The evolution of Frigidaire's logo and brand identity

Frigidaire's new look gets a cool reception from one blogger

If you're into graphic design and/or appliances, you might enjoy "Ninety Years of Refrigerators, and Logos," an interesting post on Brand New, a site that covers corporate-brand-identity strategies. In the item, author Debbie Millman focuses on Frigidaire, tracing the appliance maker's logo from its original crown design with embedded "F" through cursive versions to the current all-caps iteration (shown right).

The latest look doesn't seem a winner for Millman: "The placement of the red triangle results in breaking the word Frigidaire into two separate words: Frigid and Ire. Given that these products are specifically marketed to moms, this messaging system is likely not going to appeal to anyone."

Logo design aside, product performance and brand reliability are what probably matter most to you. Like other brands, Frigidaire has gone up and down in these departments through the years, no matters its logo design. I can't help but think of this quote from renowned quipster Will Rogers: "Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising, and they wouldn't have to advertise it."

If you're in the market for new appliances, stay up on the news related to the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, also known as cash for clunkers for appliances. And see how Frigidaire stacks up against the competition across all appliance categories, using our ratings and brand-reliability data.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Check our Kitchen-Planning Guide for expert advice on remodeling your kitchen.

Forum Friday: Gas furnaces, pellet stoves, and solar water heaters

As another fall approaches, members are sharing more and more ways to reduce heating bills. Here are some forum postings related to the energy-saving features in our October 2009 issue.

Which gas furnace to buy? With 409 posts, this is the busiest discussion in our Heating and Cooling forum. The posters' real-world experiences with popular brands of gas furnaces like Rheem, Trane, American Standard, Ruud, and York can help you find an cost-effective, efficient and reliable model. We’ve also got buying advice, tips for choosing a contractor, and reliability ratings for top brands. And keep in mind that furnaces with an energy-efficiency rating above 90 qualify for a 30 percent federal tax credit.

Pros, cons, and costs of pellet-stoves. “We know that oil, propane and natural gas prices are going to continue to go up in the future with no end in sight, so maybe burning wood pellets or corn is the way to go,” one poster posited. Our just-published report and ratings on pellet stoves (and overview on all wood-burning stoves) details their acquisition and operating costs; we've also started a pellet-stove discussion where you can weigh in on the subject.

Solar water heater test update. “We have been looking at solar-assisted, gas-fired tankless, and other water heater designs in an attempt to cut down energy usage of all appliances that use heated water," wrote one contributor. We're happy to offer results to date of our testing of popular solar water heaters, which like pellet stoves, now have their own dedicated discussion.

Essential information: Our Energy Saving & Green Living guide has more information on the tactics, technologies, and tax incentives that can help cut your heating, cooling, electricity and water bills.

10 Questions for . . . Andrea Gabor, Business Journalist

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico speaks with Andrea Gabor, the Bloomberg Chair at Baruch College/CUNY whose most recent book is The Capitalist Philosophers: The Geniuses of Modern Business—Their Lives, Times, and Ideas. Here, Gabor shares the findings of her investigation into the appliance industry, including why she thinks U.S. manufacturers are at risk of being overtaken by foreign competition and what you should think about before buying major appliances.
 
You've spent much of your career covering the car industry. Why the interest in appliances?
It all goes back to my book The Man Who Discovered Quality (1990). It was the story of W. Edwards Deming, a statistician from Wyoming who ended up teaching the Japanese auto industry about quality management. Since then, quality has been something of an obsession with me. Two years ago I bought a $2,000 lemon of a range. I had so much trouble getting it repaired to my satisfaction—even the repair parts failed. That got me wondering about the once reliable American appliance and whether the American appliance industry was going the way of the American auto industry.

What have you learned so far in your investigation?
There are some remarkable parallels, especially when you think about what U.S. manufacturers could have learned from the auto experience of the 1980s. The Japanese started to beat the U.S. because of their commitment to quality. As with the auto industry, the main competitors to the U.S. appliance industry are largely Asian, and Korean in particular. These manufacturers have an incredibly strong quality ethic, which they learned from the Japanese. If you look at the big Korean companies like LG and Samsung, they live and breathe the Toyota quality playbook.

