How much energy the refrigerators really consume?

Refrigerators and freezers (or their combinations) do not consume too much energy. Their standard consumption can be as low as 100W (watts) which is more or less the same as the consumption of a “stronger” bulb.

The problem of the fridges and freezers is that they run nonstop 24/7/365 which means that they take some 300-600 kWh (kilowatthours) from the mains.

Comparing the refrigerators based on their power consumption

The power consumption of a kitchen appliance is stated in kWh/year (kWh/annum) or - particularly by refrigerators - often in kWh/day or kWh/24 hours.

Each refrigerator must have an Energy label so that the buyer can compare the fridges also by their power consumption.

Anyway, the label only says how much power the refrigerator consumes without any relation to the inner space the frisge offers.

It is obvious that the smaller fridge consumes less energy than the giant one but to get an objective view when comparing the refrigerators you must divide their power consumption by the effective inner volume of the fridge (usually in litres).

Refrigerator power consumption comparison example

The Whirlpool S21 fridge consumes 802 kWh/year, while its little brother, the Whirlpool 6wbm12m only eats 251 kWh/annum. Is the 6wbm12m more effective in terms of the energy consumption? You know what comes… Sure, it isn´t.

If we calculate the consumption/volume ratio, the Whirlpool S21 fridge whos inner volume is 604 litres gets 802/604=1,33 and the Whirlpool 6wbsm whos effective volume is 118 gets 251/118=2.12.

The Whirlpool S21 is 60% more energy effective than the Whirlpool 6wbm12m.