Running cost for the VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C
The VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C is certified by ENERGY STAR at 518 kWh a year, one of the more expensive models in its category to run among refrigerators currently certified.
That $97 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 34.2% above it, ranking 3,578 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 $25/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 VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C: VITARA VBFR1800ESE ($97/yr, 518 kWh/yr), then VITARA VBFR1800ESSE ($97/yr, 518 kWh/yr).
Same brand, different models
Ranked 64 of VITARA's 84 certified refrigerators, this sits between the VLUF1101EBE ($47/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the VFFR2103ESE ($108/yr, its priciest).
VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C over 13 years
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical refrigerator's service life at 13 years; run the VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C that long and it costs about $1,266 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
The VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C 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 $97/year every year.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified refrigerators before buying.
If you're keeping it
The VITARA VBFR1800ESE-C already costs $97/year to run; a repair bill on top of that is the kind of expense a protection plan exists to smooth out.
Where this number comes from
Nothing here is estimated from a nameplate wattage; the 518 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.