Saturday, October 16, 2010

The 10 Best Time-Saving Home Appliances

Now that dual-earning families are the norm and many are working twice as hard at the office, maintaining order on the home front is more important than ever. Working parents especially are turning to exciting innovations in home appliances to help them manage the complicated choreography of their daily schedules.

Many incredible new products allow consumers to interact with their technology while enabling easier and faster cooking and cleaning. Some products are almost entirely self-sufficient, requiring just a flip of a switch. Nearly all are being designed to be energy efficient—saving you money every month on your utility bill. And it doesn’t stop there. Products under development promise homes of the future that are smart, interconnected and completely self-reliant.

The latest advances in home cooking come from induction technology, says JoAnn Emmel, a Virginia Tech professor who specializes in home technologies. Induction cooking was brought to the market decades ago but was unreliable and expensive. Today, it’s new and approved. Induction cooktops, like those made by GE, heat so precisely that, even on the highest setting, only the pan gets hot while the rest of the cooktop remains cool. Food never bakes onto the surface, and cooking is faster and better controlled.

Many new products incorporate barcode scanners to help ease cooking and shopping. The Ikan Wireless Scanner sits on your countertop and digitizes grocery shopping. When you notice your cereal box is almost out, for example, scan the barcode and the item will appear on your online grocery list. By hitting send, your complete grocery order will soon be delivered to your doorstep, eliminating time-consuming list-making or big trips to the supermarket. Then, once your pantry is stocked, smart microwaves from Smarthome take the guesswork out of heating food. Scan the package, and the microwave will set itself.

Even more amazing, appliances are beginning to think and act for themselves. Robotic floor cleaners from iRobot will mop, sweep or vacuum without supervision. Kenmore has developed a system called Kenmore Connect for its washers and dryers. When one breaks down, repairmen are able to troubleshoot the problem by diagnosing an electronic signal over the phone. The advance helps avoid wasted afternoons waiting for a handyman to arrive.

Check out for more such appliances here.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing such a nice information. Its really useful for a housewife to manage all the appliances at home and have to do great deal with them. Install Dishwasher

    ReplyDelete