Refrigerator Replacement Calculator

This calculator weighs keeping your refrigerator against replacing it. Describe the old unit by picking its model from the ENERGY STAR lists, by the year it was made and its size, or from the energy figure on its EnergyGuide label. Then pick the new model and say where the unit stands and what you pay for electricity. It works out each unit's yearly energy use and cost, the yearly saving, the net cost of the new unit, the simple and discounted payback, and the cost over the years you choose of keeping the old unit, replacing it now, or replacing it when it wears out.

Model figures come from federal sources only: the ENERGY STAR certified and historical lists published by the EPA, and the DOE efficiency standards. Default electricity prices come from the EIA. You set the price of the new unit; the opening example uses an illustrative one, not a quote or a current price.

Purpose and model boundary

This calculator compares two ways forward for a household refrigerator: keep the unit you have, or replace it with a new one. It takes each unit's rated yearly energy use, adjusts it if you say your unit uses more or less than its label, prices it at your electricity rate, and sets the yearly saving against what the new unit costs installed. Over the number of years you choose, it compares keeping the old unit, replacing it now and, when you say how many years the old unit has left, replacing it when it wears out.

Every figure on this page is computed by the spreadsheet; the page adds nothing to it. The model covers running cost and purchase cost only. It does not judge performance, noise, size or reliability, and it does not price financing, warranties or your own time.

Inputs and units

• The old refrigerator, described in one of four ways:
  • a model from the ENERGY STAR historical lists (models qualified from 2003 to 2014);
  • a model from the current ENERGY STAR list, for a unit that is still certified;
  • the year it was made and its product class, when the model is not listed, with its total and freezer volumes: the calculator then uses the federal maximum allowed for that class, size and year;
  • manual entry: the yearly energy figure from its EnergyGuide label, the label's rating basis (it starts at Unknown) and whether the unit has an automatic icemaker (it starts at No).
• Type: Full-size or Compact, for each unit. For a listed model, choose the type first, then pick the model from that type's list. Each entry reads "Brand | Model number", exactly as ENERGY STAR lists it.
• The new refrigerator: a model from the current ENERGY STAR list, or manual entry as for the old unit, and its price, more than $0 and at most $20,000. The price is always yours to set; the examples use round illustrative prices, not quotes.
• Where it stands: a kitchen or other heated and cooled room, a garage or unheated space, or an unheated basement; and, optionally, how much more or less energy your unit uses than its label, from −50% to +100%.
• Electricity price, optional: the state, which sets the default price, or your own price in dollars per kWh.
• Purchase and upkeep: installation, removal and disposal of the old unit, sales tax on the price, verified rebates, the sale or scrap value of the old unit, and yearly upkeep for each unit. Each is optional and counts as zero when left blank.
• The comparison: the years to compare (1 to 30), the yearly change in electricity prices, the discount rate, and, optionally, the years the old unit has left and the expected life of the new unit.

Energy is in kWh a year, volume in cubic feet and money in dollars.

Governing relationships

The rated figure. An ENERGY STAR or EnergyGuide figure for a refrigerator is its yearly energy use under the DOE test procedure, and the calculator uses it directly: it does not depend on how often you open the door. The figure is multiplied by your adjustment, if you enter one.

Where it stands. No federal source gives a factor for a refrigerator in a garage or a cold basement, so the location does not change the figure. A unit outside a heated and cooled room shows a note: the label is measured at a fixed test temperature, a unit in a hot garage uses more and one in a cold space may use less, and you may enter an adjustment if you know it.

Two test procedures. DOE changed the test procedure with the 2014 standards. Current listings are rated under the 2014 procedure; many older listings carry a figure rated under the 2001 procedure instead. When the old and new figures come from different procedures, the comparison is not strictly like for like, and the status says so.

Icemakers. A unit with an automatic icemaker whose figure was rated under the procedure before September 2014 gets 84 kWh a year added, the icemaker energy the 2014 procedure counts. Where an older list does not say whether a model has an icemaker, nothing is added, and the model card says so. For 20 older listings, the icemaker is inferred from the 84 kWh difference in their federal standard, and the model card says that too.

A unit described by the year it was made.

• No DOE study gives the typical energy use of refrigerators by year made, so the calculator uses the federal maximum: the most energy a unit of that product class and adjusted volume was allowed to use, from the standards of 1990, 1993, 2001 and 2014 (10 CFR 430.32(a)). It is a ceiling, not a measurement: your unit may use less, and the saving may be overstated.
• The adjusted volume is the fresh-food volume plus a factor × the freezer volume: 1.63 for units made before 2014 and 1.76 from 2014. You enter the total and freezer volumes on this route.
• A year in which the standard changed part-way uses the standard in force on 1 January of that year. A unit made before 1990, when the first federal standard took effect, is entered manually.

