Sorry to hear about the the fridge and wish you luck with the replacement. Does North Carolina have a lemon law for appliances? If not, then, hopefully, the E-Lux warranty will get you replacement. In case you go back to considering an upright freezer, I can give you my experience on electrical cost increase from going from a s small chest freezer to a larger self-defrosting upright. I replaced a 5 cu. ft. Whirlpool manual-defrost chest freezer with a 14 cu. ft. Frigidaire FFU14 upright (very similar to the Lowe's version you are considering). With a Kill-a-Watt meter, I figured out that my old chest freezer used around 270 kWh per year while the new upright has been using about 440 kWh. I figure the net extra cost per year for me has run a little under $20 per year. So, not much extra utility cost. Of course, power consumption is partly a function of how full the freezer is and where you keep it. Mine is in the basement which holds a pretty steady at around 60F over the year. Placed the freezer in a garage that is hot for five or six months of the year, and keep it only half full, your cost could be a few dollars higher. One thing about my FFU14 is that it's compressor and fans run frequently and make a fair amount of fan and motor noise. THe Energy Star implementation is abasically to use smaller fans and motors which use less power even though they run more frequently. Trouble is, those smaller components can be annoyingly noisy, at least on the Frigidaire version that I have. This probably will not be a problem with the freezer out in the garage in your case, but it is a problem for me with the freezer in my basement. Chest freezers are a good deal quieter,

ncamy, I'm not sure you're still looking for Energy Star information, but I too am building in Asheville and am going to have it energy star certified. It does not matter about your stove. Apparently there aren't any energy star stoves anyway (per appliance salesman). Just stick with all energy star appliances you can get and you'll be fine. It's really a simple process. Other than making sure you have the correct appliances and a high enough rated HVAC system, you're good to go. You just have to make sure your builder is doing his job right more or less. We're going with low-e/argon windows (a cost of $500 total extra) and an additional $1000 for our heat pump (it's going to be dual zoned and 14 seer i think). other than that it's $900 for a third party to come out and inspect (i think 3 or 4 times) and do one of those blower tests and that's it. You don't even need to do argon gas, we just opted for it. so really it's only costing us $1900 to have it certified and trust me, it's well worth it for your monthly bills and when you go to sell. Which street in montford are you building on? I know the area like the back of my hand. My wife and I both went to UNCA. We just sold (i close tomorrow the 8th of Aug.) our montford house (it's on the out skirts of montford down Hill St.). It was an Energy star house built in 2003. We break ground on the 15th of Aug. in West Asheville. We're sort of doing this as an investment so we can afford another house in the Montford area again. We're looking at two lots right now on West Chestnut. I'm assuming you know that street, eh? Feel free to ask any more questions.

When we got our TL Fisher & Paykel GWL10 Ecosmart in 2001, it was America's "Most Energy Efficient Washer" according to Consortium of Energy Efficiency (C2 Level) 12/99. So don't lump all TL into the same "uses 40-gallons of water" category. FL were NOT all the rage just yet, they were just getting a foothold in the market back then (not that they hadn't been available, just not big in the market). The F & P passed independent tests by Interteck Testing also gave it "Best Soil Removal" rating. My experience would concure - it cleans very well (I use Charlie's Soap). The F & P has a 1000-rpm spin that I DON'T use because it sets wrinkles, as suburbanmd pointed out. The fast spin is great if you are drying clothes in a dryer, but NOT so good if you line dry like I do. Some kind soul mentioned on this message board many years ago, to leave your clothes wetter if you line dry and use a slower spin cycle. So I gave it a try and they were "spot on" with that suggestion. An advantage to a slower spin cycle (our F&P has a Spin Hold cycle for hand washables or to line dry), the wetter clothes actually dry with hardly any wrinkles in them. Gravity is your friend when you line dry clothes that are a little on the wet-side, by gently tugging wrinkles out of the clothes. So you get best results with clothes that have not been spun into a wrinkled mess to begin with. I also agree with cynic about the difference in water use not being that great. I conserve LOTS more water by being able to do dishes and after meal clean-up (3 meals a day) using ONE-gallon of water per meal, rather than the normal 5-7-gallons using the traditional 2 sinks full of water, or 4-gallons of water using a dishwasher - than I GUZZLE using a TL washing machine doing 6-loads of laundry per week. Ecosmart average water consumption is 26-gallons and has a preciese auto water level sensing - FL use up to 24-gallons (from what I read on-line). Not to mention, F & P machines have increased reliabilty with fewer moving parts: no belts, pulleys, gears, transmission or clutches. -Grainlady

Keep in mind that a traditional TL uses something like 20,000 gallons per year. In relation to that, the 1,000 gallons are not really a big difference. Besides, the energy star charts are assuming that you do about 7 loads a week on the "normal" cycle. It doesn't necessarily mean that one washer uses more energy and water on all possible cycles. Engaging the heater will require more energy, but can also lead to much cleaner clothes. Both of the washers you consider are very energy and water efficient. I would base the decision on the other differences between these two washers. Also make sure that there is service available in your area.