Is it even possible to have a domestic-versus-foreign discussion in this era of globalization?
We do live in a global world, and everyone does some amount of outsourcing. But the issue is not whether you do all your production under one roof in one country. The issue is what kind of relationship you have with your suppliers—and how much control you have over the production process. At one extreme you have the Toyota model, whereby the plant and the suppliers are usually in close proximity, like what you see in Toyota City. Both LG and Samsung have similar manufacturing centers in Korea. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a company like Apple, which has basically become a marketing and design company with virtually no in-house manufacturing. In my opinion, U.S. appliance makers need to be more like Toyota and less like Apple. Its iPods are designed to be replaced regularly; a range or refrigerator should last for years.

What do warranties tell you about this change in direction?
Warranties are in decline throughout the appliance industry. On smoothtop ranges, for example, they're down from five years to one year. The other interesting thing is that if you look at the accrual rates, which Warranty Week assembles, the average rate for U.S. home appliances is roughly 3 percent. Toyota and Honda, by comparison, have accrual rates of 1.3 percent. I realize that's comparing apples and oranges, but it begs the question of why the accrual rates would be half as much for what's essentially a much less complicated product. I would argue that it comes down to the lessons of quality that many of the major U.S. appliance manufacturers are learning the hard way.

How do values differ with American appliance manufacturers?
U.S. manufacturers don't seem to have the same quality-based philosophy. Their focus too often is on cutting costs. They want sales and they want profits and they see cost-cutting as the fastest way to get there. But what the experience of the 1980s Japanese automakers should teach them is that keeping quality up is the best way to keep costs down. I'd also argue that the U.S. manufacturers focus on slick design and features—the appliance world's equivalent of car fins—in lieu of quality.

But isn't innovation a requirement of growth? Can all of us still be cooking with grandma's old range.
You definitely need innovation. But real innovation and quality are linked. The Japanese understand this better than anyone. Their idea is that a culture of mindfulness and continuous improvement can lead to giant leaps. It wasn't that the Japanese undercut the price of the American auto or that they paid their workers less. Toyota beat the U.S. by making a better-looking, more-reliable car for a better price. They also pushed fuel efficiency and hybrid research when U.S. automakers said there wasn't a market for it. That's true innovation.

Cash for clunkers moves to appliances. Money back for your old Kelvinator?

Will this fall's federal rebate do for home appliances and heating and cooling systems what the Car Allowance Rebate System—aka cash for clunkers—has done for cars and trucks? The appliance industry certainly hopes so: Sales of dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines—the three appliances covered by the appliance-rebate program—have been off by some 25 percent from their peak during the last housing boom.

As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Obama administration is encouraging the purchase of energy-efficient appliances through the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, which will dole out amounts that could reach $200 per appliance if you buy Energy Star-qualified models.

Appliances that qualify for Energy Star use roughly 10 to 25 percent less energy than the maximum allowed for that category by the U.S. Department of Energy, which runs Energy Star with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (Watch the video here on our latest tests of water- and energy-efficient dishwashers at right.)

Unlike cash for clunkers, you won't have to turn in your old appliance to get a rebate. But states are expected to have recycling plans for the flood of old appliances the program could unleash. And while the money is coming from Washington, how much you get for which appliance will be a state-by-state decision.

State energy offices must detail the amount of the rebates for each appliance category and their plan for recycling old appliances by October 15. The money will be divided via a formula in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that is largely based on state population. For example, California, with a population of nearly 37 million, will receive just over $35 million, while Alaska's 686,000 inhabitants will get $658,477.

Combining the soon-to-be enhanced state incentives with those from federal government and local utilities can yield significant savings. We've detailed how you can combine these specific incentives on appliances, solar-, wind-, and geothermal-energy technologies, and air-conditioning systems.

You can save even more with these recently published appliance-buying tips from more than 25,000 Consumer Reports subscribers. We've also got ratings (available to subscribers) of 16 major appliance retailers and a wide range of appliances.—Bob Markovich | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Our ratings of air conditioners, dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines (available to subscribers) detail the best blends of efficiency and performance in our tough tests, which are typically more stringent than the federal government's. Our ongoing tests have also shown that some Energy Star models use more energy than their EnergyGuide labels suggest. Watch this story from CNN, which features Consumer Reports Home Editor Bob Markovich talking about the appliance-rebate program. And read our FAQ on the State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, aka cash for clunkers for appliances.