Yearly cost. For each refrigerator, the yearly running cost is its yearly kWh times the electricity price; adding yearly upkeep gives its yearly cost, and the yearly saving is the old refrigerator's yearly cost less the new one's.

Electricity price. Your own price, when you enter one, is used; otherwise the average residential price for the state you choose.

Purchase cost. The capital cost is the price × (1 + sales tax rate) + installation − rebates. The net initial cost adds removal and disposal and takes off the old unit's sale value.

Payback. Simple payback is the net initial cost ÷ the first year's saving, when the saving is positive; otherwise there is no payback. Discounted payback is the first year in which the cumulative discounted net benefit of replacing now reaches zero within the years compared.

The three paths over the years compared. Electricity prices change each year by the rate you enter; upkeep stays flat; costs fall at the end of each year and are discounted at your rate.

• Keep: the old unit's yearly cost every year.
• Replace now: the net initial cost today, then the new unit's yearly cost, less the value left in the new unit at the end.
• Replace at end of life (when you enter the years the old unit has left and they are fewer than the years compared): the old unit's yearly cost until it fails, then the capital cost and disposal in that year, then the new unit's yearly cost, less the value left in the new unit at the end.

The value left in the new unit at the end is its capital cost × the share of its expected life still remaining, on a straight line; with no expected life entered, the DOE mean lifetime for the unit's type is used. The net present value of replacing now is the present cost of keeping less the present cost of replacing now: positive means replacing now costs less.

Calculation sequence

The spreadsheet first finds each unit's rated figure from the list, the federal standard for the year made or your entries, and checks the inputs. It then reduces each unit to a yearly energy figure that scales with your use, and from it computes the yearly kWh, the yearly costs and the saving. The purchase cost, the paybacks, the present values of the three paths and the year-by-year cash flow follow. The sensitivity table uses the same per-unit figures, so it cannot disagree with the main result. A block of consistency checks, including that the discounted cash flow reaches the same net present value as the closed-form formula, runs before the status is returned.

Outputs and interpretation

The headline is the yearly saving from replacing the old refrigerator, with the simple payback and the net present value of replacing now. For each unit the results give its rated figure, its yearly kWh, and its yearly energy, upkeep and total cost, with the electricity price actually used and a note on where it came from. The decision results give the net initial cost, the discounted payback year, the total and present cost of keeping, of replacing now and of replacing at end of life, and a plain verdict on each.

The cash-flow table shows each year from 0 to the years compared: the cost of each path, the net benefit of replacing now, and its cumulative, discounted and cumulative discounted values. The sensitivity table shows the yearly saving at 0.8, 0.9, 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5 times the label's energy use, and at 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25 and 1.5 times the electricity price used.

A model card beside each pick shows the model's configuration, volumes, rated kWh a year, rating basis and the year it was listed or became available.

The first chart, “Cumulative net benefit of replacing now, by year”, shows Undiscounted and Discounted by year. The second chart, “Cost over the years compared”, shows Total and Present value by option. The third chart, “Running cost in year 1”, shows Electricity and Upkeep by unit, stacked.

Validation and status logic

The workbook returns one status, chosen in this order: NOT VALID, then CHECK, then OK.

• NOT VALID names the first problem: a source that is not one of its options; a listed model that is not in its list or whose type differs from the type chosen, or, for a unit described by the year made, no class or year, or no federal standard for them (before 1990); a total volume missing or outside 1 to 40 cubic feet, or a freezer volume missing, negative or larger than the total; a manual label figure missing or not above 0 and at most 3,000 kWh a year; a manual rating basis that is not one of its options; an upkeep figure outside 0 to $5,000 a year; a location that is not one of its options, or an energy-use adjustment outside −50% to +100%; no electricity price, or your own price outside $0.01 to $2.00 per kWh; a price for the new unit that is missing, not above $0 or above $20,000; another money or rate input outside its range; years to compare that are not a whole number from 1 to 30, or a growth or discount rate outside its range; years left that are not a whole number from 0 to 30, or an expected life that is not a whole number from 1 to 40. NOT VALID is a refusal, not a numeric answer: every figure reads zero and is withheld.
• CHECK accompanies a computed result that needs the stated review: an old unit described by the year it was made, so its figure is the federal limit for that year: your unit may use less and the saving may be overstated; a manual entry whose rating basis is Unknown; old and new figures rated under different DOE test procedures (2001 and 2014), so they are not strictly comparable; old and new units of different types (full-size and compact); a new unit that does not cost less to run than the old one at your use, so there is no payback; or an old unit with fewer years left than the years compared, so the end-of-life path is the realistic one.
• OK otherwise.

