Model
Marathon MFF212*****
Rank #484 means 483 of the 622 freezer models we track cost less to run each year; the 96th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 96% of those models.
What does the Marathon MFF212***** cost to run per year?
At about $92 a year, the Marathon MFF212***** costs more to run than most freezer models we track, rank #484 of 622. It uses 10% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $102/yr to run, a saving of roughly $10 a year. Its size-adjusted efficiency percentile of 96 means the low running cost is not just a function of size; almost nothing in the class beats it on efficiency once capacity is accounted for. This class has no published efficiency-factor figure beyond annual kWh itself, so at 21.2 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 Koolatron KTUF600-W-E at $92/yr runs a little cheaper and the Marathon MFF212BLS at $92/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 Marathon MFF212*****'s $92/yr adds up to roughly $1288 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Avanti AV2121VFB0W.
By the numbers
The Marathon MFF212***** 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 $92/yr, here is what the Marathon MFF212***** adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Marathon MFF212***** costs about $920. That is roughly $100 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $1020 over the same ten years.
How the Marathon MFF212***** compares
The freezer class we track runs from $25 to $120 a year. At $92/yr, it runs about $17 a year above the class median of $75, and it is about $67 a year more than the cheapest freezer to run at $25. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $102/yr, the Marathon MFF212***** uses 10% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 21.2 cu ft, the Marathon MFF212***** 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 Marathon MFF212***** cheap to run?
Its $92/yr running cost, rank #484 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 Marathon MFF212***** cost per month?
About $7.63 a month, which is the $92 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: 493 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $92 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Marathon MFF212***** for its size?
96th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 505 | Koolatron KTUF600-W-E21.2 cu ft | $92 |
| 504 | Kenmore KKUF21-W21.2 cu ft | $92 |
| 503 | Golden GUF21GHS21.2 cu ft | $92 |
| 502 | Gaggenau RF47170415.8 cu ft | $92 |
| 501 | Frigidaire FFUV2136AW21.1 cu ft | $92 |
Source
ES_1137295_MFF212*****_12142023104443_80193196View certified freezer listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Marathon and MFF212***** 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.