Matching appliances would be too easy

MF is beating her self up over her choice in dishwashers. The people who put letters online to say what they think of the dishwasher are 5-3 on the "awful" versus "fabulous" scale in favor of awful. The cook top appears to have been chosen. The dryer has been chosen, but selecting the washer model was a little more complicated. The size of the refrigerator is not yet known. The oven has been chosen. Thank goodness that MF is doing the hard work.

MF and I went out to look at refrigerators on Saturday. I want the larger size. MF does not. Oh, well. Apparently unnecessarily oversized appliances are a big source of energy waste even as the technology itself gets more efficient.

The modern kitchen these days has appliances that all match. We have a GE cooktop, a Kitchen Aid dishwasher, a Sears Kenmore refrigerator, an Electrolux wall oven and Whirlpool washer and drier. Noting matches, but they are all top rated models. The federal Energy Star program publishes massive Excel spreadsheets of Energy Star certified appliances. With a little coaching from Annika, MF has become a whiz at sorting these spreadsheets by energy use and other appliance features to zero in on the perfect models. We are very well informed!

Update by Mary Florence:

I caved and agreed with Tom on the refrigerator. It turned out that the larger model was far more energy efficient than the next size smaller. Oh, and he forgot to mention one more brand: the range hood is by Zephyr.