Assumptions and limitations

• The historical lists are snapshots. They hold the ENERGY STAR models qualified when the specification changed in September 2014 (lists for Version 4); models certified after 2014 and later withdrawn, and models from before 2003 unless still listed in 2014, are missing. Only ENERGY STAR models appear, so the baseline leans efficient, and the saving may be understated if you pick a listed model to stand in for a different unit.
• The federal maximum is a ceiling, not a measurement. A unit described by the year it was made may use less, so the saving may be overstated.
• The label is measured at test conditions, not in your home. Your adjustment, if you enter one, is the only way your conditions enter the result.
• Beverage coolers are not included. Wine and beverage coolers are a separate federal product and are left out of the lists.
• Expected life. With no expected life entered, the calculator uses DOE's mean lifetime, 17.43 years for a standard-size refrigerator (5.62 for a compact one), an analysis estimate rather than a warranty, and counts the value left in the new unit at the end on that life.
• The default electricity price is an average. It is the EIA's annual average residential price for the state, not your tariff. Enter your own price from your bill for a better answer.
• One price change rate applies to electricity in every year. The future purchase in the end-of-life path is priced at today's price.
• There is no loan, no depreciation other than the value left in the new unit at the end, and no resale other than the old unit's sale value when it is replaced now.

Data and vintage

The model lists and the federal standards are reviewed reference tables inside the workbook, refreshed from their federal publishers; their version is shown in the result details.

• Current models: the ENERGY STAR certified residential refrigerators dataset (EPA), 4,892 records downloaded 2026-10-28, without the beverage coolers. Where a model is listed more than once, the most recent listing is used.
• Historical models: the ENERGY STAR Version 4 and 4.1 lists posted in 2014, models qualified from 2003 to 2014, downloaded 2026-10-28. Their yearly figure is rated under the 2001 procedure for 2,697 records and under the 2014 procedure for 596.
• Year made: the federal maximum energy use by product class and adjusted volume from 10 CFR 430.32(a), for units made from 1990, with the standards of 1990, 1993, 2001 and 2014.
• Default electricity prices: EIA 2025 annual average residential electricity prices by state (Form EIA-861).

Worked examples and prices

Prices are not part of the reference data: the price of the new unit is an input you set. The opening example and the five worked examples each use an illustrative price for the new unit, so that the example computes, and each says so: “Illustrative price for this example, not a quote or a current price. Prices vary: check current prices online or enter your own.”

Restrictions and non-computing states

The calculator enforces its numeric and choice limits before it accepts a result. A model that is not in its list or does not match the type chosen, a unit described by a year with no federal standard, a manual unit with no label figure and a missing price for the new unit are refused by the workbook.

Errors and warnings

A request rejected by the page's input limits is not a computed result. A transport or service failure, a timeout or a cancelled run cannot establish a fresh workbook answer, and the last result stays on the page marked as out of date. Check your unit's EnergyGuide label or nameplate and your own bills before relying on a result for a purchase.

Sources and further reading

The calculator reads its model lists, its federal limits and its default electricity prices from reviewed reference tables inside the workbook, by record, with their version shown in the result details. Every table comes from a US federal source. The sources below publish the data and the rules the model applies. They do not endorse this calculator.

• ENERGY STAR Certified Residential Refrigerators (EPA) lists currently certified refrigerators with their yearly energy use under the 2014 DOE test procedure (retrieved 2026-10-28).
• ENERGY STAR, Refrigerators: information for partners (EPA) links the historical lists of refrigerators and freezers qualified under Version 4, posted in 2014 (retrieved 2026-10-28).
• DOE energy conservation standards, 10 CFR 430.32 (eCFR) sets the federal maximum yearly energy use by product class and adjusted volume; the 1997 and 2012 editions on govinfo hold the earlier standards (retrieved 2026-10-28).
• DOE, Residential refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers final rule technical support document (2011) estimates the mean life of a refrigerator at 17.43 years (retrieved 2026-10-28).
• EIA, Detailed state data (Form EIA-861) gives the average residential electricity price by state, used here for 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-28).

This is an educational estimate of running and purchase costs for the units and prices you enter, not a product recommendation or a quote. The ENERGY STAR lists show each model's rated use under the DOE test procedure, not your unit's measured use.