How Much Does It Cost to Run a Wine Fridge in Australia? (2026)

Wine fridges hold a warmer temperature than food fridges but have thin walls and glass doors, so a compressor model uses 150 to 350 kWh a year. Thermoelectric models run constantly and use more per bottle.

A typical wine fridge (100 W) costs A$0.035 per hour, or about A$8.40 per month at 8 hours a day in Australia. Average running cost

Electricity price region

Hours used per day

Wattage	Per hour	Per day	Per month	Per year
Low 60 W	A$0.021	A$0.17	A$5.04	A$61.32
Typical 100 W	A$0.035	A$0.28	A$8.40	A$102.20
High 180 W	A$0.063	A$0.50	A$15.12	A$183.96

Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 8 h/day ≈ 292 kWh per year.

One hour of a wine fridge (0.10 kWh) is the same electricity as

2.0hours of a fridge
2.2hours of a laptop
10hours of Wi-Fi
11hours of an LED bulb

Electricity per year at typical use, on a log scale: #60 of 95 appliances, from least to most.

In Australia, with electricity at 35.0¢ per kWh (source: AER Default Market Offer 2026–27, 2026-07), a typical wine fridge costs A$0.035 per hour and about A$102.20 per year at 8 hours a day. Each A$1.00 of electricity buys roughly 28.6 hours of use.

How to lower the cost of running a wine fridge

Keep it out of sunlight and away from ovens.
Set the warmest temperature suitable for the wine, typically 12 to 14 C.
A solid door loses less heat than glass.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a wine fridge cost to run?

A typical unit uses 20 to 30 kWh a month. Select your region above.

Are thermoelectric wine coolers cheaper to run?

No. They are quieter but less efficient and struggle in warm rooms.

Does a wine fridge use as much power as a regular fridge?

Often close to it, despite being smaller, because of the glass door and constant duty cycle.

Cost by region

US states

Canadian provinces

Related appliances

Use the generic electricity cost calculator · Which uses more? Take the quiz