WattClear

What a refrigerator costs to run in New Jersey

New Jersey homes use 821 kWh a year on a refrigerator. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $56.62 to $225.04 a year across 10 published New Jersey plans — a $168.42 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.

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Every priced plan, average

Annual cost of each published plan, average, cheapest first
PlanPer yearvs cheapestEffective
WHS - Water Heating Storage Serviceflat rate · needs electric heating$18.24−$38.382.4¢
RHS - Residential Heating Servicetime-of-use · tiered · needs electric heating$49.92−$6.707.9¢
RS-TOU-3P - Residential TOU 3 Period Service✓ cheapesttime-of-use$56.627.8¢
RS - Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered$60.08+$3.468.1¢
RLM - Residential Load Management (TOU)time-of-use$70.40+$13.7810.6¢
WHS - Water Heating Storage Serviceflat rate · needs electric heating$77.88+$21.269.6¢
RLM - Residential Load Management (TOU)time-of-use$170.96+$114.3422.8¢
RHS - Residential Heating Servicetime-of-use · tiered · needs electric heating$171.48+$114.8622.3¢
RS-TOU-3P - Residential TOU 3 Period Servicetime-of-use$209.98+$153.3626.4¢
RS - Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered$225.04+$168.4227.9¢

Cost across usage levels

The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.

  • Lighter use — cheapest $33.65 (RS-TOU-3P - Residential TOU 3 Period Service), dearest $133.84, a $100.19 spread
  • Average — cheapest $56.62 (RS-TOU-3P - Residential TOU 3 Period Service), dearest $225.04, a $168.42 spread
  • Heavier use — cheapest $71.73 (RS-TOU-3P - Residential TOU 3 Period Service), dearest $285.16, a $213.43 spread

What a refrigerator costs here

Across 10 plans priced in New Jersey, a refrigerator adds $56.62 to $225.04 a year — $4.72 to $18.75 a month. The median plan puts a refrigerator at $120.68 a year.

Cheapest for a refrigerator: RS-TOU-3P - Residential TOU 3 Period Service, Public Service Elec & Gas Co. Dearest: RS - Residential Service, Public Service Elec & Gas Co.

Those 821 kWh are billed at 6.9¢–27.4¢, against a 16.7¢ whole-bill average on the median plan: they land in the last tier the household reaches, so the average rate understates them by up to 10.7¢ per kWh.

What New Jersey homes use

EIA's 2020 residential survey found 821 kWh a year across 455 sampled homes that run one, near the national 839 kWh. The middle half spans 489 kWh to 1,041 kWh, so a refrigerator varies by 553 kWh between one household and another.

Every refrigerator in the home, including a second one in a garage or basement. That average covers homes with a refrigerator — 100% of homes here.

That makes a refrigerator about 10% of the electricity a New Jersey home uses. The remaining 7,483 kWh is what a refrigerator is billed on top of, and on a tiered or time-of-use plan that is what sets the rate it meets.

Light and heavy use of a refrigerator

A household in the lighter quarter runs a refrigerator for 489 kWh a year and pays $33.65 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 1,041 kWh and pays $71.73 — $38.08 more for a refrigerator on the same tariff.

Limits

A 2020 survey average for New Jersey, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 10 New Jersey tariffs WattClear has ingested — not every plan sold there.

New to these terms? The methodology page explains tiered bands, time-of-use periods and fixed charges, and sets out exactly what the rate engine assumes.

Estimate — your actual bill may differ.

Tariff structures from NREL/OpenEI Utility Rate Database (CC0 1.0), retrieved September 2, 2026.

Location resolved through the US Census Bureau Geocoder (Public domain) at 40.7357, -74.1724.