How Much Does It Cost to Run a Mini Fridge?
Short answer: about $0.12 a day and $3.49 a month, or $0.014 for each hour it runs at full power, at the 2025 US average electricity rate. That is for a 80 W mini fridge running 24 hours a day with a 35% duty cycle. Change the state and hours below for your own number.
Updated Nov 8, 2026
Quick answer
Quick answer, US average (17.3 c/kWh)
About $3.49 a month
The same use costs $2.38 a month in North Dakota and $8.18 in Hawaii.
- Per hour
- $0.005
- with 35% cycling; $0.014 at full 80 W
- Per day
- $0.12
- 24 h, 0.67 kWh
- Per month
- $3.49
- 30 days
- Per year
- $42.43
- 365 days at the same use
Your state, your hours
Per hour
$0.005
Per day
$0.12
Per month
$3.49
Per year
$42.43
Mini Fridge at 80 W, 24 h a day, 30 days a month, 35% duty cycle: 20.2 kWh a month. Using the 2025 US average of 17.3 cents/kWh.
Want to change the watts or duty cycle too? Open the full calculator.
What decides the cost of running a mini fridge
A compressor mini fridge works exactly like a full-size refrigerator, just with a smaller box and a smaller compressor. While the compressor runs, a typical 2.5 to 4.5 cubic foot model draws 60 to 100 W. Between cycles it draws almost nothing. The default here is 80 W running about 35 percent of the time, which works out to 0.67 kWh a day and about 245 kWh a year. That lands in the range ENERGY STAR compact models list on their yellow EnergyGuide labels, roughly 200 to 300 kWh a year.
The surprise for most people is that a mini fridge is not much cheaper to run than a full-size one. A current 18 cubic foot fridge uses around 400 to 460 kWh a year while holding five times as much food. Small boxes have more wall area per cubic foot, cheaper units use thinner insulation, and many sit in a hot dorm room, office or garage bar where the compressor has to work harder. Per cubic foot of storage, a mini fridge is one of the least efficient ways to keep things cold.
Watch out for thermoelectric coolers sold as mini fridges, often the tiny 4 to 6 can units and some wine coolers. They have no compressor. A Peltier plate pumps heat out and usually draws 40 to 70 W almost all the time, because it cannot cool very far below room temperature. A 60 W thermoelectric unit running around the clock uses 1.44 kWh a day, about twice what the compressor mini fridge on this page uses, while holding far less.
Placement matters more than the dial. Mini fridges usually shed heat through the sides and back, so one pushed into a cabinet or under a desk with no airflow runs much longer. Give it a few inches on every side, keep it out of the sun, and set it to about 37 degrees. If it has a freezer compartment that frosts up, defrost it before the ice gets thicker than a quarter inch.
The real number for your unit is easy to get. Put it on a plug-in meter for a week and divide the kWh by seven.
How to cut it
- Leave 2 to 3 inches of clearance on the sides and back, since most mini fridges shed heat through their walls.
- Keep it out of direct sun and away from heat sources like a TV, radiator or a hot garage wall.
- Defrost the freezer compartment before the ice passes a quarter inch. Frost insulates the coil and lengthens every cycle.
- If you only need it occasionally, such as a garage drink fridge in winter, unplug it and prop the door open.
Mini Fridge cost by state
Monthly cost for 80 W, 24 h a day, 35% duty cycle, 30 days, sorted cheapest to most expensive. Pick your state above to highlight it.
| Rank | State | Cents/kWh | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 11.81 | $2.38 |
| 2 | Idaho | 11.82 | $2.38 |
| 3 | Nebraska | 12.34 | $2.49 |
| 4 | Louisiana | 12.57 | $2.53 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 12.84 | $2.59 |
| 6 | Montana | 12.98 | $2.62 |
| 7 | Utah | 13.07 | $2.63 |
| 8 | Washington | 13.11 | $2.64 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 13.12 | $2.64 |
| 10 | Nevada | 13.15 | $2.65 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 13.18 | $2.66 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 13.24 | $2.67 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 13.38 | $2.70 |
| 14 | Wyoming | 13.38 | $2.70 |
| 15 | Missouri | 13.49 | $2.72 |
| 16 | Iowa | 13.72 | $2.77 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 14.02 | $2.83 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 14.03 | $2.83 |
| 19 | Kansas | 14.56 | $2.94 |
| 20 | Georgia | 14.73 | $2.97 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 14.96 | $3.02 |
| 22 | New Mexico | 15.08 | $3.04 |
| 23 | Florida | 15.24 | $3.07 |
| 24 | Virginia | 15.28 | $3.08 |
| 25 | Arizona | 15.32 | $3.09 |
| 26 | Oregon | 15.37 | $3.10 |
| 27 | West Virginia | 15.41 | $3.11 |
| 28 | Texas | 15.47 | $3.12 |
| 29 | Minnesota | 15.82 | $3.19 |
| 30 | Colorado | 15.85 | $3.20 |
| 31 | Alabama | 16.10 | $3.25 |
| 32 | Indiana | 16.23 | $3.27 |
| 33 | Ohio | 16.96 | $3.42 |
| 34 | Delaware | 17.13 | $3.45 |
| 35 | Illinois | 17.69 | $3.57 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 18.16 | $3.66 |
| 37 | Pennsylvania | 19.30 | $3.89 |
| 38 | Maryland | 19.48 | $3.93 |
| 39 | Michigan | 20.01 | $4.03 |
| 40 | District of Columbia | 21.94 | $4.42 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 22.63 | $4.56 |
| 42 | Vermont | 22.92 | $4.62 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 24.56 | $4.95 |
| 44 | Alaska | 26.09 | $5.26 |
| 45 | New York | 26.39 | $5.32 |
| 46 | Maine | 27.78 | $5.60 |
| 47 | Connecticut | 29.38 | $5.92 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 29.46 | $5.94 |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 30.48 | $6.14 |
| 50 | California | 32.54 | $6.56 |
| 51 | Hawaii | 40.59 | $8.18 |
Rates: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, annual average residential price, 2025 (eia.gov). Full list on the electricity rates by state page.