By the Numbers: Washing machine capacities grow, but efficiency rises

9 percent

Amount the capacity of the average washing machine sold today has grown since 2000, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Despite that larger capacity, today’s average washer consumes 64 percent less energy than those sold nine years ago. Consider the Energy Star-qualified GE WBVH5300K[WW], covered recently in this Inside Consumer Reports Test Labs post. This $700 front-loader aced our energy- and water-efficiency tests and cleaned capably and quickly (cycle time was a brisk 69 minutes). e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Use our free buyer's guide to washing machines and buyer's guide to dryers for expert advice on buying these laundry appliances. Get your clothes cleaner with the best performers from our latest report on laundry detergents. And read these tips for setting up a laundry room near living space.

In down economy, appliance repairs are on the rise

Even as cash-for-clunkers legislation aimed at resuscitating the struggling U.S. auto industry winds its way through Congress, many Americans looking to save money are holding on to—and putting repair money into—their cars and trucks rather than buying new ones.

A similar storyline is unfolding for home appliances at a time when the industry is experiencing a 12 percent year-over-year decline in major-appliance shipments. "Appliance Anxiety: Replace It or Fix It?" in yesterday's Home section of The New York Times, covered the repair-it-rather-than-replace-it trend and included the story of a 53-year-old mother of four who decided to shell out $239 to repair her clothes washer rather than spend about $400 for a new machine. This blog has also covered the apparent shift among budget-conscious consumers who are choosing to fix their appliances rather than buy new models.

The Times' articles relied on data from the Consumer Reports Annual Product Reliability Survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. If you're trying to determine what to do with your appliances, read our fix-it-or-nix-it report (available to subscribers), which features a repair-or-replace timeline for 15 appliances.

If you're planning a kitchen or bathroom remodel, check out the August 2009 issue of Consumer Reports, online and on newsstands in July. You'll find our testing-based product reports, including coverage of all major kitchen appliances as well as toilets and showerheads.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums

Essential information: Visit our appliances hub for links to buying advice, ratings, and brand-reliability data on a range of household gear. And read about a proposed cash-for-clunkers bill for home appliances.

By the Numbers: How long will your appliances last? It depends

35 & 6

Average life expectancy in years of a thermostat and a compactor, respectively the longest-lived and shortest-lived appliances in the American home, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Bank of America Home Equity Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components. (See the table below for an alphabetized list of appliances.)

Keep in mind that the life expectancy listed here is just a general guideline—depending on the model and brand of appliances you buy and how well you treat them, your gear might last longer or might need replacing even sooner.

So after you figure out where to buy appliances, be sure to check the brand-repair histories (available to subscribers) of the gear on our Appliances hub.

Appliance	Life Expectancy (years)
Air Conditioners (room)	10
Air Conditioners (central)	15
Boilers (electric)	13
Boilers (gas)	21
Compactors	6
Dehumidifiers	8
Dishwashers	9
Dryers (electric and gas)	13
Freezers	11
Furnaces (electric warm air)	15
Furnaces (gas warm air)	18
Furnaces (oil warm air)	20
Garbage Disposers	12
Humidifiers	8
Microwave Ovens	9
Range/Oven Hoods	14
Ranges (electric)	13
Ranges (gas)	15
Refrigerators	13
Refrigerators (compact)	9
Thermostats	35
Washing Machines	10
Water Heaters (electric)	11
Water Heaters (gas)	10
Water Heaters (tankless)	20+

By the Numbers: Repairs of old appliances surge as consumers decide to fix it, not nix it

50 percent

Amount the appliance-repair business has grown at the Gracious Home store on New York City's Upper East Side, according to Santos Lopez, the store's repair manager. "Because the economy is in bad shape, everyone needs to save money, so they bring in every appliance they think they can save," Lopez said in this March 2, 2009, article in the New York Post.

If you're unsure whether to keep or ditch a balky piece of equipment, refer to our repair-or-replace advice, based on survey information from more than 13,000 subscribers. For some appliance-saving inspiration, read this March 2009 story on great old appliances and the people who love them. And visit RepairClinic.com for more repair help for many different appliances. (The parts illustration is from RepairClinic.com.)

