1. Cordless convenience
Now you can have a portable drill, hand vac, inflator, flashlight and other such tools that operate on a compact, lightweight interchangeable battery system.
Black & Decker introduces new power, household and electronic products that can be purchased with or without the 7-volt VPX lithium-ion battery system that holds a charge longer than its bulky, heavy predecessor.
Next year, the company plans to roll out the battery system for other power tools for home, yard and personal enjoyment. $19.99-$99.99. Visit www.blackanddecker.com for more details.
2. Test for lead
If you wonder about the safety of things around your home, First Alert offers a lead-testing kit you can use on many surfaces, including toys, dishes, paint, soil and even water. Available for $16.99 at www.firstalert.com, amazon.com and at hardware stores nationwide.
3. Warn feathered friends
Birds migrating through your yard or eating at your feeders can get confused about images they see in window reflections. Warning window decals can help stop that. Duncraft’s new Save-the-Birds UV decals are transparent to the human eye but reflect a solid blue image to birds, making the window glass “visible” to them so they avoid crashing into it. Space the decals, available in snowflake, star and leaf shapes, 3 feet apart. $9.95 for a set of six of one type. Available online at www.duncraft.com or call toll free 888-879-5095.
4. Vision for tight spots
What lies beyond isn’t such a mystery anymore. The new Ridgid SeeSnake from Elyria’s Ridge Tool Co. lets you see where your own eyes can’t — behind walls, inside ducts, even underwater. It’s a miniature inspection camera on a flexible cable that fits into confined spaces.
The camera sends images to a 2.4-inch color LCD screen on the tool’s handle. Two adjustable LEDs provide light and are controlled by a knob on the handle.
The SeeSnake has a suggested retail price of $239 and is available at Ridgid retailers, including Home Depot. More information is at www.ridgid.com/seesnakemicro.
5. Let robot clean gutters
Rosie, the Jetsons’ robot, never cleaned the gutters. But yours can.
iRobot Corp., the company that brought us the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, recently introduced a gutter-cleaning robot called the Looj. It cleans an entire stretch of gutter, starting from and returning to one location, so you don’t have to keep repositioning and climbing the ladder. The Looj has an auger that breaks up clogs and sweeps out leaves and debris at the direction of a remote control. The device is just 2 and one-fourth inches tall, so it fits beneath the gutter straps.
The Looj can be ordered at www.irobot.com at prices ranging from $99.99 to $169.99. It will be available at select retailers in the coming months.
