Does an ice maker use more electricity?
133 refrigerators are certified both ways. The ice maker costs you a measurable amount every year.
Every figure below is computed from the catalogue, not written by hand · updated October 19, 2026
Why this is measurable at all
Most energy comparisons guess at the ice maker, because a refrigerator is usually listed once. But some manufacturers certify the same model in both configurations, and the EPA publishes a separate annual energy figure for each. That gives two numbers for one refrigerator, differing in exactly one component.
We hold 265 such pairs. 264 of them show the ice maker drawing extra energy; 1 are published with an identical figure either way, which usually means the manufacturer filed the same test result twice.
What the ice maker costs a year
| What it is | kWh a year | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|
| The ice maker's share, on averagethe difference between the two certified figures | 84 | $15 |
| The largest difference we holdone model, both configurations published | 103 | $19 |
Priced a year at the U.S. average residential rate.
A concrete example
The Samsung RT18DG6500 is certified at 343 kWh a year without an automatic ice maker and 446 kWh a year with one — a difference of 103 kWh a year, or $19 a year.
Should that change what you buy?
Probably not on its own. 84 kWh a year is real money over a fifteen-year life, but it is small next to the difference between refrigerator types — a side-by-side uses hundreds of kWh a year more than a top-freezer of the same size. If you want the ice maker, the honest way to pay for it is to choose a more efficient refrigerator, not to skip the ice.
Where it does matter: every model page on this site leads with the figure without the ice maker, because that is the configuration the EPA lists first. If a page shows a second figure for the ice-maker configuration, that is the number to use when the unit you are buying has one.
Where these numbers come from
ENERGY STAR certifies some refrigerators twice — once with an automatic ice maker and once without — and publishes a separate energy figure for each. We pair those listings, which is the only way to isolate what the ice maker itself costs.
Costs are that energy use multiplied by a state's average residential electricity price from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Change the state above and every figure on this page moves with it. Full methodology.