9 Essential Household Appliances Every Home Must Have

We all live fairly busy lives these days. In most of the households, every member has an active occupation, be it school, university, career, or social engagements. This leaves us with little time to look after the house and pay attention to the household chores. There can be two outcomes of this situation. Either we ignore the chores and they pile up or whenever we get time, then instead of relaxing, we end up finishing those chores. Its a never ending nightmare and either ways, its not good for us. Fortunately help is at hand. Our team has compiled a list of 9 essential household appliances every house must have to take some load off your shoulders, giving you the much needed ‘me’ time. This is how it goes.

List of Appliances

Below is the list of these 9 essential household appliances that make day-to-day life simple and take a lot of load off our shoulders, while maintaining the household in perfect condition.

1. Dishwasher

This is the first appliance on our list of most important household appliances. Installing just this one appliance can improve the quality of your life tremendously. Modern dishwashers have been carefully engineered to meet the specific needs of the Indian households. Whether it is about the different shapes and sizes of our pots & pans or it is about the degree of soiling of our utensils, these dishwashers can handle them all with ease. We found out that they can easily clean the heavily greased cookware.

They can even deal with crusted and slightly burnt cookware, cleaning them like new. They are also very good at removing strong odors, especially if the utensils have been left overnight in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher. In addition to all this, your dishwasher thoroughly disinfects all the tableware, pots & pans and the glassware. This gives you a lot of peace of mind especially during the pandemic.

The glasses come out sparkling as if they have just been taken out of their boxes. The utensils and tableware also last longer because you no longer give them a heavy beating of scrubbing.

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The additional cost of electricity for operating a dishwasher for a family of four would come to around Rs. 600 per month, which is less than what you pay to your domestic help for doing the same job. Additionally, it gives you a lot of flexibility by not having to depend upon anybody. Best brands to buy include Siemens, Bosch and Samsung as they are particularly adapted to Indian dishwashing. The cost of a dishwasher in India is between 30k to 50k.

2. Cleaning Robot

Many of us are skeptical about the cleaning abilities of a robotic vacuum cleaner but when we bought and tested one, we all were pleasantly surprised. There are many types of robotic vacuum cleaners available in the market, depending your requirements and your budget. They come with their own charging station, where they return to when they are running low on charge. You can program different types of cleaning schedules and they will map the entire house in their memory and clean the house as scheduled.

Depending upon the model you decide to purchase, some can even do brooming and wet mopping as well. They have a trash box and a water storage container to do sweeping and mopping whenever you want, without the need for frequently emptying trash or changing water. They consume miniscule amount of electricity and can be programmed to perform the cleaning operations during the times when it is least intrusive towards your daily lives. Depending on the amount of automation and the brand you choose, they can cost between 10K to 1 lac. There are multiple options available to suit every household and the budget.

3. Wifi Socket Adaptor

Imagine you need to turn on a table lamp and don’t feel like getting up. Now its possible, with wifi smart socket adaptors. They fit into your existing conventional sockets and then you can plug your favorite devices into these adaptors. Once this is done, you then can turn on or turn off your devices using an app in your phone or simply by voice commands. They can also be synchronized with your favorite smart home assistants like Google Home or Amazon Alexa. These smart adaptors also monitor energy consumption by the devices plugged into them.

These wifi socket adaptors are available for different capacities and can be purchased to control even high energy requirement devices like water heaters and air conditioners. There have very useful features like power on & off scheduling, timer function, multiple triggers like sunrise & sunset etc. to control your devices etc. All these features are readily available through their phone app. These adaptors are bound to make your life a lot more organized & comfortable and they require no modifications to your existing electricity outlets. They are easily available at e-commerce websites between Rs. 600 to Rs. 1000.

4. Air Humidifier

The humidity levels in the air fluctuate during different seasons of the year. When the humidity is high it might make you feel a little uncomfortable but it does not create any respiratory problems. However during winters, the humidity levels in the ambient air drop drastically and many of us experience respiratory problems like dry & irritated nose, inflammation in respiratory pathways, headaches, and dry skin. To counter the harmful effects of low ambient humidity, you can invest in an air humidifier. 

