Running cost for the KitchenAid KRBR109ESS**
At 469 kWh/yr, the KitchenAid KRBR109ESS**'s ENERGY STAR certification puts it more expensive than most models in its category to run against every other certified refrigerator.
The $88 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
KitchenAid KRBR109ESS** against the category
That's 21.5% above the refrigerator category average of 386 kWh/yr, and ranks 3,402 of 4,704 certified refrigerators for annual running cost, 1 being cheapest. The category average comes from every refrigerator ENERGY STAR currently certifies (4,704 models), not an outside benchmark, about $16/year above that average at the national rate. See the methodology page.
What sits beside it in the ranking
KitchenAid KRBR130SP*** ($88/yr, 469 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the KitchenAid KRBR109ESS**. KitchenAid KRBL130SP*** ($88/yr, 469 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Within the KitchenAid lineup
KitchenAid makes 100 ENERGY STAR certified refrigerators; this one ranks 22 of 100 for running cost, between the brand's cheapest, the KUDR204KPA** at $51/yr, and its priciest, the KSSC48QVS** at $151/yr.
What this adds up to over time
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical refrigerator's service life at 13 years; run the KitchenAid KRBR109ESS** that long and it costs about $1,146 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
Running above the category average, $88/year is exactly the kind of number that makes a newer, more efficient model pay for itself faster.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
Protecting what you have
Whether or not the KitchenAid KRBR109ESS** ever needs replacing, a repair is the more common failure for a refrigerator, one a protection plan budgets for ahead of time.
Sourcing
Two sourced numbers, nothing modeled: ENERGY STAR's certified kWh/yr for this exact model, and EIA's published state electricity rate. The full Refrigerator category page shows all 4,704 refrigerators ranked by cost; the state-rate guide covers the half of this number that isn't the appliance.