5 Gadgets for the New Homeowner
From laser levels to ray gun thermometers, Tech Talker reveals 5 must-have gadgets to help homeowners save money and time.
A few years ago, I bought my own house, and since then, almost all of my friends have purchased houses, too. And as new homeowners, there were a lot of gadgets out there that have helped us save money and time.
So this week, I’ll be covering the gadgets that I’ve personally put to the test – and that I recommend to all the new homeowners out there.
IR Thermometer
First up is the IR thermometer, a little tool that looks like a mini laser gun. All you do it point it at something, squeeze the trigger, and boom – it will give you a digital read out of the temperature.
This is extremely useful if you’re trying to make your home more energy efficient. You can walk around your house on a cold day and check doors, windows, and skylights to see which spots are letting in the cold.
You can also do this on a hot day to see where your cool air is leaking. I also like to use it on vents inside my house to see which have the warmest and coolest air coming out of them.
This thermometer is less than $20, and can easily save you much more than that in a single month if you use it to make your house more energy efficient.
Kill-a-Watt
I mentioned this little device in a podcast I did a few years back on how to make your home more energy efficient. It’s definitely worth mentioning again, though.
This device is extremely simple to use: you just plug it into a normal wall outlet, and then plug a power strip or an appliance into it. From there, it will tell you just how much electricity the device you plugged into it is using.
It’s really interesting to go around your house and test lamps, hairdryers, TVs, and everything else that uses electricity. I find that it can really help to weed out any device that is using a lot of power unnecessarily.
For example, when I took this around my house, I noticed that my TV and other devices plugged into my media center were consuming 100 watts of power…when they were turned off! So after making some changes to what devices I had plugged in there, I noticed a significant amount of savings on my next energy bill.
This is also super useful if you want to track the power consumption of an electric car, so you can see just how much it costs to charge it per mile.
Nest and Nest Protect
The next and final energy efficiency gadgets I want to mention are the Nest and the Nest Protect. I mentioned these in an earlier episode called “What is the Internet of Things?”
The Nest device is an internet-connected thermostat that learns your behaviors. Initially, I thought that the most valuable thing about this product was that you could remotely control and monitor the interior temperature of your home, which is a really nice feature. However…..
…after using the Nest, I can now see that its best feature is actually its ability to learn your habits, including when you’re home and when you’re away. The brain on this thing makes the heating and cooling in your house extremely efficient and easy!
It’s a pretty pricey gadget at around $250, but almost every review I’ve read – and my own personal experience – shows that the Nest quickly pays for itself in savings on your utility bills.
The Nest also has a sister product called the Nest Protect, which is a carbon monoxide detector and fire alarm rolled into one. The Nest Protect connects to the internet, too, and will let you know audibly (if you’re home) if it detects CO or a fire. What’s even more powerful is that it will also let you know if either has been detected when you are away from home.
Range Finder
A good friend of mine is an interior designer and she introduced me to the incredible digital Range Finder.
If you’ve bought a new house and you’re trying to measure a room for furniture or decorations, this tool is indispensable. You may be thinking that a normal tape measure would work just fine, but I’ve seen this range finder do things that no tape measure could ever do.
It can easily be used by one person over different elevation levels and is extremely accurate. Until I saw just how effortless and accurate this device was, I wasn’t quite sold. But now, any measurement I need to take – from just a couple of inches to over 100 feet – I trust to my Range Finder.
It’s also especially useful when trying to measure ceiling heights and lengths of stairways. You can even mount it to a tripod. If you think you’ll be taking a lot of measurements inside your home (whether for a renovation or a redecoration), this device will make measuring anything extremely simple and accurate.
Laser Level
Last, but certainly not least, is a laser level. The one I’ve linked to has a particularly awesome feature: you can attach it to a tripod and use it to level everything in a room to the same height. It also comes with accessories that allow you to mount it to a wall.
This device is definitely worth it if you’re installing anything in your house or having work done – pouring cement, installing a fence, or just making sure all of those picture frames in the hall are level. In my opinion, this device definitively answers the dreaded question, “Does this look level to you?”
Well, that’s it for today! Be sure to check out all my earlier episodes at quickanddirtytips techtalker. And if you have further questions about this podcast, or want to make a suggestion for a future episode, post them on Facebook QDTtechtalker.
Until next time, I’m the Tech Talker, keeping technology simple!
Photo of level laser courtesy of Shutterstock.
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About the Author
Tech Talker demystifies technology and cutting edge devices so that even the most tech illiterate can understand what’s going on with their computer or gadget — and what to do when something goes wrong.