Using a humidifier in your bedroom helps to maintain the desired humidity level in the ambient air and protects your respiratory pathways from ill effects of dry winter air. They are very handy and easy to use. Just fill the water reservoir with drinking water and plug the device and turn it on. You can set the desired humidity level and that’s it!!

Enjoy hours of perfect humidity and avoid any respiratory discomfort. A word of caution though, make sure that you use only clean & pure drinking water in the humidifier because it will convert whatever is poured in its tank into the fine mist that you will inhale. So you don’t want to be breathing germs from the dirty water. Secondly, do not keep the humidifier at its highest humidity setting because it will make the ambient air very humid and can result in the growth of mold and fungus. You can even add a few drops of your favorite aroma oil and the room will be filled with a pleasant fragrance. Air humidifiers use ultrasound vibrations to create a cold mist which is very healthy. 

They are available in different capacities and larger humidifiers, once filled, can be used overnight. The electricity consumption is around 2 watt per hour and would make no difference to your bills. They can be easily purchased online and cost between ₹1000 to ₹5000, depending upon the size and the model you choose.

5. Infrared Lamp

An infrared lamp is like a normal light bulb, except that it emits infrared light instead of the normal light at a very high intensity that is focused on a narrow area. The infrared light that comes out of the lamp has a higher temperature and can penetrate deep inside our body tissues. The mainstream use of an infrared lamp is for managing muscular pain. Fifteen minutes of infrared therapy on a body part suffering from muscular pain can significantly feel relieved. By penetrating deep inside the body tissue, infrared light increases blood circulation which brings more nutrients to the pain area thus healing it quickly. Besides the therapeutic uses of an infrared lamp, you can also use it to quickly dry wet clothing, to heat & reheat food, to keep food warm and to dry stuff quickly.

The infrared light does not produce any side effects and is very safe to use on humans and pets alike. Precaution should be taken not to touch the lamp while it is on and not to expose your skin directly to infrared light as it may cause burns and bruises. An infrared lamp is very useful for those who have a high level of physical activity like sportsperson etc. It can gently soothe sore muscles and provide instant relief. It should not be left on without monitoring and children should never be allowed to handle it without adult supervision. It is available at most pharmacies and online websites, costing around Rs. 1500. The electricity consumption would be around 250 W per hour of usage.

6. Smart Speakers

Smart speakers are your personal assistants and can do a lot of things for you to make your life a bit more organized and easier. There are many smart speaker brands in the market, Google Home and Amazon Alexa being the frontrunners. Smart speakers have far field communication mics and these mics pickup voice commands clearly, even if they are spoken from a distance. So you don’t need get up and go near a smart speaker every time you want to speak your command. These voice commands can get a lot of things done for you as you will discover soon;

Reminders and alarms – You can set reminders, timers and alarms just with your voice. The speakers will also give you confirmation of your command for your peace of mind.

Setting up routines – You can create routines on your smart speakers for repetitive activities like playing a particular song at a fixed time everyday, turning on your smart devices at a particular time, turning off your devices, configuring triggers for turning off & on, and to remind you of anything important like taking a medicine at a specific time everyday and much more. For example, you can create a sunset routine where all the connected smart lights will be turned on automatically. You can also create another routine where just by saying the trigger word like “Good Night” you can turn off all the lights before you go to bed. You can connect door sensors to alert you if there isn’t unauthorized entry. There is much more you can do with these smart speakers and the above mentioned activities are only a few to mention that these speakers are capable of doing. 

Shopping list – Often it happens that we want to add something to our shopping list but we don’t have have our phone or a paper handy and eventually forget to add the item. With smart speakers, you can simply tell them to add items to your shopping list with voice and access it on your phone when you are in the market later. The smart speakers will ensure you don’t miss any shopping item again.

