| News and Tips & Techniques |  |
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| General Electric Acknowledges Plan to Sell Appliance Unit |
| | The venerable GE Appliances business is up for sale. Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric Co., is looking to offload the century-old appliances unit in a move to invigorate the parent company, which has more than $170 billion in annual revenue, according to news reports that initially surfaced on May 14, 2008.GE has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to run the auction for the appliances group, which is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Possible buyers, according to The Wall Street Journal, include Germany’s BSH Bosch, Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, Mexico’s Controladora Mabe SA (GE’s partner in that country), China’s Haier Group, and private-equity firms.Whether you are on the short list of potential GE Appliances buyers or just in the market for new appliances for your kitchen or laundry room, read how GE products stack up against the competition in a few key appliance categories: |
| | 5/18/2008 2:47 PM (197d 3h 41m ago) |
| Rebates and Tax Credits Can Lower Appliance Costs |
| | While you might have back-burnered your plans for a kitchen remodel or a new laundry room, you can’t ignore an ailing dishwasher, a struggling refrigerator, or a washed-up clothes washer.Fixing these appliances could be an option—see our repair-or-replace-it guide (available to subscribers)—but when you decide to replace appliances, consider more-energy-efficient models. This is one way to spend your federal economic-stimulus payment. And, as unlikely as it might seem, you can also turn to your utility company and the state and local government for some financial relief.As of mid-May, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, maintained by North Carolina State University’s Solar Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, lists 732 utility rebate and loan programs for consumers who buy energy-efficient appliances or other home systems. (The DSIRE's map is shown.) The site also includes details on 35 state rebate and loan programs and 13 personal-income-tax-credit or tax-holiday plans.You’ll also fund information on rebate and tax-credit programs from utilities, states, and partners at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Partner Activities search; if you don’t see a program listed for your area, look on your utility bill for more information or contact your state taxation office.Read more about rebates and tax credits. |
| | 5/15/2008 2:31 PM (200d 3h 57m ago) |
| Solid State Lighting Last 10 Times Longer Than CFLs with NO Harmful Mercury |
| | Solid-state lighting, or SSL, could be the next big thing in residential lighting. SSL refers to a type of bulb—or lamp, in industry parlance—that uses the movement of electrons through a semiconductor material to generate light. The semiconductor is in a solid block form, hence “solid state.” Because there’s no filament that heats up (and eventually burns out), SSL is up to 50 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs, claim manufacturers. SSL is also said to last as much as 10 times longer than compact fluorescent lighting and contains none of the potentially harmful mercury that has brought CFLs image down to earth and made recycling them a hassle.Read the full Consumer Report. article. |
| | 5/02/2008 7:36 PM (212d 22h 51m ago) |
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| 10 Questions for . . . Joan DesCombes, Certified Kitchen Designer |
| | In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Consumer Reports Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico speaks with Joan DesCombes, CKD, principal of Winter Park, Florida–based Architectural Artworks Incorporated. Here, DesCombes, who received the 2008 Pinnacle of Design award from the National Kitchen & Bath Association in April, talks about her winning project, where kitchen design stands today headed, and what her clients want in their new kitchens. |
| | 5/14/2008 3:09 PM (201d 3h 19m ago) |
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