Buzzword: SERP

What it means. In the early days of Web search engines, SERP—search engine results page—was only part of new-media pioneers' jargon. In today's wired world, we all encounter SERPs countless times a day when we google someone (to find out what became of a high-school flame) or something (to check out the price of the bottle of wine you got from your boss).

A SERP, a listing of Web pages returned by a search engine in response to a query, in a way serves as an up-to-the minute measure of what people are looking for online; how well a Web page is optimized (the ever-important search-engine optimization, or SEO); and which search terms companies are paying for (the sometimes pricey search-engine marketing, or SEM).

Every organization with a Web site pays attention to SERPs, be they derived from internal or external searches. At Consumer Reports, for example, we've seen that many of you are searching for information on wood- and pellet-burning stoves. We've done a buyer's guide to these increasingly popular devices and have covered news surrounding them in the Home & Garden blog, like these posts on their rising sales and a new pellet-delivery system. We're also planning a testing-based report on these product.

Why the buzz? SERP plays a big role in the Web 2.0 world, which emphasizes social networks and interaction. (A related buzzword, reputation economy, highlights the user review nature of this new model). Still, as valuable a pulse-taker as SERP is, it's not always a reliable measure of quality. Consider the recently published "Looking for a Vacuum?" item on AOL.

After some breezy if not exactly exhaustive buying advice ("Most people want something light-weight with great sucking power . . . "), the author provides a list of the most searched vacuum cleaners on AOL. They include, in order from 1 to 10, Dyson, Shark, Rainbow, Kirby, Hoover, Eureka, Oreck, Dirt Devil, Miele, and Bissell.

This search-term popularity contest not only omits leading nameplates Kenmore and Electrolux but also isn't an accurate measure of how the 10 brands perform. In our latest report on upright vacuums, canister vacuums, and handheld vacuums, for instance, Dyson models didn't rank as highly as the AOL Dyson search did. (Ratings of canister and upright vacuums are available to subscribers.) Kirby is another highly searched brand on AOL, and people interested in that company's vacuums will be happy to know that it was among the highest-scoring—but priciest—upright vacuums we tested.

The discrepancies between popularity and performance are many, and we haven't even touched on brand reliability. This is not to say SERP is useless. The wisdom of the crowd can be a good starting point in your search for information. But when it comes to vacuum cleaners and other major appliances, be sure to cross-reference the cyber chatter with the test-based findings of our engineers.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Read our Value Index for cordless drills, a new tool designed to help you get the biggest bang for your buck.

Forum Friday: Top forums in recent weeks

Washing machines: This has been the most popular appliances forum recently, with the least-repair-prone front-loading washer and LG washer smell among the hottest discussions. These topics have emerged as our other top forums.

Vacuums: Vacuum aficionados have been posting in our best vacuums topic, while picks and pans of deep and steam cleaners have drawn numerous reviews.

Refrigerators: A newer French-door refrigerator discussion has sprung up to replace the old discussion on the same topic, along with a call for the quietest refrigerator.

Mattresses: The hottest non-appliance forum has many folks chatting about latex mattresses. And thanks to the member who posted the last word on how to buy a mattress.

Dishwashers: The I love my dishwasher discussion continues with passionate posts. Can top one member’s tale of her 24-year-old dishwasher?

Central heat/air conditioning: Cold weather and energy prices probably stoked discussions, like Which gas furnace should I buy?, which ranks as our most viewed discussion. We're looking forward to responses to a member's call for opinions on integrated heating and hot-water systems.

Ranges: These kitchen appliances have seen more activity as the holiday-cooking season kicked off and Consumer Reports published new ratings. The pros and cons of induction cooking is especially useful.

Small appliances: Coffeemakers dominate here. As detailed in a recent Forum Friday, numerous threads are percolating away in the wake of our latest review of coffeemakers.

Dryers: You’ll find numerous discussions of particular brands and some interesting exchanges on ventless condensation dryers and ways to prevent clothes and sheets from “balling.”

While it didn't crack the Top 10 in traffic, the energy saving in your home forum has had some wonderful insights to put more green in your holidays.