Home Wine Fridge Running Cost Calculator

A wine fridge is cheap to run, but the label watts alone do not tell you the cost, because the cooling cycles on and off all day. This calculator turns the four numbers that matter into a daily, monthly and yearly cost.

1. Enter the fridge power in watts from the label on the back of the fridge or in its manual.
2. Enter the hours it runs each day. This is the effective running time, not the time it is plugged in.
3. Enter your electricity rate in dollars per kWh from your latest bill.
4. Enter the days in the month, then press Calculate, or press Enter. The monthly cost appears first, with the daily cost, the yearly cost and the kilowatt-hours per month below.

Electricity is billed in kilowatt-hours, which is one kilowatt running for one hour. The formula works in three small steps. First, turn watts into kilowatts by dividing by 1,000. Next, multiply by the hours the cooling runs each day to get the kilowatt-hours per day. Then multiply by the days in the month and by your electricity rate to get the monthly cost.

Monthly cost = watts / 1,000 x hours per day x days per month x electricity rate. Daily cost = watts / 1,000 x hours per day x electricity rate. Yearly cost = daily cost x 365. Kilowatt-hours per month = watts / 1,000 x hours per day x days per month. The tricky input is the hours per day, because a fridge that is plugged in around the clock does not cool around the clock. The duty cycle is the share of the time the cooling runs, so the effective hours are 24 hours times the duty cycle. At a 35% duty cycle that is 8.4 hours. Our energy converter can change watts and kilowatt-hours into other energy units.

A home wine fridge is rated at 100 watts, runs 12 hours a day, and the electricity rate is $0.17 per kWh over a 30 day month.

1. Power in kilowatts: 100 watts / 1,000 = 0.1 kW.
2. Energy per day: 0.1 kW x 12 hours = 1.2 kWh.
3. Daily cost: 1.2 kWh x $0.17 = $0.20.
4. Energy per month: 1.2 kWh x 30 days = 36 kWh.
5. Monthly cost: 36 kWh x $0.17 = $6.12.
6. Energy per year: 1.2 kWh x 365 days = 438 kWh.
7. Yearly cost: $0.204 x 365 days = $74.46.

As a second check, take the same 100 watt fridge plugged in 24 hours a day at a 35% duty cycle and a rate of $0.175 per kWh. The effective hours are 8.4, the energy per day is 0.84 kWh, the daily cost is $0.147, the monthly cost is $4.41 and the yearly cost is $53.66, which matches the published WattCostCalc example. The same steps work for any wine fridge, so try your own numbers in the tool above.

The power rating moves the cost in a straight line. At $0.17 per kWh over 12 hours a day and a 30 day month, a 50 watt fridge costs $3.06 a month, a 100 watt fridge costs $6.12 and a 180 watt fridge costs $11.02. The hours matter just as much, because doubling the running time doubles the bill. The same 100 watt fridge costs $3.06 a month at 6 hours a day and $12.24 a month at 24 hours a day.

The electricity rate moves the cost by the same share. In the worked example the monthly cost is $6.12 at $0.17 per kWh, $10.80 at $0.30 per kWh and $3.60 at $0.10 per kWh, while the energy used stays at 36 kWh a month in every case. Room temperature moves the cost in a hidden way, because a warm room makes the compressor run longer. A fridge in a hot garage can easily cost twice as much to run as the same fridge in a cool kitchen, and opening the door often or setting the temperature very low has the same effect. Our basement dehumidifier running cost calculator uses the same watts, hours and rate method for another appliance that runs for long hours each day.

Wine fridges cool in two ways, and the cheaper one is not the one with the lower watts. A compressor fridge draws about 70 to 100 watts while it runs, but it rests most of the time, with a duty cycle of about 20 to 35%. A thermoelectric fridge draws only about 40 to 70 watts, but it runs much longer, with a duty cycle of about 45 to 65%. Over a year the compressor type usually uses about 120 to 300 kWh, while the thermoelectric type usually uses about 160 to 400 kWh.

At $0.17 per kWh, a compressor fridge at 186 kWh a year costs about $31.62 a year, while a thermoelectric fridge at 263 kWh a year costs about $44.71 a year. The gap is small, so pick the type for noise and temperature control first. A thermoelectric fridge is quieter and has no vibration, which suits a bedroom or a living room, while a compressor fridge holds its temperature better in a warm room. A dual zone fridge costs more than a single zone one, because it runs two cooling systems.

Put the fridge in the coolest spot you have, away from sunlight, the oven and other heat sources, with space around it for air to flow. A fridge in a cool kitchen runs fewer hours than the same fridge in a warm garage. Set the temperature to about 55 degrees Fahrenheit for red wine storage, and do not set it lower than you need, because each degree colder makes the compressor work harder.

Keep the door closed as much as you can, and check the door seal by closing it on a sheet of paper. If the paper slides out easily, warm air is leaking in and the fridge is running extra hours for nothing. Keep the fridge fairly full, since bottles hold the cold better than empty air, and clean the coils at the back every few months so heat can escape. A new seal or a new ENERGY STAR model can cut the yearly cost by 10 to 20%. Our home air purifier running cost calculator works the same way for another appliance that runs all day.