How Much Electricity Does A Refrigerator Use Per Month in India?

Last updated: October 17th, 2022

Whenever we get a monthly electricity bill higher than normal, we start to wonder which appliance has contributed heavily. A refrigerator is a heavy appliance that runs almost every day for considerable hours to preserve food items.

Therefore, a consumer is always curious to find out how much electricity unit does a fridge use every month. However, before we can calculate that, you should know about the factors that contributed to electricity consumption for a fridge.

Factors That Determine Electricity Consumption Of A Fridge

Size – It is common knowledge that the greater the size of the refrigerator, the higher power consumption will be. The size or volume of a fridge is determined by liters. The following table should give you a rough idea of how size and power consumption are related.

Size Of Refrigerator Monthly Power Consumption
200 Litres 60 kWh
300 Litres 75 kWh
400 Litres 90 kWh
500 Litres 120 kWh
600 Litres 150 kWh

Therefore, you should not unnecessarily buy a large refrigerator. Instead, you should select the size that can fulfill your needs perfectly.

Technology – The technology that drives the compressor of a refrigerator determines the energy efficiency to a greater extent. The latest fridges come with inverter technology that reduces power consumption considerably. In fact, an inverter refrigerator can reduce electricity consumption by 20-30% in comparison to a non-inverter conventional refrigerator.

Energy Rating – The modern refrigerators come with star ratings that determine the energy-efficiency. In India, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency has set the standard for star ratings for appliances. The more the number of stars, the more energy-efficient the refrigerator is.

Therefore, lower will be the power consumption. The following table should give you a rough idea of how energy star rating and power consumption are related.

For a 250-litre refrigerator –

Energy Star Rating Monthly Power Consumption
1 82 kWh
2 65 kWh
3 52 kWh
4 42 kWh
5 33 kWh

Load – The more filled your refrigerator is, the less electricity it consumes. It is quite surprising but true. This is because a less filled fridge has more air that the refrigerator has to cool to bring down the temperature. On the other hand, the filled items will take less time to cool down the interior temperature. Therefore, try to keep your refrigerator full to its capacity for less power consumption.

Door Opening Count – You should know that the more you open the door of the fridge, the more will be the power consumption. This is because every time you open the door, the outside warm air goes in. This increases the temperature of the interior.

The compressor needs to work at a higher speed to cool down the temperature again. Hence, the power consumption is going to be high. Therefore, it is wise to buy a multi-door refrigerator, so that warm air goes in only in a particular section. Single door might consume less energy in comparison to double door or triple door. If you wish to save more energy, a mini-refrigerator might be your choice.

Placement -Ventilation plays a major role. You should keep the refrigerator 6-inch away from walls on all sides. This will help the warm air from the fridge to pump out in the atmosphere easily. In a congested place with warm air around, the compressor has to work at high speed leading to more power consumption.

Temperature Control – You can set the temperature for the interior of the fridge as well as the freezer. The fridges generally come with a certain temperature setting, and you should check whether they are moderate. Setting the temperature too low will lead to more power consumption. Besides, it could lead to frosting in some fridges that can damage food items.

Steps To Calculate Monthly Power Consumption Of Your Refrigerator

Step 1 – Find the Rated Power of your refrigerator. Rated power has a unit in watt and you can check the sticker on the fridge to find it. If it is not available there, you can check the manual book to find it.

Step 2 – Determine the daily operational hours of your refrigerator. You can observe for a week and take daily notes and do an average.

Step 3 – Calculate using the following formula –

Daily Units Consumed(kWh) = (Rated Power(Watt) x (Daily Operational Hours(Hours)) / 1000

Monthly Power Consumption(kWh) = Daily Units Consumed x 30

For Example, if your refrigerator has 200 Rated Power and it runs for 5 hours daily on average.

Daily Units Consumed = (200 x 5)/1000 = 1 kWh

Monthly Power Consumption = 1 x 30 = 30 kWh.

If the electricity tariff is 2 INR per kWh

Monthly Expenditure for Refrigerator = 30 x 2 = 60 INR

You should consider this result with a 10%-20% error margin as there are many factors influencing the result.

Conclusion

For any home, the power consumed by a refrigerator does not contribute to more than 10% of the electricity bill. If you have an older model, you should consider replacing it with an inverter refrigerator. In order to reduce the bill to some extent, keep the temperature from 2 to 5 degrees C for the fridge compartment and -10 to -15 C for the freezer.

WRITTEN BY John

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