Model
Danby Designer DUF140E1*
Rank #237 means 236 of the 622 freezer models we track cost less to run each year; the 63rd efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 63% of those models.
What does the Danby Designer DUF140E1* cost to run per year?
The Danby Designer DUF140E1* costs about $73 a year to run, which beats most of the 622 freezer models we track; it ranks #237. It uses 10% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $81/yr to run, a saving of roughly $8 a year. Size-adjusted, this model beats 63% of freezer models we track on efficiency, better than most of its class. This class has no published efficiency-factor figure beyond annual kWh itself, so at 13.8 cu ft (the class spans 1.1 to 23), size is the clearest lever we can point to for this model's running cost.
Immediately around it on the leaderboard, the Danby DUF140E1* at $73/yr runs a little cheaper and the Danby Designer DUF140E1WDD at $73/yr runs a little more, a sense of how tightly models are packed at this point in the ranking. A freezer typically stays in service for somewhere around 14 years; over that span, the Danby Designer DUF140E1*'s $73/yr adds up to roughly $1022 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Alpha RDVC138WE.
By the numbers
The Danby Designer DUF140E1* normalized against its whole class, so each figure means something.
What it costs you over time
Running cost is an every-year number, so it compounds. At $73/yr, here is what the Danby Designer DUF140E1* adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Danby Designer DUF140E1* costs about $730. That is roughly $80 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $810 over the same ten years.
How the Danby Designer DUF140E1* compares
The freezer class we track runs from $25 to $120 a year. At $73/yr, it runs about $2 a year cheaper than the class median of $75, and it is about $48 a year more than the cheapest freezer to run at $25. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $81/yr, the Danby Designer DUF140E1* uses 10% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 13.8 cu ft, the Danby Designer DUF140E1* is a mid-size freezer for its class, which spans 1.1 to 23 cu ft with a median of 13.8 cu ft, neither the size advantage of a small unit nor the size penalty of a large one applies here, so its running cost is a fairer test of efficiency alone.
- Interior volume. As with refrigerators, more cubic feet of frozen storage generally means a bigger compressor and a higher annual energy figure.
- Insulation and defrost type. Better-insulated cabinets lose less cold to the surrounding room, and frost-free (automatic-defrost) freezers run a periodic heating element that a manual-defrost model does not.
- Chest vs upright design. Door orientation affects how much cold air escapes per opening: top-opening chest designs generally hold cold better than front-opening upright ones.
Common questions
Is the Danby Designer DUF140E1* cheap to run?
Yes. Its $73/yr running cost puts it at rank #237 of 622, below what most freezer models we track cost to run.
How much does the Danby Designer DUF140E1* cost per month?
About $6.09 a month, which is the $73 annual estimate spread across twelve months at the US average rate of $0.1856/kWh. Your own bill scales with your local electricity rate and how heavily you use it.
How is this running-cost figure calculated?
The formula is annual kWh times price per kWh: 394 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $73 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Danby Designer DUF140E1* for its size?
63rd percentile once size is factored in, a fairly typical result for the class.
Cheaper to run in the same class
| Rank | Model | Cost/yr |
|---|---|---|
| 239 | Danby DUF140E1*13.8 cu ft | $73 |
| 238 | Criterion CUF14M2*13.8 cu ft | $73 |
| 237 | Alpha RDVC138WE13.8 cu ft | $73 |
| 236 | Upstreman UF14-#14 cu ft | $73 |
| 235 | Upstreman BD-39614 cu ft | $73 |
Source
ES_31682_DUF140E1*_11132017123132_6292427View certified freezer listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Danby Designer and DUF140E1* are used here for identification only and are not endorsements. Figures are computed by WattWise Labs from public ENERGY STAR data, not measured in our own lab.