It used to be that spending less on an entry-level refrigerator meant settling for a bare-bones design and limited features. Picture the inside of an old top-freezer, with its wire shelves, single-bulb illumination, and freezer devoid of storage compartments. But our latest report on refrigerators tells a different story, with many low-priced models boasting features once reserved for the higher-end.

Energy and water efficiency standards released today by the U.S. Department of Energy will deliver clothes washers that use as much as 35 percent less energy and water and dishwashers that use about 14 percent less energy and 23 percent less water. While the standards don't take effect until 2013 for dishwashers and 2015 for clothes washers, many top models in Consumer Reports' current Ratings of these appliances already make the grade.

After two of the hottest summers on record, homeowners are now assessing their cooling needs for the coming months and budgeting ways to pay for them. Cooling accounts for nearly 20 percent of a home's utility bill, according to Energy Star. And if you have a leaky central air conditioning system or a window unit that's the wrong size for the room, you'll spend even more and get less cooling. But there are ways to save even on hot summer days.

Choosing a replacement lightbulb got a little more complicated with the arrival of energy-saving bulbs. The Lighting Facts label on the back of most packages is meant to help you find the right bulb for the task, but to diffuse any chaos in the lightbulb aisle, GE has color coded its packaging.

In addition to being tiresome, doing the laundry can be an energy-wasting chore. But with a few tweaks to your washday routine you can save energy, conserve water and avoid getting soaked by your utility company.

Nearly 30 percent of the water you use in your home is flushed down the toilet, making it the biggest item on your indoor water bill. Old toilets use even more water due to leaks and other inefficiencies. So it was good news when Consumer Reports recently recommended five water misers in its toilet tests. Using only 1.28 gallons per flush, the WaterSense models performed comparably in our tough, solid-waste tests with top-scoring toilets that use 1.4 to 1.6 gallons per flush.

Some time-worn habits are hard to break like rinsing your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. But stopping this ritual pays off in time and money. Not only will you save water but the energy it takes to heat it as well. Dishwashers are made to do dirty jobs so just scrape the excess food from the plates and let the machine do the rest of the work.

With five more days until the April 17 tax filing deadline, many procrastinators are scrambling to get their documents together. If you're one of them, don't forget to apply for one of the tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements that expired on December 31. Upgrades that are eligible include roofs, windows and doors, heating and air conditioning, insulation, non-solar water heaters and biomass stoves. The credits range from $50 to $300.

The number of Americans willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly product has declined over the past five years by 13 percent, according to the "Survey of the American Consumer" by GfK MRI. And even fewer are willing to trade convenience for a product that's environmentally safe. Of those U.S. adults who did buy green in the last year, the top four purchases were lightbulbs, paper towels, laundry detergent and toilet paper. In Consumer Reports tests of these products, some have performed better than others. Here's what we found.

The Nest Learning Thermostat, part of Consumer Reports' current testing of programmable thermostats, has been hailed as one of the smartest, sleekest energy-saving gadgets on the market, if also one of the most expensive. The $250, Internet-ready device, which some have dubbed the iPhone of thermostats, can supposedly divine your heating and cooling preferences and then adjust your home's HVAC system accordingly, savings you hundreds of dollars each year. Today, its manufacturer announced several enhancements that it says will make the Nest even smarter.

First there was Earth Day, now for the time-crunched there's Earth Hour, which takes place at 8:30 PM Saturday when people around the globe are asked to turn off the lights. Earth Hour began in Australia in 2007 and by last year almost two billion people in more than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries had flipped the switch to call attention to climate change, according to its sponsor the World Wildlife Fund. Whether or not you join the collective effort, there are plenty of things you can do at home to save energy and money, if not the planet.

Promises about the smart grid and smart meters have been pitched to consumers for nearly a decade now, but it's the utility companies who have benefited most from these technologies. That's starting to change, according to Powering the People 2.0, a conference hosted yesterday by the Edison Foundation and the Institute for Electric Efficiency, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Back in 1991, the notion of energy efficiency was not top of mind for most American consumers. That started to change a year later with the creation of the Energy Star labeling program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As the program celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2012, its mission of promoting energy efficient appliances, electronics, lighting, and other consumer products is recognized by more than 80 percent of Americans. Consumer Reports joins other advocacy groups, manufacturers, and industry leaders in congratulating Energy Star on its achievements.

On the heels of the Energy Department's announcement last week of the next phase of its L Prize competition, which is designed to spur innovation in energy-saving lighting products, a Washington Post article cast the contest in less than favorable light. Specifically, it depicted last year's winner, a Philips 60-watt incandescent replacement LED, as being too pricey to have broad appeal. That raised a few eyebrows at Consumer Reports where the Philips is one of our top-rated lightbulbs.

It’s a good week to be a plumber. Wanted posters in New Mexico have the public on the lookout for “bad flappers.” North Carolina is asking its residents to be leak detectives and giving them packets of dye to trace errant water. And a number of utilities across the country are offering customers WaterSense labeled faucet aerators to cut down on water use. Yes, it’s Fix a Leak Week, an annual celebration of water misers held by the Environmental Protection Agency.