What the Smeg FA490Uxxx costs to run
At 417 kWh/yr, the Smeg FA490Uxxx's ENERGY STAR certification puts it more expensive than most models in its category to run against every other certified refrigerator.
That $78 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 8% above it, ranking 2,988 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 $6/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 Smeg FA490Uxxx: LG LRTLS2403* ($78/yr, 417 kWh/yr), then Smeg FAB38Uxxx ($78/yr, 417 kWh/yr).
Within the Smeg lineup
Ranked 7 of Smeg's 16 certified refrigerators, this sits between the SBIWU320XE ($19/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the FTU171X7 ($128/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 Smeg FA490Uxxx that long and it costs about $1,019 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Weighing a replacement
Efficient as certified refrigerators go, $78/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 $78/year just to run, a refrigerator is worth protecting against an unplanned repair bill on top of that.
Where this number comes from
Ranked 2,988 of 4,704, the Smeg FA490Uxxx sits in the middle of the refrigerator category, see the guide to why your state changes this number for the other half of the math. The 417 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.