Play music – Smart speakers can keep you entertained at all times. All you have to do is to ask them to play a song of your choice and they will play it for you. However you might want to subscribe to your favorite music service.

Entertainment – Smart speakers can play a lot of audio games with you and keep you entertained. You can also use smart speakers to search information on the Internet by simply asking them to search whatever you want to know and they will present it to you in the audible format.

Whatever we mentioned above is just the tip of an iceberg that you can do with your smart speakers to upgrade your life. What’s even better is that these smart speakers come with AI technology and they keep learning to understand your voice better with time and anticipate your requirements. The more you use them, the smarter they become and offer you better personal assistance. There are different types of smart speakers available online and the price ranges from ₹2000 to ₹10,000, depending upon what model you choose. The electricity consumption is minimal and you won’t even realize they’re there.

7. Air Purifier

These days air pollution is a very big problem in cities and the air is heavily polluted with smoke, dust, pollen, construction pollutants and toxic emissions from automobiles. Air pollution can cause many respiratory ailments, especially amongst children and the elderly. Installing an air purifier in the bedroom is a good idea if you live in an area with bad air quality. If you turn on an air purifier before you go to bed and let it keep running during the entire night, you will have had a night of purified air going into your lungs and making you feel healthier. Though it is not a good idea to keep the air purifier running throughout the day and night as it may make you dependent upon the air purifier.

However, if you are suffering from any respiratory ailments, especially during winter months when the pollution is very heavy and the air quality is bad, it is advisable to use an air purifier to prevent further damage to your lungs and airways. Air purifiers are very quiet and function in the corner of a room, silently maintaining the air quality. They are easily available online and the range starts from about ₹10,000 and goes all the way up to ₹50,000, depending upon what kind of a purifier you need and its air handling capacity.

8. LED Lighting Strips

LED lighting strips are sleek and minimal, but they provide enough light to illuminate an area like a cupboard or under the furniture. These lighting strips consume 2 to 5 watts of electricity per hour and literally cost nothing to run. They are not bigger than a foot ruler and are only a few millimeters thick. They come in multiple colors to choose from, including warm white and pure white. They are easily available and do not cost much. You can use LED lighting strips under your furniture as footlights, in the cupboards with a door switch, under the kitchen cabinets, or anywhere else where you want localized illumination.

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They are easy to install and can be fixed to any surface with a double-sided tape or just 2 small screws. They can directly be plugged into the mains electricity and can be controlled, as mentioned earlier, through a switch or any other sensor that you may have in your house for automation. These strips will quickly transform any dark spots to bright areas. They cost between 200 to 300 rupees for a 12-inch strip and are available at local hardware stores as well as ecommerce websites.

9. Smart Main Door Lock

When you have keyless entry in your car why can’t you enjoy the same convenience in your house? Well now it is possible. Smart door locks do just about that. Nowadays with our busy schedules and everybody in the family going out and coming in at different times, it makes a lot of sense to install a smart door lock. Smart door locks relieve you from the hassle of remembering to carry the house keys with you before you step out. Your carry your fingerprints and the retina at all times and they are enough for the smart door locks to identify you and give access. 

The constant concern of forgetting or loosing your keys will be a thing of the past now because you need not carry any keys at all! Smart door locks can provide access through biometrics, pass codes, the conventional keys, and their phone applications. The biometrics often use retina or fingerprints to identify and authorize access. You can also give temporary access through the phone app to your domestic help or a guest you may be expecting in your absence.

These smart door locks will also alert you in the event of a housebreak and maybe also raise an alarm. Some of these smart door locks also double up as a video door phones. It’s a one time investment, but it is worth the hassle of installing a smart door lock for your peace of mind and the safety of your loved ones. Smart door locks come in different price ranges depending upon the features that you want and can cost you anything from ₹6000 all the way up to ₹50,000. You can find them at your local hardware stores or brand shop. It is preferred to buy them offline because they require lengthy and complicated installation which can be arranged by your local dealer better.

So these were the 9 household appliances that we strongly recommend you to consider in order to make your life simpler and enjoyable.