refrigerators

Freezers don't come with an expiration date, but you don't have to wait to upgrade until you feel like the only one on your block with an old fashioned ice box. There are some easy ways to figure out whether or not you need a new freezer.

The refrigerator is the second-biggest electricity hog in most homes, so if you want to trim your power bill, it's a great place to start. The best solution is to ditch your old one for a new, energy-efficient model, but if that isn't in your budget, here are a few options.

Doing the math on whether to fix an old appliance is fairly easy: If the repair cost is more than half the cost of a new appliance, and the item is more than half-way through its useful lifetime, then it's time to buy a new one. No sense in spending money on repairs for a machine that will likely...

General Electric will invest $432 million in its appliances division, resulting in the creation of 500 jobs. The conglomerate wants to expand its market share in the refrigerator market and boost the number of appliances made in the U.S.

Every so often, I come across a statistic that makes me pause for a moment. This week, the big stat was 14%, which is the amount of household electricity that the average refrigerator consumes. By comparison, lighting takes up a measly 9%, clothes dryers take up 6%, and color TVs take up 3%. This...