Marathon MCR31BLS: running cost
The Marathon MCR31BLS is certified by ENERGY STAR at 320 kWh a year, cheaper than most models in its category to run among refrigerators currently certified.
That $60 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.
How the Marathon MCR31BLS compares to other refrigerators
Against the category average of 386 kWh/yr, this model uses 17.1% less, ranking 1,983 of 4,704 refrigerators tracked here for running cost. 4,704 certified refrigerators, one average, about $12/year of daylight between it and this model; the full methodology has the rest.
Neighbouring models
Right next to the Marathon MCR31BLS on that list: Magic Chef HMDR31GWE ($60/yr, 320 kWh/yr) runs slightly less, while Premium Levella PRF315300HW ($60/yr, 320 kWh/yr) runs slightly more.
Same brand, different models
Ranked 31 of Marathon's 57 certified refrigerators, this sits between the M4-100BLS ($25/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the MFF208WFD-2 ($87/yr, its priciest).
Marathon MCR31BLS over 13 years
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical refrigerator's service life at 13 years; run the Marathon MCR31BLS that long and it costs about $782 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Weighing a replacement
Efficient as certified refrigerators go, $60/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 $60/year just to run, a refrigerator is worth protecting against an unplanned repair bill on top of that.
How this was checked
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.