What the GOLDEN BVIREF18W costs to run
At 362 kWh/yr, the GOLDEN BVIREF18W's ENERGY STAR certification puts it about average for its category to run against every other certified refrigerator.
That $68 is priced at 18.8¢/kWh, the average of all 51 state rates this site tracks. Your own state's rate is one click away.
Efficient, or not, for a refrigerator
Against the category average of 386 kWh/yr, this model uses 6.2% less, ranking 2,533 of 4,704 refrigerators tracked here for running cost. That average is drawn from all 4,704 refrigerators ENERGY STAR currently certifies, not an outside number, a $5/year gap from this model at the national rate. Full sourcing is in the sourcing notes.
Right next to it on the list
A rank or two either side of the GOLDEN BVIREF18W: GOLDEN BVIREF18SS ($68/yr, 362 kWh/yr), then HOUSE KOBO HD-663FWEN ($68/yr, 362 kWh/yr).
Comparing GOLDEN's own models
Of the 11 ENERGY STAR certified refrigerators GOLDEN makes, the BVIREF18W costs the most to run, $9/year more than GOLDEN's cheapest, the GUF21GHS.
GOLDEN BVIREF18W over 13 years
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical refrigerator's service life at 13 years; run the GOLDEN BVIREF18W that long and it costs about $885 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified refrigerators go, $68/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified refrigerators before buying.
If you're keeping it
At $68/year just to run, a refrigerator is worth protecting against an unplanned repair bill on top of that.
Where this number comes from
At rank 2,533 of 4,704 for running cost, see the refrigerator category page for the rest of the field, or the guide to how much your state matters. The 362 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.