How Much Wattage Does a Roper Refrigerator Use?

Nameplate

• The simplest way to determine the wattage is to look at the refrigerator's nameplate. Every appliance nameplate has an estimation of the amount of electricity in watts that the appliance uses in one hour. The number should be near the product's copyright and trademark information next to a "W." It is around 725 on most home refrigerators.

Ammeter

• If the nameplate is not available, use an ammeter to determine the refrigerator's draw in amperes. An ammeter is a small appliance available at electronics stores. Multiply the draw reading by either 120 or 240 based on the refrigerator's volt power connection. (most home refrigerators use 120 volt connections). The result is an estimation of the refrigerator's electricity usage in watts.

Wattage and Efficiency

• The refrigerator's wattage alone is not as useful as knowing how to use the wattage to determine the efficiency of the refrigerator. First, divide the wattage value of the refrigerator by 1,000 to convert watts to kilowatts. Refrigerators cycle on and off to maintain a consistent temperature. The refrigerator is only "on" three of the 24 hours. To estimate how much electricity a refrigerator uses in a single day, multiply eight by the kilowatt value. Multiply that figure by the price per kilowatt charged by the utility company.

Example Calculation

• For a sample calculation, assume the refrigerator uses 725 watts, or 0.725 kilowatts in a single hour, and it runs all day and all year. It uses about 56 hours of electricity a week, which works out to 2,688 hours a year. Using those numbers, the refrigerator uses 1948.8 kilowatts per year under normal conditions. Assuming the utility company charges 8 cents per kilowatt hour, the Roper refrigerator costs about 46 cents per day, $3.25 per week, $13 per month and $156 per year.