When it comes to spending your money, whether or not something is worth it is a subjective thing. On the one hand, there are some investments that make clear financial returns. For instance, new double-glazing windows can save you between $200 and $250 per year on heating up the place, which means that this is clearly an investment that pays off. On the other hand, what about the appliances that are made to make your life easier. How do you quantify their value and make an estimate of the contribution that they bring? Well, here are eight appliances that qualify here and by quickly reviewing them it will be up to you to decide.
1.Wireless charger
Any millennial, member of Gen X or Gen Z depends on a number of portable digital devices with access to the internet. About 89 per cent of the time spent online people do so via various applications, some of which even run in the background when not actively used. This means that for a person who actively uses their devices a battery tends to run out fairly quickly. Now keep in mind that this is a serious problem that will happen to more than one person in a household simultaneously. This means that it is a serious problem that requires an outside-of-the-box solution.
A traditional charger model will not give the desired effect since it requires you to have a free power socket and an available charger per the device you own. Fortunately, at this day and age, you can get an in-room wireless charger which both passively and simultaneously charges all the Wi-Fi devices that are currently in the room. What this means is that there’s no longer risk that you will leave the place with your battery nearly depleted. It also means that you’ll no longer have to argue with your roommates and family members over the issue of charging priority.
2.Smart thermostat
One of the biggest problems with keeping your home warm lies in the fact that there are certain periods throughout the day when there’s no one home. Provided that it’s the colder part of the year and that everyone will be absent for hours (that they left for school or work) you would find yourself in a bit of a dilemma. Do you keep it running the entire time, thus wasting an incredible amount of energy or do you prefer to return to a freezing household?
Whit a smart thermostat you get the privilege of being able to remotely control the temperature in your home. This means that you could turn the thermostat on half an hour before you leave work. In fact, some of these thermostats are so sophisticated that they can track your location via a GPS in your phone and start automatically warming the place up as you approach the home. Still, this can be quite inaccurate and cause a lot of problems, which means that it might be best to avoid it altogether. In other words, this investment is both frugal and practical.
3. High-end coffee maker
While there are those who may not give too much significance to this appliance or even consider it optional, for the majority of people enjoying a freshly brewed coffee represents one of the pivotal parts of their daily ritual. For this reason, it is a wise choice to invest in a high-end coffee maker. For the sake of practicality getting a capsule coffee machine is the obvious choice. The coffee made this way is simple to brew and its quality can be unparalleled.
As far as the coffee itself goes you need to realize that it brings a number of benefits to the table. First of all, it boosts your alertness and helps you stay focused on the task at hand. This is particularly important for office workers whose daily tasks are often repetitive and even boring. Second, when consumed in moderation coffee has a range of health benefits. Due to the fact that coffee is a known mood enhancer, it can also help with your social life (especially early in the morning). This can also have a positive impact on your workplace relationships.
4. Smart kettle
Not everyone is a coffee person and there are some who prefer to enjoy a hot cup of tea early in the morning. With a smart kettle, you can make a device in sync with your alarm clock so that you don’t have to start the brewing process manually. You can also remotely issue a command for your tea to start brewing, then put your alarm clock on snooze and nap for a couple more minutes. The point of all this is not to put you in a spot where you can allow yourself to get lazy. It’s only there to help you optimize your morning routine.
One more benefit of having a smart kettle can be seen in instances where you get to entertain guests in your household. Instead of having to run back and forth from the kitchen to the living room you can just start the brewing process remotely via your smartphone and then receive back the notification when the process is over. This automatically makes you a better host, seeing as how you no longer have to leave your guests unattended. Also, the tech-savviness of your home may impress some of your visitors.
5. Smart lights
The convenience of having a smart lighting system within your home is both obvious and self-explanatory. First, it gives you a chance to run a more energy-efficient household. When you go the extra mile to make all the bulbs into LED once, you get to save even more. The very fact that you will never again have to leave the couch in order to switch the light on and off also helps you out quite a bit. In other words, it just makes life easier for everyone.
Now, let’s consider the scenario where you leave the place without knowing whether you’ve left the lights on with a smart lighting system you would be able to check this remotely and rectify the mistake without having to go back home. Also, an investment in outdoor smart lights is also an investment in home security. A household with a well-lit exterior might act as a deterrent to a lot of potential burglars. For this to give the best result, you might also want to invest in a sensor lighting.
6. Smart lock
Another thing you need to keep in mind is the importance of having a smart lock installed in your household. First of all, it’s convenient because it eliminates the likelihood that you’ll ever leave the home without the key. Let’s face it, what are you more likely to forget stuffing inside of your pocket, your key or your smartphone. The next thing you need to realize is the fact that your home’s smart lock gives you a chance to remotely check the security of the place. Previously, we’ve talked about the likelihood of leaving the heating or the lightbulb off? Well, how about forgetting to lock the front door before you leave the place.
The strangest thing of it all is the fact that people have a false presumption that these smart locks cost an arm and a leg. On the other hand, you can order them on Amazon for as little as $100. This means that it’s one of the potentially cheapest upgrades that you could ever make and it helps immensely boost the quality of your household as a whole.
7. Smart refrigerator
One of the best additions not just for your home, but your health, as well, is to invest in a smart refrigerator. The first benefit of this appliance is the fact that you can use your smartphone to check the contents of the tour refrigerator. It goes without saying just how beneficial this would be for your grocery runs. Instead of grocery lists, which can often omit crucial ingredients, just because you forgot to include them while making the list the night before, you now get a chance to check its inventory in real-time.
As far as the health benefits go, your smart fridge can keep track of the expired dates of your food. It can also keep track of the nutrient composition of various foods which can help you lead a healthier, more balanced diet. In other words, an investment in a smart refrigerator can be a major help when it comes to your dietary habits.
8. Wi-Fi sprinkler system
The value of your property is also determined by its surroundings and one thing that could help you get the most resale value from is a continuous landscaping effort. Now, any efficient gardening project is something that requires a lot of work and one of the most arduous and resource-taking tools is irrigation. Doing so manually is inefficient because it A) takes too much time, B) makes you waste too much water/not water it enough and C) takes a lot of effort on your part. All of this can be handled with an irrigation system.
Why not take one step further and invest in a Wi-Fi controlled sprinkler system. This way, you can automate the process, eliminate all the physical labour that you would have to invest in this process, as well as ensure that you get the optimal amount of water distributed to each plant. This means that they resolve all the problems that you would have with manual sprinklers and more (in terms of efficiency). By also investing in data loggers, you can ensure that you’ve provided your garden with adequate results.
In conclusion
Each of the appliances in question is there to make your life easier, which is of a huge aid, on its own. Other than this, they improve the overall comfort within your home, help you save energy (and even reduce your water consumption), thus making the idea of running your household into something a lot more frugal. In other words, while it’s undeniable that each of these investments will pay off, they don’t all pay off in the same manner. Some do so by providing you with a great amount of personal pleasure, while others just help you with various day-to-day tasks.