Measure it instead of estimating
Kasa KP125M Matter Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring (2-pack)
Logs daily and monthly kWh in the Kasa app, so you can see the real duty cycle over a week instead of guessing. Rated 15 A, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only.
Under $100, live price on Amazon
Check price on AmazonPaid link. We earn a commission at no cost to you.
P3 Kill A Watt P4400 Electricity Usage Monitor
Plugs in between the wall and any 120 V appliance and shows watts and accumulated kWh. The cheapest way to replace the estimate on this page with your own number.
Under $100, live price on Amazon
Check price on AmazonPaid link. We earn a commission at no cost to you.
Each card says whether its link is paid. We earn a commission if you buy through Amazon.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a mini fridge per month?+
About $3.50 a month at the national average rate. An 80 W compressor running 35 percent of the time uses 0.08 x 24 x 0.35 = 0.67 kWh a day, or about 20 kWh over 30 days, and 20.2 x $0.173 is $3.49.
How much does it cost to run a mini fridge per year?+
About $42 a year. The default uses about 245 kWh a year (0.67 kWh x 365), and 245 x $0.173 is $42.44. ENERGY STAR compact models list roughly 200 to 300 kWh a year on the EnergyGuide label, which is $35 to $52.
How much does a mini fridge cost per day?+
About 12 cents a day. That is 0.67 kWh x $0.173 = $0.116 at the national average rate, ranging from about 8 cents in the cheapest states to over 25 cents in Hawaii.
How many watts does a mini fridge use?+
About 60 to 100 W while the compressor runs, with 80 W as a typical figure, and up to about 500 W for a moment at start-up. Because the compressor cycles, the average over a day is closer to 28 W (80 W x 0.35).
Does a mini fridge use a lot of electricity?+
No. At about 245 kWh a year it uses roughly half what a full-size refrigerator does (about 460 kWh on this site's defaults), but it holds a fraction of the food, so per cubic foot it is less efficient.
Is a mini fridge cheaper to run than a full-size refrigerator?+
Yes, by about $38 a year on this site's defaults: about $42 a year for a mini fridge against about $80 for a full-size model (460 kWh x $0.173). A second mini fridge in addition to a full-size one adds the whole $42.
Do thermoelectric mini fridges use more electricity?+
Usually, yes. A thermoelectric cooler draws 40 to 70 W nearly nonstop because it has no compressor to cycle. At 60 W around the clock that is 1.44 kWh a day, about 25 cents a day or $7.47 a month, roughly twice a compressor mini fridge.
Should I unplug a mini fridge when not in use?+
If it will sit empty for more than a few days, yes. Each day unplugged saves about 0.67 kWh, about 12 cents, so a dorm fridge left off over a 3 month summer saves about 60 kWh, roughly $10. Prop the door open so it does not mildew.
How long will a power station run a mini fridge?+
Roughly 30 hours on a 1 kWh power station. The fridge averages about 28 W over a day, so 1,000 Wh lasts about 35 hours before inverter losses of 10 to 15 percent. The inverter also needs to handle a start-up surge of about 500 W.
How can I lower the cost of running a mini fridge?+
Give it airflow, keep it out of the heat, set it to about 37 degrees and keep the freezer section defrosted. In a hot space the duty cycle can double, so moving it from a 90 degree garage to an indoor room can save about 0.67 kWh a day, about 12 cents.
Marcus Reed
Founder and Editor, CrunchYourDollars
Marcus Reed builds the sizing tools on CrunchYourDollars. He is a software engineer with a long-running PC hardware and power supply habit, which is where the watts, watt-hours and surge math on this site comes from. Product specs are pulled from manufacturer data sheets, electricity rates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and water chemistry rules from the Water Quality Association. He is not a licensed electrician or plumber: the tools show the math and the matching models so you can make the call, and anything involving your electrical panel should be checked by a licensed pro.
More about CrunchYourDollars and how we researchGet notified when we add tools
An occasional email when a new sizing tool goes live or the product database is refreshed. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.