How much money do energy efficient fridges save

I bought a four-star energy-efficient fridge. Nine years later I've been thinking about how much it costs to run and, if it died, how much I could save by buying a more energy-efficient bridge.

We're all familiar with the star rating system stickers slapped on appliances. One thing I didn't know, though, is that when it comes to fridges, a single-star increase is equivalent to a 23% reduction in energy consumption. Which makes an 8-star fridge leaps and bounds more efficient than the 4-star and less competition.

My 4-star fridge is costing me around $49 more to run per year

For example, my middle-efficiency fridge is rated to consume 330 kWh worth of energy each year. Currently my energy bill costs 22.66¢ per kWh. So running the fridge for a full year works out to $74.78 if I fall exactly on that 330 kWh mark.

In comparison, a similarly sized 8-star energy-rated fridge is rated to consume 115 kWh of energy a year. You can probably already tell the final cost is going to be significantly less. The price of running this more energy-efficient fridge is estimated to cost $26.06 a year.

So overall, the yearly savings of having a more energy-efficient fridge is nearly $50. Extrapolate that savings to the lifetime of owning and running a fridge for ten to fifteen years, and now those yearly savings have ballooned to a range of $500 to $750 over the lifetime of that device.

Comparing fridges available today and forecasting lifetime costs

Now say we are on the market to buy a new fridge today. How much does the upfront cost differ between efficiency models, and so does buying a more energy-efficient fridge actually make a difference in the long run?

A simple two-door 433-litre 8-star fridge runs for $1,299 at the moment at the Good Guys. The equivalent sized fridge at 4-stars can cost a more reasonable $750 for about the same amount of bells and whistles. Giving us a cost difference of $549.

If we take our cost savings of $50 a year from the more efficient fridge from earlier, the more energy-efficient fridge will surpass the cost of the less energy-efficient fridge within eleven years. It's also worth noting that as the price of energy fluctuates, so will the payback period. It's perfectly reasonable to expect the more energy-efficient fridge to pass the less efficient one in less time.

Impact of all homes going more energy efficient

Way back in 2017, Sustainability Victoria did an energy efficiency analysis and trial for fridges. Their Refrigerator Retrofit Trial showed that older refrigerators, especially those over 17 years old, consume significantly more energy than newer models. They found replacing what would now be ancient relics can save an average of 347 kWh annually per household.

At that time, they calculated that if all Victorian homes upgraded their older refrigerators, the state could save 589.7 GWh of electricity annually, avoid 634.4 kilotonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, and collectively cut household energy bills by about $162.5 million per year, and that's all just for one state.

Considering we have come a ways since 2017 the numbers might not be as massive today but I imagine there is still a huge chunk of savings to be had out there from simply going further. In the long run if its within the budget spending the extra dollars to get that higher rating of a seven to eight is worth it in the long run.