Pocketables

The Best Gadgets to Prepare Your Home for the Holiday Season

This month’s guest post comes from frequent contributor Nick Rojas.


The end of the year and the holiday season is fast approaching. While this season is a time of celebration, it also takes hard work and preparation to reach that point. Whether you are getting ready for guests or spending the holidays at home with your household, it can be fun to get your home ready for the holiday season. Winter cleaning and decoration is a good step, but you can go above and beyond by adding special gadgets and other tech to make your home smart and festive for the holidays. Here are some of the best gadgets, some big and some small, that will make your house “smarter” and help you get ready for the holiday season so that your housemates and any guests can enjoy this time of year in comfort.

Warm And Cozy

One of the holiday season hallmarks is curling up inside where it is warm while the winter weather whirls outside. Personal space heaters, electric blankets, a hot bath or shower, and fireplaces are great ways to keep warm inside without turning on your house heater. Most people don’t think about their home heating or water heating system so long as it works, but many heaters are now outdated, and there are better options on the market now. Older water heaters still work but are outperformed by more efficient models like propane water heaters. If you are looking for a big project to end the year on, upgrading your water heater is a good one that will also keep you warm this winter.

Security Gadgets

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Using technology to secure your home is nothing new, but the new types of gadgets are getting better and packing more features in a smaller footprint. Open window and door sensors are standard security packages, but you can also add a video doorbell that acts like a peephole with an intercom. This lets you see who is at your door without physically going up to the door. Depending on the video doorbell you pick, the accompanying apps can let you check your video feeds remotely and even use the intercom feature through your phone. Ensure you pick a reputable company for your video doorbell, though, as lax security can make video doorbells an easy hacking target. Going with a known and trusted brand means their security is likely up to snuff, and you have less of a risk of being hacked.

Set The Jolly Mood

Holiday music and the atmosphere is a large part of what makes the holiday magical. Setting the jolly mood is vital whether you are entertaining or spending the holiday alone. There are a wide variety of gadgets that can help you set a festive mood. Wireless speakers can painlessly blast holiday music across your whole house to ensure the party atmosphere doesn’t lapse between rooms. Use rechargeable batteries in your speakers, so you are not forced to buy replacements or break out a cord to recharge wireless speakers. Each speaker model will have a different recharging method, so double-check the box before buying a kit to deck out your whole house. You can link most wireless speakers to your smart home centers or hubs like an Amazon Echo or Google Home for even better control of your home’s mood.

If you want to go even further to make your house extra festive, you can invest in Hue light bulbs that can also connect to many smart home hubs. Special Hue lights can change color on-demand, so you can wash your living room in red and green or blue and white or any color combination your heart desires. Hue lights are a bit of an investment, but adding a starter pack of color-changing bulbs can push your holiday preparations to the next level with the wonders of modern technology.

Smart Plugs

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Smart plugs may not change colors or play music, but they make your other devices much smarter. Smart plugs slot into your standard wall outlet, and you then plug your devices into the smart plug. The smart plug connects to your smart home hub and lets you control the plugs on an individual basis. If you want to turn off all the outlets in your office, you just have to tell your smart home hub to talk to the smart plugs in that room. A full smart home with smart plugs can take a while to set up and troubleshoot, but once you do, they can make your daily life much more convenient.

The holidays should be a joyful time of year, and some gadgets can make preparing for the festivities a bit easier. Adding smart tech to your home will not only make your parties more festive but also make your day to day life more comfortable. Consider swapping out your old water heater for a more efficient modern model, but use smaller gadgets to get your home ready for the holidays for a much lower price.

Guest author bio

Nick Rojas combines 20 years of experience working with and consulting for small to medium business and a passion for journalism to help readers grow. He writes about technology, marketing, and social media for the aspiring entrepreneur. When Nick is not sharing his expertise, he can be found spending time at the beach with his dog Presto. @NickARojas

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Paul E King

Paul King started with GoodAndEVO in 2011, which merged with Pocketables, and as of 2018 he's evidently the owner. He lives in Nashville, works at a film production company, is married with two kids. Facebook | Twitter | Donate | More posts by Paul | Subscribe to Paul's posts

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