How much does a fridge cost to run in the UK, and can plug-in solar cover it?
Read the yearly kWh figure on your fridge energy label and multiply by 26.32p. That is the cost. A plug-in kit can offset the running load, but only while the sun is up, because a fridge runs day and night.
Rules and product details last checked on .
Key takeaways
- The cost is one multiplication. Yearly kWh from your appliance’s energy label, times 26.32p, the Ofgem cap rate for October to December 2026.
- We will not give you a single “typical fridge” figure. Models differ widely and any page that states one is averaging over your appliance.
- A fridge runs all day and night; solar only works in daylight. A plug-in kit can cover its running load at noon and nothing at midnight.
- The running load is well within an 800 W kit. The cycling compressor is the part to think about, as we cover in what an 800 W kit can carry.
- Timing beats size. Extra panels do not help a fridge at night.
“How much electricity does a fridge use” has a clean answer only for your own fridge, and it is printed on it. Here is how to get it.
How to work it out
- Find the energy label, often on the inside wall or on the manufacturer’s page for your model number. It states annual energy use in kWh.
- Multiply by the unit rate. Ofgem’s cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 is 26.32p per kWh for a Direct Debit customer on a standard variable tariff, with no VAT on electricity until 31 March 2027.
- Compare with your own tariff, because a fixed deal or a different region will not match the cap.
Purely to show the arithmetic, and not as a claim about any real appliance, a label figure of 200 kWh a year costs 200 × £0.2632 = £52.64, and 300 kWh costs £78.96. The standing charge is unaffected either way.
Why a fridge is a good match, and a bad one
Good: its running load is steady and modest, so it always finds a use for solar power that would otherwise be exported unpaid, as we explain in our note on selling back to the grid.
Bad: it runs 24 hours and solar works for a fraction of them. Most of a fridge’s yearly consumption happens when a plug-in kit is producing nothing. A kit offsets the daytime slice, not the whole.
What it means for the size of a kit
800 W is far above what a fridge needs, so do not buy for the fridge. Buy for your whole daytime load, and read our modelled output to see what a kit produces where you live.
What we have verified, and what we have not
Verified against Ofgem, 30 September 2026. The 26.32p rate and the VAT removal with its dates.
Illustrative only. The 200 and 300 kWh figures, which are arithmetic examples, not measurements.
Not verified. Any real fridge’s consumption; read your own label.
Our editorial policy explains how we handle claims we cannot check.
The cap changes every quarter. If the rate has moved, tell us and we will update this page.