savings vs 2016 | $27.18 | – |
| 10-year financial savings vs 2016 | $271.80 | – |
- A brand new bottom-mounted freezer ought to save an estimated $272 in electrical energy payments over 10 years in comparison with a 2016 mannequin.
- Backside freezer fridges earn larger effectivity scores on common than different full-size fridges, however their effectivity enhancements since 2016 aren’t as pronounced as these of prime freezers and side-by-sides.
- Roughly one in six backside freezers qualify for Vitality Star Most Environment friendly 2025 — solely three fashions from 2016 meet this commonplace.
Aspect-by-side
| Aspect-by-side | 2025 (common) | 2016 (common) |
|---|---|---|
| Effectivity (vs. U.S. commonplace) | 12.70% | 4.20% |
| Annual power utilization | 507 kWh/yr | 714 kWh/yr |
| Annual power price ($0.1648/kWh nationwide common) | $83.62 | $117.63 |
| Month-to-month financial savings vs 2016 | $2.83 | – |
| Annual financial savings vs 2016 | $34.01 | – |
| 10-year financial savings vs 2016 | $340.08 | – |
A side-by-side or “French door” fridge is the winner by way of potential financial savings.
- A new side-by-side fridge saves a mean of $340 in electrical energy payments in contrast with a 2016 mannequin, the biggest financial savings on this evaluation.
- Whereas 5 side-by-side fridge fashions (7%) from 2016 nonetheless meet fashionable Vitality Star standards, two of those additionally qualify for Vitality Star Most Environment friendly 2025 — versus a single product within the fashionable group.
Compact fridges
| Compact | 2025 (common) | 2016 (common) |
|---|---|---|
| Effectivity (vs. U.S. commonplace) | 14.20% | 14.70% |
| Annual power utilization | 256 kWh/yr | 252 kWh/yr |
| Annual power price ($0.1648/kWh nationwide common) | $42.13 | $41.59 |
| Month-to-month financial savings vs 2016 | -$0.05 | – |
| Annual financial savings vs 2016 | -$0.54 | – |
| 10-year financial savings vs 2016 | -$5.44 | – |
Mini fridges have not develop into considerably extra energy-efficient.
- New compact fridges have roughly the identical power effectivity as their 2016 counterparts. In truth, the typical 2016 mannequin makes use of much less power.
- Whereas compact fridges use much less power total than full-size fridges, they use extra electrical energy per cubic foot of quantity.
- 121 minifridge fashions (81%) from 2016 meet fashionable Vitality Star standards.
- Roughly 5% of fashions from each pattern teams qualify for Vitality Star Most Environment friendly 2025.
The place you reside additionally performs a task
Your regional power prices can swing the financial savings in both path.
Electrical energy prices differ broadly relying on the state and area you reside in. For instance, North Dakota’s common worth in 2024 was simply 11.51 cents per kilowatt-hour (the bottom within the US), whereas Hawaii’s was a whopping 42.86 cents.
The upper your electrical fee, the extra you may save on power with a brand new fridge. In contrast with the nationwide common, residents of Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Alaska will see extra power financial savings of 51% to 160% when shopping for a brand new Vitality Star fridge.
Conversely, financial savings shall be a lot decrease in states with comparatively low-cost electrical energy, resembling North Dakota, Idaho, Nebraska, Louisiana and Washington, which common lower than 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. In North Dakota’s case, that is simply $237.51 in financial savings on a side-by-side fridge — $102.56 lower than the nationwide common.
Effectivity math would not add up for good fridges
The exorbitant upfront price of most premium good fridges will seemingly cancel out your power financial savings.
Whereas I do not explicitly discover it on this evaluation, good fridges aren’t usually a great funding in case your most important aim is saving power over time. It has nothing to do with power effectivity and all the pieces to do with the premium you are paying for good residence tech.
For instance, Samsung’s good fridge fashions price no less than $700 greater than their conventional counterparts — this simply obliterates any long-term power financial savings. That mentioned, good fridges aren’t going away, and it is OK to splurge in case your funds permits.
How I did the maths: Calculating effectivity information for fridges from 2016
Calculating fridge effectivity was a significant enterprise.
After I began on this evaluation, I had no thought how bewildering fridge effectivity rules are within the US. However I wanted to know them to precisely calculate 2025 energy-efficiency values for all of the 2016 fashions.
The best technique to clarify that is that each potential fridge configuration makes use of a novel components decided by effectivity variables, the fridge’s adjusted quantity, and anticipated base power consumption.
For instance, Class 3 Fridges have a top-mounted freezer, computerized defrost, and do not embody an computerized icemaker. As a result of the freezer is on prime, the equipment’s fan can reap the benefits of the truth that chilly air sinks to tug air from the freezer into the fridge compartment. Such a passive cooling will at all times be extra environment friendly than pumping chilly air up from a bottom-mounted freezer.
Likewise, the adjusted quantity accounts for the freezer compartment, which takes extra power to achieve a goal temperature than the contemporary meals compartment. Adjusted quantity is at all times bigger than the linear quantity of a fridge — no less than when the equipment has each a freezer and a fridge.
Lastly, the entire elements of a fridge have a baseline power degree (base load) decided by the legal guidelines of physics. Since fridges cannot use lower than this a lot power, it is added to the ultimate calculation:
(Effectivity variable X Adjusted Quantity) + Base Load = Most Allowable Vitality Use
When you notice that just about all the pieces — from defrost kind to freezer location to built-in versus freestanding — impacts effectivity, it is smart that there are 42 courses of fridges and freezers with totally different power effectivity requirements.
Vitality Star standards are extra easy
Vitality Star has a number of scores for residence home equipment.
It is a lot simpler to calculate the power degree a fridge must qualify for an Vitality Star Certification. It merely wants to make use of 10% much less power than the federal commonplace — I excluded fashionable fridges that fall beneath this threshold. The final wrinkle is the Vitality Star Most Environment friendly standing, which modifications yearly. Listed below are the 2025 requirements (PDF):
- High-mounted freezers will need to have an annual power consumption of 637 kWh or much less.
- Backside-mounted freezers and side-by-side models should be no less than 27% extra environment friendly than the federal commonplace.
- Compact fridges should be no less than 30% extra environment friendly than the federal commonplace.
As soon as I discovered the calculations for every fridge class, it was merely a matter of including the formulation to my spreadsheet, calculating common power prices and figuring out the financial savings.
