I'm linking to the site we used to find out what ours was. I was actually really surprised to find that our 1996 Kenmore top freezer was not awful at all---pretty comparable to some of the bigger fridges available today. We kept it for a few more years in part because of that info. Even assuming a certain reduction in efficiency based on age, it's still pretty efficient. So I'd check---our model was made by Whirlpool and seemed to be among the most efficient of its era, so later Kenmore models might have followed that pattern. Here is a link that might be useful: Efficiency guide

jerzeegirl-- I'm not certain--but I THINK you've been replacing the filter on your main cold air return, NOT the filter for your heat pump. Is it a big grid/vent in the ceiling, that leads to a duct? If so--that is DEFINITELY a cold air return--NOT the main filter for your airhandler. I wish I could take a picture of my cold air return--to show you--but the digital camera is at college with its owner. I've included a link to a page that shows the anatomy of a heat-pump airhandler. You will see that the filter is at the bottom of the air handler. This may not be the same model as YOUR air handler--but I think they are all pretty similar in anatomy. When you purchased you house did you receive owner's manuals for your heat pump and airhandler? You should have. They should show a schematic (hope that's the correct word) for your unit--including the location of the filter. We have our furnace serviced every fall and our AC every spring. We are on a service contract. One of the benefits of being under a service contract is that if something goes horribly wrong (why does the AC always break down in JULY and the furnace in JANUARY?)we get moved ahead of NON-contract people on the servicing list. To my mind it's worth it. Good luck! melanie Here is a link that might be useful: anataomy of a heat-pump airhandler

" Is it nuts to hold onto an old car?" Not no but He@@ NO! Whats nuts is buying a new car. First off, the only time you ever get a chance to drive a "New Car" is that brief period at the dealership when they allow you a test drive. During the test drive the car is still registered under the dealers "In Transit Title" and it is legally a new car. The moment the title is put in your name and you sign the document it becomes a "Used Car" and the value instantly drops from the MSRP window sticker to the "Blue Book Price" even before you attach your license plates or start the motor the first time. What is really nuts is taking a cash rebate instead of demanding they take that number off the selling price. Consider the facts. They artificially inflate the price by $2,000 and offer you a $2k rebate which you are to receive after the sale. You negotiate your best price (which still contains that artificially inflated $2,000) and you sign the contract. You now have two choices, you can write them a check for the full amount or you have to finance the transaction. If you have to finance it, you are now paying interest for the full term of the note on that rebate, even though you will get the money back at closing. Not a bad deal for them, they hold your money for perhaps one day and you pay interest on it for 5 years. Now, when you get insurance you are also paying insurance on that $2,000 rebate that you took back immediately and went shopping for other stuff you probably didn't need. Oh yes, Did I mention that you also payed sales tax on the rebate money tooo. But then it is not all bad, hopefully you don't live in my state where you have to pay an excise tax on the value of your vehicle every year, including that $2,000 artificial markup. Personally, I wouldn't buy a new car if I won the lottery.

1) Bottom drains are not required in residential pools but are very useful to have. If you ever need to dump water below the skimmer, it's a PITA without one. If, for any reason, the water drops below the skimmer, without a drain line that the pump can run off, you can't easily run the pump to circulate. The question I have about company #1 is will they be putting in two drain pots ties together. Unless the existing drain is tied to the skimmer, that type of modification may require two drains, three feet apart. This is as the result of a relatively new law called the Virginia Graham(SP) Baker Act of 2007, or VGB 2007. This is law created some Federal requirements for swimming pool construction. One part states that there may no longer be constructed any submerged suction outlets that have a single source of suction or shall be be large enough that a person cannot block it and become entrapped under water due to suction. Additionally, the covers for these suction outlets shall have passed a testing procedure and proven effective against entanglements, such as could happen with long hair or necklaces to a specified flow rate. The above work can be done without it screwing up the pool's integrity. Is it easy, no. If it was, Grandma would have done it. If the existing drain is fine, leave it and replace it's cover with a new VGB compliant cover. Since the old style is no longer available in the US legally, it does make the existing one safer. There is no requirement that I know of that requires retrofitting the new construction codes to existing residential pools except during certain repairs. Permanently sealing off an existing single main drain suction outlet is permitted. Replacing a single drain with a similarly sized one, assuming we're talking about a standard 9" drain, must be turned into a dual drain unless the single drain is tied at the skimmer so as to prevent a single source of suction underwater. It's a mouth full, I know. Sorry, but the VGB act is a good thing in that it helps make pools and spas much safer. 2) Pebble Tec's standards and controls are much stricter. This makes it a better product. 3) Hydraulic=oil . Leaks happen and can be messy and costly. Clean up can be costly. I prefer the rope and pulley systems that pull the cover along it's tracks and then use a direct drive to turn the spindle that reels the cover back. 4) I would be concerned with how the artificial and dog pee/poop and potential staining and odors. Scott