Midea MRF29D3AST: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the Midea MRF29D3AST at 782 kWh/yr, one of the more expensive models in its category to run for its category.
That $147 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 102.6% above it, ranking 4,672 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 $74/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 Midea MRF29D3AST: Midea MRF29D3ABB ($147/yr, 782 kWh/yr), then Midea MRF29D3AWW ($147/yr, 782 kWh/yr).
Comparing Midea's own models
Ranked 158 of Midea's 162 certified refrigerators, this sits between the MRW14B2ABB ($23/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the MRF29D9B** ($147/yr, its priciest).
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 Midea MRF29D3AST that long and it costs about $1,911 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
The Midea MRF29D3AST 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 $147/year every year.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
If you're keeping it
Whether or not the Midea MRF29D3AST ever needs replacing, a repair is the more common failure for a refrigerator, one a protection plan budgets for ahead of time.
Where this number comes from
Nothing here is estimated from a nameplate wattage; the 782 kWh/yr is ENERGY STAR's own certified figure for this model. 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.