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I have had it with the green nazis. They are ruining our standard of living, and I do not understand why we are putting up with it. I hope that if we are willing to stand up and be heard, it might make a difference. Fellow Freepers, I encourage you to join me in an attempt to turn the tide before it is too late. The website of the CEE is www.cee1.org and we all know how to contact our senators and representatives.

I need to buy a new washer/dryer set. Which is better? Top or front load? Thanks

An energy-saving trial that will shut down home appliances when peaks of demand threaten to overwhelm the network began this week. About 300 homes in Sandwell in the West Midlands have received fridge-freezers that turn themselves off when the grid is overstretched. Altogether, 3,000 homes will take part in the two-year trial, run by npower. Energy companies plan to offer grants and cheaper tariffs to encourage all households to switch to such appliances. If all homes had smart fridges, Britain’s annual emissions would fall by two million tonnes, the equivalent of taking 700,000 cars off the road or closing a...

Enjoy burning a lot of energy tonight!!

Do you have a high-efficiency front-loading washing machine? If so, be on the lookout for mold. This recently-published MSNBC.com piece investigates the increased likelihood of mold growth in front-loaders. Unlike top loaders, which see most water evaporate after a cycle, front loaders experience water collection, particularly on the Rubber gasket around the glass window.

The cash-for-clunkers program was so successful in getting Americans to buy new cars that it ran out of money early. Now, a sequel, dollars-for-dishwashers, is coming to an appliance store near you. But the $300 million program, funded through the federal government's economic stimulus plan, is certain to lack the same pop, said appliance makers and retailers. The program's intent is to spur sales of energy-efficient appliances, but its small size would provide just a minor boost for struggling appliance makers such as General Electric Co., Whirlpool Corp., and Sweden's Electrolux AB. Unlike the clunkers plan, the program allows each...

Will this fall's federal rebate do for home appliances and heating and cooling systems what the Car Allowance Rebate System—aka cash for clunkers—has done for cars and trucks? The appliance industry certainly hopes so: Sales of dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines—the three appliances covered by the appliance-rebate program—have been off by some 25 percent from their peak during the last housing boom. As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Obama administration is encouraging the purchase of energy-efficient appliances through a $300 million appliance-rebate program that will soon dole out amounts that could reach $200...

Rebates for Refrigerators? Dollars for Dishwashers? Funds for Furnaces? The government's so-called "Cash for Clunkers" program has been grabbing headlines, but it's not the only federal program putting money back into consumers' pockets. A new government program is poised to help appliance manufacturers the same way "Clunkers" gave a jump start to auto manufacturers. As part of the Obama Administration's economic stimulus bill, nearly $300 million was set aside to fund a state-run rebate program for consumers purchases of Energy Star-qualified home appliances.

Another wave of subsidies are on the way, this time for the home appliance market. Trading in old home appliances will soon earn consumers up to $200 towards the purchase of high-efficiency upgrades. The program, authorized by Congress earlier this year, will be capped at $300 million taxpayer dollars, and will apply to household appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers, as well as furnaces and air-conditioning systems. The existing cash for clunkers auto program is on its second round of funding, and struggling U.S. automakers Ford (NYSE: F - News) and GM (OTC: MTLQQ - News) are both upping...

Obama Orders Costly Energy Standards on Appliances Thursday, February 5, 2009 12:56 PM WASHINGTON – Eager to show action on the energy front, President Barack Obama ordered his government on Thursday to establish higher efficiency standards for everyday household appliances such as dishwashers, lamps and microwave ovens. "This will save consumers money, this will spur innovation, and this will conserve tremendous amounts of energy," Obama declared during a visit to the Energy Department, where he touted his economic jobs plan. Obama announced he had signed a presidential memorandum directing the Energy Department to get moving on energy standards for appliances,...

Some owners of foreclosed homes are stealing appliances and leaving the houses damaged and in disarray, MyFOXOrlando.com reported. Realtors complain the trashed houses are harder to sell. Homeowners upset at banks that are forcing them out have been hauling items from their houses and selling them, the station said. They're also damaging walls and floors.

AP story via Fox News. Link only Link

Long story short, I am doing some renovation work at my house soon and am deciding on which items to get for my kitchen. So far, I am getting a viking oven, a sub zero fridge, probably getting broan range hood, but am a bit torn on a dishwasher and other stuff.Whats the best dishwasher, Bosch or Miele?Is Viking the best oven?Is sub-zero (not the mortal kombat character) the best fridge?The oven is going to be a 60 inch viking with grill and griddle, is this the best choice?I am kind of torn on which sub-zero fridge to get, between...

Lucy’s Love Shop employee Wanda Gillespie said she was flabbergasted that South Carolina’s Legislature is considering outlawing sex toys. But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states. The South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses. "That would be the most terrible thing in the world," said Ms. Gillespie, an employee the Anderson shop. "That is just flabbergasting to me. We are supposed to be in a free...

In a battle of wits with kitchen appliances, I'm toast BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on Feb. 27, 2000.) Recently, The Washington Post printed an article explaining how the appliance manufacturers plan to drive consumers insane. Of course, they don't SAY they want to drive us insane. What they SAY they want to do is have us live in homes where ''all appliances are on the Internet, sharing information'' and appliances will be ''smarter than most of their owners.'' For example, the article states, you would have a home where the dishwasher ''can be...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Phone rechargers, TVs, CD players, VCRs, and all those other appliances you plug into the wall and forget were called "energy vampires" Wednesday by state regulators, who voted to make them more efficient. Proponents hope the world's first such regulations force others to the follow the lead of the most populous state. The new standards adopted by the California Energy Commission will be phased in starting in 2006. Televisions, videocassette recorders and digital video disc players use two- to 10 watts even when they're turned off. California is requiring them to use one- to three watts. Power...

HENZHEN, China - When Crystal Chen, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer, started designing microwave oven doors for Whirlpool in 2001 in this gleaming Chinese metropolis, one of her biggest surprises was the size of the ovens. Built to be installed over ranges in spacious American kitchens, the ovens were twice the size of the countertop microwaves sold for Chinese kitchens. And as she has kept working on them, the Whirlpool models, nearly all of them made to be exported to the United States and Europe, have grown even larger, approaching three times the size of a typical Chinese microwave. By contrast,...

<p>Precision Tool, Die and Machine Co., a nearly 60-year-old Louisville company with more than 500 employees that serves General Electric Co. and other manufacturers, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.</p> <p>Meanwhile, its parent company, Elamex SA de CV of Mexico, announced that Precision is for sale.</p>

Date: Posted 9/27/2002 "Vampire" Appliances -- They Suck Electricity Even When Switched Off -- Cost Consumers $3 Billion A Year, Says Cornell Energy Expert ITHACA, N.Y. -- The typical American home has 20 electrical appliances that bleed consumers of money. That's because the appliances continue to suck electricity even when they're off, says a Cornell University energy expert. His studies estimate that these so-called "vampire" appliances cost consumers $3 billion a year -- or about $200 per household. "Off doesn't mean off anymore, but standby," says Mark Pierce, a Cornell Cooperative Extension associate in the Department of Design and Environmental...