On this page, you will find out how many watts a mini fridge draws.
I first started looking into the power requirements of a mini fridge when I ran a food truck. I needed to hook it up to my inverter and battery system. This meant finding out the running power draw and overall energy usage. As these are small appliances, they don’t use huge amounts but you might still be surprised at the numbers!
Below we will discuss and test mini fridge wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Mini Fridge?
The average mini fridge uses between 30 – 80 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your mini fridge. For example, a modern camping mini fridge uses 30 watts or less. But older and larger versions can draw well over 50 watts at a time.
You should also take the time to understand how a mini fridge works. It won’t always be drawing this wattage. It will only draw this when cycled on and cooling. The majority of the time the internal temperature is maintained by the in-built insulation and the appliance remains idle. When the internal temperature becomes too warm a mini fridge increases its power to start cooling. Initially, this power will spike for a few seconds before settling down to a running wattage.
How to Find Out Your Mini Fridge Wattage
There are 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a mini fridge.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the mini fridge’s specification. The watts (W) is usually written on a sticker on the base of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or the manufacturer’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can simply plug it into your mini fridge to get instant information.
This test of a mini fridge gives a live reading of 79W.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your mini fridge you can use this to find the running watts. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Mini Fridge Wattage Example
Let’s take a look at a specific example of how many watts a mini fridge draws. Below is a test of a modern mini fridge to find its power levels.
As you can see, the power ratings vary throughout the day and on different appliances. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Mini Fridge Use?
It is hard to work out the total electricity use of a mini fridge. You can’t just use a simple wattage reading because power levels will vary from minute to minute.
To find out your personal electricity usage from a mini fridge you should attach a wattmeter over a long period of time, such as a week or month. The meter will record the electricity used in kWh. Then you can use this number to calculate daily, weekly, monthly, and annual usage. In addition, you can work out the cost via your energy bill which details how much you pay per kWh. In the USA, this is about $0.15 per kWh.
Many of these appliances now list the average annual energy consumption and how much it costs you to run.
You will find that a mini fridge uses about 200kWh a year. ($30 cost to run annually).
Mini fridges are often assumed to be an efficient way to cool food because they are small in size. While they don’t use huge amounts of power, when you compare the size to electricity used they aren’t as efficient as a larger home fridge. This is because they can lack the same level of insulation and it will warm up much quicker when the door is opened.
Using a Mini Fridge Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your mini fridge in an off-grid situation like a power outage, RV, boat, semi-truck, or similar, the information above is important. It enables you to pick the correct power products and know how long you can run them for.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to provide electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your mini fridge. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient. To keep your food and drink cool, you will need at least 200W of power capacity.
You should note that a mini-fridge will surge in power when it cycles on. This can be as much as 300 or 400 watts for a few seconds. So you will need a peak capacity of at least 400 watts.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the mini fridge for the required amount of time. It could use as much as 500Wh of electricity in 24 hours. This is the equivalent to 45Ah on a 12V battery.
How Many Watts Does a Mini Fridge Use Summary
I hope you now have a clear understanding of how many watts a mini fridge uses.
As these are small appliances they are very popular with campers, tiny homes, and other off-grid places with limited space. Overall, the energy usage isn’t massive, especially if you keep the door closed as much as possible to retain low temperatures. In my experience, you can expect a mini fridge to draw about 40 watts when cooling, plus it will surge for a couple of seconds to 200+ watts peak power.
