Unplug the second fridge before you replace the first

Unplug a second fridge you can do without before you replace the main one. In homes that had one, a second refrigerator used 494 kWh a year on average in 2020, according to EIA's RECS 2020 Table CE5.3b, and unplugging saves all of it. Replacing an old main fridge saves only the gap: ENERGY STAR says a refrigerator over 15 years old could be costing you about $95 more per year to run. The condition is need: for a second fridge you use year-round, ENERGY STAR says to replace the old one with a new ENERGY STAR certified model. Unplugging is free and open to whoever owns the unit, renter or owner.

A second fridge uses about 80% of the main fridge's kWh

One home in three runs a spare. EIA's RECS 2024 Table HC3.1 (preliminary, March 2026) counts 45.47 million of 132.54 million US homes using a second refrigerator in 2024; 20.02 million of those stood in a garage, and 10.20 million were 15 years old or older. The kWh per home using each appliance come from the 2020 survey's Table CE5.3b, the latest with end-use kWh; the dollars use the July 2026 US residential average in EIA's Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (preliminary).

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That is 494 ÷ 617, about 80%. DOE's 2022 Energy Saver guide says to recycle an old second refrigerator or freezer, particularly if you don't store very much in it or if it is in unconditioned space, such as a garage that is neither heated nor cooled.

Unplugging a typical spare saves $90.45 a year at the US residential average

Example, with published figures. Take a second refrigerator at the RECS 2020 average of 494 kWh a year from EIA's Table CE5.3b: 494 ÷ 365 = 1.35 kWh a day. At the July 2026 US residential average of 18.31 cents per kWh in EIA's Table 5.6.A, it costs 494 × 18.31 cents = $90.45 a year; at California's residential 33.61 cents, 494 × 33.61 cents = $166.03. Unplugging saves the whole amount for nothing.

Your spare's own figure comes from a plug-in meter, a small buy, left on it for 24 hours: the kWh it shows × 365 × your rate, as in price any appliance. Your rate is your bill's dollars divided by its kWh, the division that also shows whether your bill rose from use or from price.

Keep the fridge you keep at 35 to 38°F

DOE's 2022 Energy Saver guide says to set refrigerators at 35 to 38°F and standalone freezers at 0°F for long-term storage; ENERGY STAR gives the same 35 to 38°F. Both settings are free.

The same DOE guide tests the door seal with a piece of paper or a dollar bill, closed in the door half in and half out: if it pulls out easily, the latch may need adjusting or the seal replacing. DOE also says to leave a few inches between the wall and the refrigerator, keep the condenser coils clean on older models (see the user's manual), and cover stored food, since uncovered food makes the compressor work harder. ENERGY STAR adds: keep it away from an oven, a dishwasher or direct sunlight. A new door seal is a small buy; the rest costs nothing.

Replace an old main fridge when 12 years of savings top its price

Replacing is a bigger purchase for whoever owns the fridge; a renter with the landlord's fridge asks the landlord. ENERGY STAR's $95 figure is for refrigerators over 15 years old. DOE's 2022 guide says replacing one more than 10 years old with a new ENERGY STAR certified model could save hundreds each year. Meter anything past 10 years; keep a younger one until it fails. ENERGY STAR's page says an old refrigerator uses, on average, about 20% more energy than a model that has earned the ENERGY STAR, and that certified models are about 9 percent more energy efficient than models meeting the federal minimum (specification effective September 15, 2014). It prices savings over a refrigerator's 12-year lifetime.

Meter it for 24 hours and multiply the kWh by 365. Subtract the estimated yearly electricity use in kWh that DOE's 2022 guide shows on the EnergyGuide label of the model you would buy. Multiply the gap by your rate, then by 12. Below the new fridge's price, keep the old one at 35 to 38°F and replace it when it fails. Above it, the electricity saved over 12 years covers the price at your current rate.

Recycle the old one through a program that recovers the refrigerant

Don't sell the old one. EPA's appliance disposal page, last updated July 8, 2026, says old appliances consume large amounts of electricity and resale should be avoided to save energy. Check first with your electric utility for a rebate or bounty (appliance turn-in) program; some require a working unit or a minimum age or size. Some retailers collect it when delivering a new one. A municipal pickup may require the refrigerant recovered first, by a professional such as an employee of an appliance repair shop. Schedule the collection: EPA says appliances left curbside might be landfilled or disposed of unsafely.

Mind the door while it waits. CPSC's entrapment sheet reports children, most four to seven years old, suffocating inside old-style latch-type refrigerators and freezers. It says the surest way to childproof an old-style unit in storage or awaiting disposal is to take the door off completely, in most cases with a screwdriver, and that many local jurisdictions make it unlawful to discard old refrigerators without first removing the door.