TCL MR221S Running Cost (Refrigerator)
TCL MR221S: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the TCL MR221S at 214 kWh/yr, one of the cheaper models in its category to run for its category.
The $40 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
TCL MR221S against the category
That's 44.6% below the refrigerator category average of 386 kWh/yr, and ranks 544 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 $32/year below that average at the national rate. See the methodology page.
What sits beside it in the ranking
TCL TRM027S4AL ($40/yr, 214 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the TCL MR221S. Sunbeam SGR27ME ($40/yr, 214 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Comparing TCL's own models
TCL makes 24 ENERGY STAR certified refrigerators; this one ranks 2 of 24 for running cost, between the brand's cheapest, the MR121S at $39/yr, and its priciest, the TRF20S5AL-S1 at $87/yr.
TCL MR221S over 13 years
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical refrigerator's service life at 13 years; run the TCL MR221S that long and it costs about $523 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Weighing a replacement
The TCL MR221S is already efficient for its category at $40/year. If you're shopping and comparing options, this is roughly what a well-chosen new refrigerator costs to run.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
Protecting what you have
$40/year to run is the predictable cost of the TCL MR221S; a protection plan covers the unpredictable one, a repair bill.
Sourcing
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 214 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.