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Chest FreezerCost: Purchase Price & Running Cost
A modern chest freezer's compressor cycles only about a third of the day, so the effective continuous draw is roughly 40W for a typical 15 cu ft Energy Star model. Annual use ranges from about 200 kWh/year for a 5 cu ft unit to 400 kWh/year for a 25 cu ft chest. Garage placement in hot summers can push real-world use 20-40% higher than the EnergyGuide sticker.
Average Purchase Price
$200–$800
5–25 cu ft, manual defrost; chest freezers run far less than uprights
watts
hrs/day
$/kWh
Daily Cost
$0.15
1.0 kWh
Monthly Cost
$4.61
28.8 kWh
Yearly Cost
$56.06
350.4 kWh
For perspective...
At $56.06/year, that's about $5 per month — roughly 11 gallons of gas per year.
Energy-Saving Tips for Your Chest Freezer
- Keep it 75-90% full — frozen food holds cold better than empty air and reduces compressor runtime
- Check the door seal yearly; a worn gasket can add $20-$40/year in wasted cooling
- If it lives in a hot garage, expect 20-40% more kWh than the EnergyGuide sticker (which assumes 70°F)