How Much Electricity Does A Mini Fridge Use Per Month

If yous've been looking into getting a mini refrigerator , y'all've probably wondered how much electricity a mini fridge uses. Since it's smaller than a regular fridge, it has to waste a lot less energy, correct? Today, we're answering all your burning questions, starting with "how many watts does a mini fridge utilize?" The answer could surprise you.

What Is Wattage? And How Does It Work?

Before nosotros go any further, we have to talk most the elephant in the room: what is a watt? What does it tell you? Don't worry, we won't go into item or use whatsoever complicated linguistic communication.

Put but, watts are units of measurement for electricity. They tell yous how much power a machine uses. Every appliance in your kitchen likely has a sticker indicating their wattage power.

Watts are also the ground for calculating your energy utilisation. When you get your power pecker at the end of the month, y'all'll meet kilowatt-hour (kWh) written on there somewhere. The larger the apparatus, the higher the wattage. This is what tells yous how much y'all'll take to pay per year or per calendar month.

Mini Refrigerator Wattage

On boilerplate, the mutual mini refrigerator uses between l and 65 watts. But this isn't as straightforward as it appears to be. Some models may use less than that while others can go over that range. In fact, some models tin use as much as 100 watts!

Different Models, Different Wattage

At that place are a lot of factors that influence how many watts compact refrigerators use.

For starters, fridge size matters, equally larger models use more watts than smaller models.

Secondly, the quality of the insulating system on your compact refrigerator also affects the model's energy-efficiency. If your fridge is good at trapping in the cold, information technology will apply less power.

Thirdly, older models are more wasteful (higher wattage) than newer ones. That's why information technology might exist worth spending a scrap more on a more mod and more than energy-saving apparatus.

Lastly, how you stock upward the compact fridge matters likewise. Overcrowding it puts a strain on the motor, making the fridge work overtime and spend more ability.

How Many Watts Does My Mini Fridge Use?

If every mini fridge is different, how can you tell how much power your compact refrigerator is using? It'southward simple and at that place is no estimate-work involved.

Kickoff by looking inside your fridge. There should a sticker plastered on one of the side walls with technical information written on information technology. Nosotros'll be looking at those numbers.

You should see a number for "volts" and another for "amps." Multiply the two and you'll have an exact wattage number. Voilà.

Alternatively, you could get through the user's transmission (if you withal have it). You'll quickly find everything you need to know in at that place, including wattage.

Mini fridge sticker with technical information

Mini Fridge vs Full-Sized Refrigerator: Energy Consumption

As yous tin can imagine, total-size fridges has a higher power consumption than mini fridges. That's mainly considering of their size.

While the average refrigerator is around 23 cubic feet in volume, mini fridges tend to usually exist around 3 cubic feet. Information technology's this big deviation that explains why fridges run, on average, between 100 and 250 watts.

Are Mini Fridges Energy-Efficient?

When compared them to full-size fridges, mini fridges are a lot more energy-efficient. They tin can proceed things chilled at more than or less the same temperature but while using less power.

That said, non all models are exactly energy-efficient. The newer ones made past reputable manufacturers tin can save you a pretty penny per year. But low-quality appliances tin can end up draining your wallet if yous're not careful. Look for ones that accept an Energy Star certificate.

Different size fridges

How Much Does It Price to Run a Mini Fridge?

Once yous know how many watts your mini refrigerator uses, y'all can too calculate how much you'll be paying to use it. But in one case once again, we don't have a straight answer for y'all.

The reason why is that mini fridges don't run all day. They're non wasting power 24/7. Instead, they work in bursts. The engine runs until the temperature inside the fridge gets depression enough and and then it turns off until information technology needs to arctic the refrigerator again—and and so on. That means that, on average, your mini fridge will likely run for a third of the solar day.

So, multiply your mini fridge'southward wattage past eight hours (a third of 1 day) and you'll have a wattage-hour number.

So, you'll carve up that number by 1000 and you'll have kilowatt-hours, the golden measurement for computing electricity costs.

Multiply information technology past however much is your local kWh price and you have a daily cost of running your mini refrigerator.

Wait, What?

Let's put it into simpler terms by going over an case.

Imagine you have a mini fridge that runs on 100 watts. If it runs for 8 hours per day (a third of a day), that means it has a power consumption of 800 watt-hours. That equals 0.800 kilowatt-hours. Given that the average kWh toll in the United States is of 13.31 cents, running this mini fridge would cost you $3.twenty per calendar month. That'due south around $38.4 per year!

Top Tips for Lowering Your Mini Fridge Power Bill

Luckily, in that location are things you lot can exercise to further lower your mini fridge's power bill. Spoiler alert: they're probable the things your parents told y'all to do when you were younger.

Go along the Door Closed

Every time you open the mini fridge door you are raising its internal temperature. To counteract that, the engine starts working overtime, thus using more free energy. This so reflects on your power bill: the more than energy used, the more you'll have to pay.

If you want to stick to a lower budget and lower power consumption, try to resist the temptation of constantly checking what's inside your mini fridge.

Don't Leave the Doors Open for Long

The same thing happens when you leave the doors open up for as well long: you'll end upwards paying more money per year for a college free energy consumption. This is why the near modern mini and regular-size refrigerators now beep if yous get out them open for too long.

Stack Items Efficiently

Putting your food and drinks away in a well-organized mode is a great coin-saving thought. For starters, you can easily and rapidly find what you're looking for. Secondly, the cold air inside the fridge can circulate more freely, cooling down every shelf evenly. This prevents the engine from going into overwork-mode to bring down the temperature within the apparatus and lowers the energy consumption.

Defrost Whenever Needed

You may have noticed that sometimes there's ice build-up on the shelves and walls of your mini refrigerator. Information technology's normal, only y'all have to deal with it. If you don't, the engine volition (you guessed it!) work more than usual to bring down the temperature everywhere inside the mini fridge.

Luckily for you, we've already explained in detail how to defrost a mini refrigerator in just one day!

Keep It Away from Estrus Sources

Some other money-saving tip is to keep your mini refrigerator abroad from hot areas of your house or office. If the outside temperature is high, the mini fridge will try to offset it by working harder (and wasting more than energy and money).

It's best to go on it away from appliances that rut upward (such as tea kettles or instant pots ) and exterior of cupboards.