Marathon MFF179WBM-RH: running cost
The Marathon MFF179WBM-RH is certified by ENERGY STAR at 438 kWh a year, more expensive than most models in its category to run among refrigerators currently certified.
That $82 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
The category average is 386 kWh/yr; this model runs 13.5% above it, ranking 3,113 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 $10/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 Marathon MFF179WBM-RH: Marathon MFF179WBM-LH ($82/yr, 438 kWh/yr), then Smeg BM30URXI ($82/yr, 438 kWh/yr).
Same brand, different models
Ranked 53 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 MFF179WBM-RH 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 MFF179WBM-RH that long and it costs about $1,070 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
The Marathon MFF179WBM-RH runs above its category average. If the refrigerator you actually own is older still, likely well past ENERGY STAR's efficiency baseline when it was made, a current certified model could cost meaningfully less than this model's $82/year every year.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
If you're keeping it
A refrigerator like the Marathon MFF179WBM-RH is a real household expense whether or not it needs replacing yet; a protection plan is one way to budget for a repair rather than a full replacement.
Where this number comes from
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. The 438 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.