Running cost for the upstreman BR321-Vintage Yellow
ENERGY STAR certifies the upstreman BR321-Vintage Yellow at 218 kWh/yr, one of the cheaper models in its category to run for its category.
That $41 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
Against the category average of 386 kWh/yr, this model uses 43.5% less, ranking 673 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 $32/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 upstreman BR321-Vintage Yellow: upstreman BR321-Vintage White ($41/yr, 218 kWh/yr), then upstreman BR321-White ($41/yr, 218 kWh/yr).
Comparing upstreman's own models
Ranked 42 of upstreman's 115 certified refrigerators, this sits between the FR17-Blue ($39/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the FD182-# ($86/yr, its priciest).
What this adds up to over time
Over the 13-year service life NAHB reports for this category, running the upstreman BR321-Vintage Yellow costs roughly $533 in electricity, separate from the purchase price.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified refrigerators go, $41/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
See what else is certified in this category before you decide.
If you're keeping it
A refrigerator like the upstreman BR321-Vintage Yellow 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
At rank 673 of 4,704 for running cost, see the refrigerator category page for the rest of the field, or the guide to how much your state matters. The 218 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.