Model
Danby Designer DAR044A8*
Rank #297 means 296 of the 1,000 refrigerator models we track cost less to run each year; the 25th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 25% of those models.
What does the Danby Designer DAR044A8* cost to run per year?
Among the 1,000 refrigerator models we track, the Danby Designer DAR044A8* sits in the below-average-cost group, rank #297, at roughly $50 a year. It uses 11% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $56/yr to run, a saving of roughly $6 a year. Capacity-normalized, it ranks ahead of just 25% of refrigerator models we track, a soft spot worth weighing against the dollar figure. This class has no published efficiency-factor figure beyond annual kWh itself, so at 4.4 cu ft (the class spans 1.2 to 31.7), size is the clearest lever we can point to for this model's running cost.
Immediately around it on the leaderboard, the Crosley ARXH443UW at $50/yr runs a little cheaper and the Roomwell REFNFR4400 at $50/yr runs a little more, a sense of how tightly models are packed at this point in the ranking. A refrigerator typically stays in service for somewhere around 12 years; over that span, the Danby Designer DAR044A8*'s $50/yr adds up to roughly $600 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Crosley ARXH443UW.
By the numbers
The Danby Designer DAR044A8* 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 $50/yr, here is what the Danby Designer DAR044A8* 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 DAR044A8* costs about $500. That is roughly $60 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $560 over the same ten years.
How the Danby Designer DAR044A8* compares
The refrigerator class we track runs from $8 to $149 a year. At $50/yr, it runs about $14 a year cheaper than the class median of $64, and it is about $42 a year more than the cheapest refrigerator to run at $8. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $56/yr, the Danby Designer DAR044A8* uses 11% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 4.4 cu ft, the Danby Designer DAR044A8* is a small refrigerator for its class, which spans 1.2 to 31.7 cu ft with a median of 12.6 cu ft, at the small end of the class, capacity itself is doing a lot of the work to keep that figure down, separate from how efficient the unit actually is.
- Interior volume. More cubic feet of cold air to maintain generally means a bigger compressor and a higher running-cost figure, even among efficient models.
- Counter depth vs standard depth. Standard-depth models generally offer more interior volume per unit of width than counter-depth models, a tradeoff between built-in looks and cubic feet.
- Compressor technology. How a compressor cycles, full on/off versus a variable-speed inverter design, is one of the biggest hidden differences behind two fridges with similar cubic feet but different running costs.
- Placement and ventilation. Ventilation clearance around the back and top matters more than most owners expect; a fridge starved of airflow runs its compressor longer to hold the same temperature.
Common questions
Is the Danby Designer DAR044A8* cheap to run?
Yes. Its $50/yr running cost puts it at rank #297 of 1,000, below what most refrigerator models we track cost to run.
How much does the Danby Designer DAR044A8* cost per month?
About $4.15 a month, which is the $50 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: 268 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $50 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Danby Designer DAR044A8* for its size?
25th percentile once size is factored in, a fairly typical result for the class.
Cheaper to run in the same class
| Rank | Model | Cost/yr |
|---|---|---|
| 297 | Crosley ARXH443UW4.4 cu ft | $50 |
| 296 | Vissani VS46HSCPW4.6 cu ft | $50 |
| 295 | Whirlpool WH46**E4.6 cu ft | $49 |
| 294 | Truarctic THRF14522SS4.5 cu ft | $49 |
| 293 | Thor Kitchen RBC24SSD-BLK5 cu ft | $49 |
Source
ES_0031682_DAR044A8*_01182017113326_70116194View certified refrigerator listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Danby Designer and DAR044A8* 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.