When considering purchasing a mini fridge, there are a few factors that come to mind… where are you going to put the mini fridge? What’s your budget? What are you going to be using the fridge for? and How much electricity does a mini fridge use? All of these questions help a consumer to decide if buying a mini fridge for their home, car, or apartment is worth it.
In this article, we’ll be discussing just how much electricity mini fridges use, as well as providing you with an in-depth analysis of the uses of mini fridges.
Let’s get started!
Mini Fridge Electricity Consumption
It goes without saying that mini fridges will be easier on your electrical bill than a regular-sized fridge would. Mini fridges are great for a 1-person household, and when deciding whether or not to downgrade your regular fridge to a mini fridge, for the single person, a mini fridge is a money-saving trade. Mini fridges are also great for guest houses, or rooms, garages, home offices, or man caves and will save on a household’s total electrical bill compared to putting a regular-sized fridge in these areas of the home.
On average, a mini fridge with up to 5 cubic feet of total capacity will consume about $20 to $40 dollars of electricity each year. Depending on the model of your mini fridge, your mini fridge could consume 80 to 100 watts of electricity per hour, or about 640 watt-hours each day.
Factors such as the size of your fridge, automatic defrosting features, your family’s or guest’s habits, and how much food is in the fridge will also impact the bill for good or bad.
How Mini Fridges Compare to Full-Sized Fridges
To put a mini fridge’s energy consumption into perspective, let’s see how they compare to a full-sized fridge.
As with mini fridges, a refrigerator’s energy consumption is dependent on the type, size, special cooling features, and usage and will cost the homeowner varied amounts of money in electricity each year. However, the average running cost of a full-size fridge per year is about $150 dollars.
This means that with a mini fridge, there’s a possibility of saving $100 to $130 each year in energy consumption.
Saving Energy and Excessive Energy Consumption
Now that we know the average electricity a mini fridge uses, and how it compared to a full-sized fridge, what are some factors that might play a role in increasing or decreasing energy consumption? There are a few things that can contribute to your mini-fridge costing more (or less), including:
- Leaving the mini fridge door open will result in the fridge working harder to keep the internal temperature cool. Be sure that you try to keep the door closed as often as possible and make sure that it is completely closed when not in use.
- The size of your mini fridge will also determine how much energy it uses. Larger mini fridges will require more electricity to run, while smaller mini fridges will require less energy.
- The room temperature shouldn’t be too hot. High temperatures will result in your mini fridge working overtime to keep the internal contents to the set temperature.
- Place room temperature or cold products into the fridge — NOT hot. Hot leftovers or prepped meals will also make you mini fridge work harder to cool down the contents and keep the internal temperature at the set temperature.
- Overcrowding your mini fridge will increase your electrical consumption. The more products you have in your mini fridge, the harder it will have to work to keep those products down to the right temperature. Don’t overcrowd your mini fridge. Be sure there is enough “wiggle room” between each product for airflow.
- The age of the mini fridge. If you decide to buy a mini fridge, go with a brand new unit. It may cost a little more upfront, but it will certainly cost you less in the long run than if you decided to purchase a used mini fridge that’s been through the wringer for a few years already.
- Setting a mini fridge on the carpet will put pressure on the compressor. If you’re looking to place a mini fridge in a carpeted room, bear in mind that if there isn’t a buffer between the carpet and the mini fridge, the mini fridge will work double-time to keep cool, and will result in abnormal electrical consumption.
Final Thoughts
Overall, mini fridges don’t use an abundance of electricity and will only cost about $30 each year to run. They’re pretty cost-effective, making them a worthwhile buy if you have a guest room or house, live alone and want to save money, or if you just need a little extra space for food for your family.
Keep in mind that the size of your mini fridge plays a big role in how much electricity it will consume. If you buy a mini fridge that is larger than 5 cubic feet, it will cost more than $30 or $40 dollars each year. Other factors, such as opening and closing the door(s) often will warm the internal temperature and force the mini fridge to work harder to keep the inside cool.