Model
Summit SBF16W
Rank #661 means 660 of the 1,000 refrigerator models we track cost less to run each year; the 84th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 84% of those models.
What does the Summit SBF16W cost to run per year?
The Summit SBF16W costs about $80 a year to run, more than most of the 1,000 refrigerator models we track; it ranks #661. It uses 10% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $89/yr to run, a saving of roughly $9 a year. Its size-adjusted efficiency percentile of 84 sits well above the class median, a clearly above-average efficiency result. This class has no published efficiency-factor figure beyond annual kWh itself, so at 19.1 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 Summit LBF16SS at $80/yr runs a little cheaper and the Hamilton Beach HBF1770 at $81/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 Summit SBF16W's $80/yr adds up to roughly $960 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Summit LBF16SS, Summit FFBF153B.
By the numbers
The Summit SBF16W 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 $80/yr, here is what the Summit SBF16W adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Summit SBF16W costs about $800. That is roughly $90 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $890 over the same ten years.
How the Summit SBF16W compares
The refrigerator class we track runs from $8 to $149 a year. At $80/yr, it runs about $16 a year above the class median of $64, and it is about $72 a year more than the cheapest refrigerator to run at $8. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $89/yr, the Summit SBF16W uses 10% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 19.1 cu ft, the Summit SBF16W is a large refrigerator for its class, which spans 1.2 to 31.7 cu ft with a median of 12.6 cu ft, and larger refrigerator models generally cost more to run than smaller ones in the same class, simply because there is more to keep cold, spin, heat, or light.
- 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 Summit SBF16W cheap to run?
Its $80/yr running cost, rank #661 of 1,000, is above what most refrigerator models we track cost to run, so this is not one of the cheaper picks on electricity alone.
How much does the Summit SBF16W cost per month?
About $6.64 a month, which is the $80 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: 429 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $80 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Summit SBF16W for its size?
84th percentile once size is factored in. That means its size-adjusted efficiency is a real factor in the running-cost figure above; its capacity plays a large role too.
Cheaper to run in the same class
Source
ES_92282_SBF16W_083020242040549_6355561View certified refrigerator listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Summit and SBF16W 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.