What a refrigerator costs to run in Virginia
Virginia homes use 881 kWh a year on a refrigerator. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $66.14 to $217.18 a year across 12 published Virginia plans — a $151.04 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
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Every priced plan, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P✓ cheapesttime-of-use · demand charge | $66.14 | — | 9.0¢ |
| Dual Fuel Service Residential Schedule 1DFtime-of-use | $67.45 | +$1.31 | 8.1¢ |
| Basic Residential Rate Schedule 1time-of-use | $92.32 | +$26.18 | 12.0¢ |
| Energy TOU Residential Service Schedule 1Ttime-of-use | $98.86 | +$32.72 | 12.7¢ |
| 1W Residential Service (Time Controlled Storage Water Heating)flat rate · needs electric heating | $103.80 | +$37.66 | 12.2¢ |
| 1S Residential Service (Demand Time-of-Use)time-of-use · demand charge | $113.99 | +$47.85 | 14.1¢ |
| Residential Energy TOU Schedule 1Ttime-of-use | $132.23 | +$66.09 | 16.2¢ |
| Residential Schedule 1time-of-use · tiered | $135.40 | +$69.26 | 16.7¢ |
| 1EV Residential Service with Electric Vehicle Charging (Experimental)time-of-use · experimental | $135.54 | +$69.40 | 16.1¢ |
| Residential Schedule 1G (Experimental Service)time-of-use · experimental | $137.96 | +$71.82 | 16.4¢ |
| EV Residential Electric Vehicle Charging (Experimental)time-of-use · experimental | $163.68 | +$97.54 | 18.9¢ |
| Residential Off-Peak Plantime-of-use | $217.18 | +$151.04 | 25.3¢ |
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $40.67 (TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P), dearest $133.53, a $92.86 spread
- Average — cheapest $66.14 (TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P), dearest $217.18, a $151.04 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $86.99 (TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P), dearest $285.51, a $198.52 spread
What a refrigerator costs here
Across 12 plans priced in Virginia, a refrigerator adds $66.14 to $217.18 a year — $5.51 to $18.10 a month. The median plan puts a refrigerator at $106.42 a year.
Cheapest for a refrigerator: TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P, Virginia Electric & Power Co (North Carolina). Dearest: Residential Off-Peak Plan, Virginia Electric & Power Co.
Those 881 kWh are billed at 7.5¢–24.6¢, against a 13.4¢ 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 11.2¢ per kWh.
What Virginia homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 881 kWh a year across 451 sampled homes that run one, near the national 839 kWh. The middle half spans 542 kWh to 1,159 kWh, so a refrigerator varies by 617 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 7% of the electricity a Virginia home uses. The remaining 12,056 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.
By provider
On each Virginia provider's cheapest plan: Virginia Electric & Power Co (North Carolina), $66.14; Virginia Electric & Power Co, $113.99.
Virginia Electric & Power Co charges $47.85 a year more than Virginia Electric & Power Co (North Carolina) on TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P for the same 881 kWh.
Light and heavy use of a refrigerator
A household in the lighter quarter runs a refrigerator for 542 kWh a year and pays $40.67 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 1,159 kWh and pays $86.99 — $46.32 more for a refrigerator on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for Virginia, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 12 Virginia 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 37.5407, -77.4360.