Hot Products for Your Home and Garden
I'm a "gadget" kind of guy. I'm always interested in new, hot products that help me personally, the operation of my home, or that are just fun to play with. I look for products that are cost-effective, environmentally helpful, or reduce my work load.
Below the fold you'll find some of the things I've found that accomplish my desired goals -- take a look.
I'm a great believer in saving a buck or two on heating and cooling costs and water use; to that end I am (overly) zealous about not wasting energy or water. I think you'll find these sought-after items to be very helpful in reducing your annual utility bills:
- 1) I have had a solar hot water heating panel for a number of years, but it's a far cry from this highly efficient model, with its evacuated tubes. This guy will heat water for a family of four and it's eligible for a very healthy federal tax credit; what a deal.
- 2) When my (nearly ten year old) water heater storage tank goes belly-up, this is the thing for me -- long used in Europe, tankless water heaters are more and more popular in the USA. They are also eligible (thank you very much) for a federal tax credit.
- 3) Energy-saving washers, driers, and (my favorite) combination units, are increasingly coming into their own. With features such as space-saving dimensions, low-water-filling and vibration reduction (making the appliances appropriate for spaces other than the classic "laundry room"), the variety is just about endless. Make sure you get a model that is Energy Star rated, for increased efficiency. (Sorry; no tax credits for these.)
- 4) Dual-flush toilets -- likely one of the newer bathroom appliance technologies, you choose the water volume required to get waste into your disposal system. Great idea and it will save you about twenty percent of the water used in a conventional toilet.
- 5) If you're a real kilowatt-hour hunter, try the Kill-a-Watt Electricity Power Meter to see how your various plug- in appliances are performing. It provides real-time power usage for your high-consumption appliances (think microwave or window air conditioner unit) and you can calculate the operating costs to determine if it's time for a replacement.
- 6) If you have a dark location in your home that is not really suitable for the addition of electrical lighting, think about a sun tunnel -- it costs nothing for power and gives you great natural light. It does have some restrictions as to physical locations in your home, but it might work for you.
Some hot products to consider, for the interior of your home:
- 1) If you spend a bunch of cash each month on bottled water, why not reduce that expense with a water filter? Although water purifiers are not a new idea, the state of the art technical quality of the filtered water is really amazing; a good filter will remove impurities down to about a half micron (take my word for it, that's really tiny) and remove odors, as well. Filters are available in both sink faucet models and stand-alone refrigerator pitchers. When using a refrigerator pitcher, you can also reduce the amount of wasted water, waiting for it to cool off, by hundreds of gallons a month.
- 2) Touch panels for your home electronic devices are ever-increasingly popular gadgets and something that really catches my interest. Essentially a remote that controls many of your home's audio visual functions, many of them also can control operations like lighting, heating and cooling cycles, and alarm systems. The convenience is hard to appreciate, until you've had the opportunity to use one of these devices.
- 3) Counter-top dispensers, for nuts, candies, cereals, and the like. I like that fact that this dispenser helps to minimize spills, provides a measured amount, and is very convenient. (And perhaps inconvenient to little hands.)
- 4) I don't own a platform bed, but I wish I did; think of how much less vacuuming I'd have to do! And, no "dust bunnies." Clearly, there's a lot to be said for the idea of a stylish bed with a bunch of storage space that is close at hand. Excellent idea.
- 5) Heated towel racks are common in Europe and in high-end stateside accommodations, but they are now becoming more and more a fixture in residential applications; keep in mind that this item requires a 110v ac power source to make it operate.
- 6) The lack of guest bathroom storage is sometimes problematic, especially if there is a pedestal sink in place. If you are afforded the opportunity to replace the sink at some point, look at this modern version; aside from its good looks, it will offer you storage opportunities without visually cluttering up a small bathroom.
For the garden, I'm a fan of the following hot products:
- 1) A lot of folks (including me) use the old-fashioned method of composting -- piling biodegradable materials atop one another and occasionally turning the material -- but the newer rotary models are relatively lightweight, better balanced, easier to handle, and reduce the composting cycle time, by about half.
- 2) For my "back forty" outdoor work, Spira work boots. Spira is best known for the running shoes it makes, with coil springs in the heel and toe. In my contractor life, I went through about thirty or forty pair of boots and none were ever as comfortable as these guys. Good stuff.
- 3) When my recycling mower gives up the ghost, I'm going to buy a cordless electric recycling mower. My turf area is small enough, at about 500 square feet, to make an electric model the perfect choice. Most cordless mowers will operate 30-60 minutes on a full charge, so if you have a two acre lawn think again about a cordless model. (You can always go with a corded model.) With this electric mower, I won't have to concern myself with gas-oil fuel mixtures, spark plugs, or air filters. Sweet.
- 4) I mentioned that I like gadgets -- this mosquito control trap employs the latest digital and chemical attractants to catch the little monsters. It is easily portable, light-weight, and a cleverly engineered way to minimize the mosquito hordes, when they arrive in squadron strength. (I know that problem, living north of Atlanta and going through our first wet Spring in three years.)
