Home Improvement News Bureau

Practical Gifts Hot This Holiday Season

Cordless tools and new appliances top holiday shopping lists

MONEY PIT NEWSBUREAU - November 29, 2005: A survey by the NPD Group and Home Channel News showed that nearly half of all Americans are planning to buy home improvement items as holiday gifts. 

That’s good news, according to Tom Kraeutler, host of the nationally syndicated home improvement radio show The Money Pit.  “To handle the home improvers on your gift list, this means less time fighting crowded malls and more shopping in home improvement centers!”

As homeowners continue to put money into home fix-ups and do-it-yourself projects, tools are a practical and welcome gift.  Kraeutler, whose show airs on more than 150 radio stations around the nation as well as on XM and Sirius satellite radio, says calls from consumers looking for home improvement gift ideas have never been more frequent the program.  “Powerful cordless tools have become much more affordable and strong interest in kitchen remodels is even driving up the desire for new appliances as gifts for households tackling those projects,” he said.

A recent Harvard University study shows that in the last 10 years the remodeling market has nearly doubled in size from $112 billion to $220 billion with almost 30 million homes being significantly upgraded.  “If you add the remodeling numbers to the continued growth in home construction, you have a lot of homeowners who are handling everything from minor home improvement projects, like hanging a picture on the wall, to the serious do-it-yourselfers tackling more complicated projects including renovations and additions,” added Leslie Segrete, Kraeutler’s radio show co-host and a popular cast member on TLC’s While You Were Out.

The same Harvard Study shows that remodels and additions lead home improvement spending and also includes improvements to property and the replacement of equipment.  In the Home Channel News study, nearly half of the respondents in the study planned to purchase appliance items as gifts.

Kraeutler and Segrete offer these suggestions for the home improvers on your gift list:

• Black & Decker Bulls Eye Auto Laser Level and Bulls Eye Laser Level Digital Tape Measure  -- These two new products can make hanging pictures, wallpaper, shelves or even decorations a snap.  Both products provide two tools in one.  The Bulls Eye Auto Level is a laser level and stud sensor to help you find the stud to nail into. The Bulls Eye Laser Level Digital Tape measure also includes a digital tape measure with Accuspace™ technology which helps you evenly space a series of pictures and other decorative items on a wall.  Available for $49-$69.  For more information visit www.blackanddecker.com.
• The Ryobi One+ WorkShop Combo Kit  -- For anyone who likes working with power tools, the Ryobi One+ Workshop Combo kit is the largest cordless power tool combo kit ever created and features 10 power tools.  There are five saws, three drills, a sander, vacuum, two batteries, charger and carrying case – everything needed to complete a project.  Since all One+ tools run off the same 18 volt battery, you can easily add more One+ tools and accessories to your collection.  The combo kit retails for $399 and is available exclusively at The Home Depot.  For more information visit www.ryobitools.com.
• RIDGID Pivot Driver – This flexible tool makes a great addition to any toolbox.  The compact pivoting body allows it to be used in either a straight or pistol grip position to get into tight places.   Features include a variable speed switch, adjustable torque ring and forward /backward switch.  It comes with two batteries and a charger.  The driver can be charged on any RIDGID charger in just 20 minutes.  It retails for $99 – and is available at The Home Depot.
• The Drill Doctor XP Series (XPK and XP2) – Your do-it-yourselfer will save themselves the cost of buying new drill bits with a gift of the Drill Doctor, a drill bit sharpener that can allow you to resharpen an old-bit up to 200 times.  This innovative tool can restore dull or broken drill bits including split points, as well as creating split points from standard bits. The Drill Doctor sharpens 3/32” – ½” standard twist bits made from high-speed steel, masonry, carbide, cobalt, Tin-coated and split point bits.  Its new features include a one-piece alignment system that improves precision and adjustability, longer jaws and jaw guides, quick change diamond sharpening wheels and a variable alignment that allows you to adjust chisel and relief angles.   Both series feature a 3-year warranty.  Visit www.drilldoctor.com for more information.
• GE Profile™ Dishwasher with SmartDispense ™ Technology– It’s the world’s smartest dishwasher and a gift that anyone on your list would truly appreciate.  The GE Profile Dishwasher with SmartDispense  technology can be pre-loaded with a full 45-ounce container of detergent and dispense it in just right amounts depending on water hardness in the home, soil level of dishes and cycle selection. The detergent is automatically dispensed using a pump system throughout each pre-wash and wash cycle as needed.  GE's Angled Rack Dry System™ also allows consumers to tilt the upper tines so water drips off eliminating the need to hand-dry, and the Single Rack Wash™ selection cleans up to five place settings in the upper rack only using the top and middle wash arms, conserving water and energy.  It’s also GE’s quietest dishwasher yet at just 47 decibels and features new energy-saving technologies.  If all Americans used a GE Profile dishwasher with SmartDispense Technology, enough water each year would be saved to fill 20,000 Olympic sized pools!  For more information, go to www.geappliances.com. 

“Practical gifts will definitely add “ho-ho” to the holiday and all year-round by making the task at hand easier, more efficient and enjoyable,” said Segrete.

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