Running cost for the Whirlpool WH43RS1E
The Whirlpool WH43RS1E is certified by ENERGY STAR at 268 kWh a year, one of the cheaper models in its category to run among refrigerators currently certified.
That $50 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 30.6% less, ranking 1,398 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 $22/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 Whirlpool WH43RS1E: Whirlpool WH43R**E ($50/yr, 268 kWh/yr), then Whirlpool WH43RS2E ($50/yr, 268 kWh/yr).
Same brand, different models
Ranked 15 of Whirlpool's 156 certified refrigerators, this sits between the AMA27S1E ($40/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the WRF995FIF*** ($142/yr, its priciest).
Whirlpool WH43RS1E over 13 years
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical refrigerator's service life at 13 years; run the Whirlpool WH43RS1E that long and it costs about $655 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified refrigerators go, $50/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
If you're keeping it
The Whirlpool WH43RS1E already costs $50/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
Two sourced numbers, nothing modeled: ENERGY STAR's certified kWh/yr for this exact model, and EIA's published state electricity rate. 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.