Model
Upstreman BD-396
Rank #231 means 230 of the 622 freezer models we track cost less to run each year; the 69th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 69% of those models.
What does the Upstreman BD-396 cost to run per year?
At about $73 a year, the Upstreman BD-396 undercuts most freezer models we track on running cost, rank #231 of 622. It uses 11% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $82/yr to run, a saving of roughly $9 a year. Capacity-normalized, it ranks ahead of 69% of freezer models we track, a reasonably strong result for the class. This class has no published efficiency-factor figure beyond annual kWh itself, so at 14 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 Hamilton Beach BD-396 at $73/yr runs a little cheaper and the Upstreman UF14-# 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 Upstreman BD-396's $73/yr adds up to roughly $1022 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Farberware FW-UFR391US-IN-I6A.
By the numbers
The Upstreman BD-396 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 Upstreman BD-396 adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Upstreman BD-396 costs about $730. That is roughly $90 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $820 over the same ten years.
How the Upstreman BD-396 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 $82/yr, the Upstreman BD-396 uses 11% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 14 cu ft, the Upstreman BD-396 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 Upstreman BD-396 cheap to run?
Yes. Its $73/yr running cost puts it at rank #231 of 622, below what most freezer models we track cost to run.
How much does the Upstreman BD-396 cost per month?
About $6.06 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: 392 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 Upstreman BD-396 for its size?
69th percentile once size is factored in, a fairly typical result for the class.
Cheaper to run in the same class
Source
ES_1144488_BD-396_06172025093626_9770929View certified freezer listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Upstreman and BD-396 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.