- 5) I like solar lighting -- these are very clever lights that may be installed in any number of locations to enhance your visibility, and footing, at night.
OK; enough about me. Clearly, you will be able to add any number of nifty items to this list, but it's a start.
Your turn.
Comments page 1 of 2
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rietta said 6-26-2009 @3:22PM
why not say something about the portable AC? Is it worth the money or just a money taker?
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Tinman said 6-26-2009 @3:57PM
I am interested in the portable A/C also. They put it on the front page- then didnt mention it in any of the article...at least none that I could find. Who sells it? Where do we get one?
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ron said 6-26-2009 @5:02PM
That little cooler doe's not work. See Consumers Report that came out today. Fan blows across a wet rag...two degrees drop is the best they could get out of it and only after they took all the humity out of the air...
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Gabriel Emilio said 6-26-2009 @5:37PM
Yes, I want to know also about the $70.00 a/c.
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Ronnie said 6-26-2009 @6:01PM
If you click on the arrows on the lower right corner, there you will find the portable AC.
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HonoluluNick said 6-26-2009 @7:57PM
Thanks to the person who posted the link. The description says it's NOT an airconditioner yet it's in the name. You put water in it and it's suppose to cool the room by so many degress. It's a money waster. I have the same Suppentown but instead have to use ice. I bought a bag of ice and filled it up and it does cool while the ice HASN'T MELTED! But once it does same ole hot. However it's not like an air conditioner which blows cold air. Maybe if you're lucky you get COOL air. It's not like it gets to 72 degrees. During summer it's 86-90 degrees here in the house - maybe at the most it knocks off 6-8 degrees. And it's only in the vicinty of the machine - not the whole house. So I put it in front of me and I'm okay as long as I don't move away. Unlike a/c which the entire room may be cool. I bought mines for $113 - waste of money. The reality is that portable a/cs brand new cost anywhere from $400-800 depending on the BTUs. The only way it gets cheaper is to buy them on Craigslist, some folks sell them between $100-200 if you want to buy cheap. And portable a/cs will never reach the capacity of a window a/c. So you will have to get at least 12-14K BTU to do what a tiny window unit does. Gawd, I hate summer in the leeward side of Honolulu. Hot as hell. Always.
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JOSH LANG said 6-26-2009 @3:57PM
So,where's the portable AC they showed on the advertisement on aol?
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Gary said 6-26-2009 @4:31PM
I've seen ads for the "portable AC." It's basically just a cabinet with a "freeze pack" and a fan inside. You stick the pack in the freezer and when it's frozen solid, you put it inside the unit and turn on the fan. Air is blown over the frozen block and cooled. We used to do this with blocks of ice 60 years ago. Not very efficient. It's slightly better than just a plain fan, but certainly NOT an AC. (You get a spare freeze block, so one is freezing while the other is in the unit.)
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Sandra said 6-26-2009 @4:42PM
Click on the right arrow and the link will take you to more information on the ac
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Eleanor Kinan said 6-29-2009 @1:50PM
I clicked on this article to get more information on the portable air conditioner. What happened? Not a word was mentioned about it!
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Bill said 6-26-2009 @4:02PM
Sorry, guys. The article was written long before the advertising page was put together; hence the absence of any mention of the portable a/c.
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judy said 6-26-2009 @6:09PM
The fact that the article was written long before the advertisement of the portable AC is not a good excuse for the link about the AC. A relevant link would have been appropriate. AOL does this all the time and I do not think this is honorable in any way.
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m said 6-26-2009 @5:23PM
I guess I have the same comment , Where is the portable AC? Is this a form of bait and switch????
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Kelly said 6-26-2009 @4:21PM
So, how do we find out about the portable A/C?????
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RIRISH said 6-26-2009 @4:29PM
How stupid ...hot at Hades and they feature the portable AC and dont put it in here...Do we guess?
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ariccio89 said 6-26-2009 @4:32PM
http://shopping.aol.com/sf-610-portable-air-conditioner/20245463?refCode=aolpartner_shopfurniture&gads=afc
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Hot in Arizona said 6-26-2009 @8:56PM
yes, where is the A/C info - that's the only thing I was interested in
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marty said 6-26-2009 @5:29PM
I also was interested in the A/C unit...very frustrating when you click on it and it talks about everything else but that.
Please tell me where I can find it??
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Hot in Arizona said 6-26-2009 @8:55PM
I need the portable A/C info more than any of the other things mentioned
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ron said 6-26-2009 @5:01PM
Wally World had some great window AC's for around a hundred bucks.
Consumer Reports, that I received today, said that this cooler that is advertized doe's not work. Like blowing a fan over a wet rag...after taking all of the humity out of the air during their tests, was only able to drop the temp by two degrees..NOT RECOMMENDED>>