Model
Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C*
Rank #374 means 373 of the 622 freezer models we track cost less to run each year; the 77th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 77% of those models.
What does the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* cost to run per year?
At about $81 a year, the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* costs more to run than most freezer models we track, rank #374 of 622. It uses 10% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $90/yr to run, a saving of roughly $9 a year. Its size-adjusted efficiency percentile of 77 is comfortably above the class median. This class has no published efficiency-factor figure beyond annual kWh itself, so at 17 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 Insignia NS-UZ17WH0 at $81/yr runs a little cheaper and the L2 LRU17B6*** at $81/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 Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C*'s $81/yr adds up to roughly $1134 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Avanti AV170VFLJM#**.
By the numbers
The Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* 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 $81/yr, here is what the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* costs about $810. That is roughly $90 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $900 over the same ten years.
How the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* compares
The freezer class we track runs from $25 to $120 a year. At $81/yr, it runs about $6 a year above the class median of $75, and it is about $56 a year more than the cheapest freezer to run at $25. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $90/yr, the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* uses 10% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 17 cu ft, the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* is a large freezer for its class, which spans 1.1 to 23 cu ft with a median of 13.8 cu ft, size is usually the single biggest lever behind a running-cost figure, and at this end of the range there is more capacity to service, which tends to push the number up.
- 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 Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* cheap to run?
Its $81/yr running cost, rank #374 of 622, is above what most freezer models we track cost to run, so this is not one of the cheaper picks on electricity alone.
How much does the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* cost per month?
About $6.77 a month, which is the $81 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: 438 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $81 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Insignia NS-UZ17WH0-C* for its size?
77th 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
| Rank | Model | Cost/yr |
|---|---|---|
| 385 | Insignia NS-UZ17WH017 cu ft | $81 |
| 384 | Insignia NS-UZ17SS0-C*17 cu ft | $81 |
| 383 | Insignia NS-UZ17SS017 cu ft | $81 |
| 382 | Insignia NS-UZ17***17 cu ft | $81 |
| 381 | Hisense HFU171N1AVE17 cu ft | $81 |
Source
ES_1059185_NS-UZ17WH0-C*_12302019070733_9653508View certified freezer listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Insignia and NS-UZ17WH0-C* 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.