Going Green with Appliances

No !

The only reason to buy a new appliance (green or otherwise) is to replace one that is uneconomical to repair. A decent side-by-side fridge runs over $1K these days. So for $100 to $200 a year (probably overestimated as well) it doesn't make sense to simply replace a working refrigerator. It will take 10 years to for pay-back. That's not green because you waste resources by purchasing new equipment and landfilling/scrapping the old, never mind the cost of money.

And forget the washer and dryer. If you have old ones that work, keep them. The newer models are poorly designed and manufactured, and won't last as long as an older quality made unit. My old Maytags (before Whirlpool bought them and ruined the brand) were purchased in 1989. I haven't even had to replace a belt in these units. And I have raised four kids using these workhorses washing and drying innumerable loads of laundry.

Agreed - It is worse than stupid to discard an old fridge or washer that is working simply to go 'green'.

My new Siemens fridges - built in style - consume about 900 watts each per day. That makes 328 kWh per year - 30 to 65 USD annual operating cost depending on electricity rates. Our small bar fridge consumes about the same so it is a bit of a hog.

The Energy Star site provides consumptions for many different appliances for the sake of comparison.

Use some kind of a meter to see just what your appliances do consume - then you have an idea of where the power is really going.