[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. All right, this next one here, you can make fun of me. I'll take it. All of my contractor friends that have been telling me for probably a decade to get these hammers, you know, okay. I was wrong. I was very wrong. These things are amazing. And what am I talking about? I'm talking about the stiletto, hammers, these things.

[00:00:27] Eric Goranson: If I would've got this 10 years ago, my elbows and arms would've been in much better shape. Throwing a hammer around and doing work because these things are absolutely amazing. And what am I talking about? The stiletto. It's the T-bone mini 14 ounce, uh, face, you know, smoother or waffle, face hammer. These things are amazing and I can't tell you what how cool these things are when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home.

[00:00:57] Eric Goranson: There is a lot to know though. [00:01:00] We've got you covered. Is around the house. Welcome to the Around the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. If this is new to you, head over to around the house online.com and you can catch the podcast.

[00:01:19] Eric Goranson: You can catch the TV show. Everything is over there in one little location. And you can find all that information around the house online.com. And then make sure you head over to Around the House Nation on social media. That's on Facebook. That's our close group where you can share up your projects and things like that.

[00:01:36] Eric Goranson: Well, today, instead of an interview, I wanted to give you kind of an update on products that I've been testing out. Things that I said, wow, this is cool. And stuff that I've been using for more than just like a week. Stuff that I've been, you know, putting through the paces to see if I like it, whether it works or not.

[00:01:56] Eric Goranson: And here's a first one here. This is something that I really like when I'm working [00:02:00] around doing projects. A good set of earbuds and Motorola sent me these and I was a little skeptical Motorola sound. These are the moto buds 600 A N C hybrid, A M C, true wireless earbuds. These things are absolutely amazing.

[00:02:18] Eric Goranson: Talk about great audio quality. If I'm doing a meeting, they're great. I've used them in some of my TV interviews when I didn't have my I fp when I'm doing a remote. Those work really well. You get really high resolution. And great, great audio, which I absolutely love. And it has a killer app, active noise cancellation, and that is a killer deal.

[00:02:42] Eric Goranson: And for 150 bucks roughly, it's a good deal. I actually like these more than my apple, uh, pro earbuds. So I use these a lot. And, uh, I tell you what, there are some cool specks on it as well and they've done really well with me. You know, I've got, uh, You know, sensitive ears, [00:03:00] shall we say. And I tell you what, they work well.

[00:03:03] Eric Goranson: And the cool thing, cool thing is, is I've used them on airplanes. Playtime is about six hours, and then the case has about 20 hours. Of, you know, recharge playtime on it. So when you take 'em in and out and you're in the airport, you know, you're, you're using them. It's easily last cross country flight, no problem.

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: And then the case charges quickly in two hours. So it works out really well. So, uh, I'm impressed. These have been good. That's the Motorola Motor Buds 600 A N C earbuds, uh, just coming out right now. So I've been playing with these, uh, I'll tell you what, super cool. Definitely worth 150 bucks and with the noise canceling when you're on a flight or do anything else around the house, you can shut off a lot of excess noise around you, and that is pretty handy.

[00:03:50] Eric Goranson: Now, one thing here, I don't want to have to say, but I'm gonna say it. None of this is sponsored content. I do not, and have not got paid a single dime [00:04:00] to review any of these things. These are my honest reviews so that none of these, none of these people have paid me a dime to talk good, bad, or anything else.

[00:04:09] Eric Goranson: Many of these, they've sent 'em to me and said, Hey, what do you. And I'm giving you my honest opinion. So none of this is sponsored content and this is just tough at the most. They sent them to me for me to play around with, and trust me, there's stuff that we're not talking about today that I sent back that I just didn't like, and uh, they don't get me talking about it.

[00:04:28] Eric Goranson: But the stuff that I do like, well, we're talking about it today. Now the next one here is my LG wash tower, stacked front load washer and dryer. Again, this thing I've had for about two years right now, it has worked flawlessly and, you know, uh, my experience with brands out there, lg. You know, great product.

[00:04:52] Eric Goranson: They have been one of the most durable as far as laundry out there, especially compared to, uh, some of the Samsung products out there, [00:05:00] which in my experience last about three years before the, uh, washer starts coming across, you know, the, the cage in the back starts coming apart and things start failing.

[00:05:09] Eric Goranson: So LG is probably one of your most, you know, reliable. And of course there's, if you wanna spend three or $4,000 on a speed queen, those are really nice. But that's super heavy duty if you want to get something that's much more affordable and uh, can go into your house. This LG is really impressive. I've had this and, uh, it's.

[00:05:31] Eric Goranson: Washer dryer combos. So it looks like a front load washing machine and dryer, but it's one piece, so it's stacked. So it's really clean. I like it cuz it doesn't take up a lot of space. The other thing I like about them is that with these wash towers, is that you have the remote control. So I can sit there instead of having to go and look and see if my dryer is done or the wash is done.

[00:05:53] Eric Goranson: I can look on my phone and say, okay, cool. Then the other thing I like is, well with this is I can sit [00:06:00] there and take a peek at it and uh, download special settings and put 'em on it. So if I had, um, you know, a special towel setting I want or something that's not on the standard control panel, there's a lot of options that you can upload into that washer and dryer basically.

[00:06:15] Eric Goranson: And run it there. So you have all these specialty settings, which is really cool. But, uh, I tell you what, this, uh, this unit has gone flawlessly for a little over two years now, and I was one of the first ones, I got one of the almost pre-production ones, first one here, that, uh, had gone out to market. On this LG wash tower and for our a front load washing machine in dryer, it is working great.

[00:06:38] Eric Goranson: The things that I like about it is that it has a great steam function, so when I have dirty stuff to throw in there, it will sanitize it, which is great. It was especially great through Covid and then as well as it has a really great. Drum clean function. So when it starts to get a little smelly in there, maybe you left laundry in there for a few days and that smells a little bit musty.

[00:06:58] Eric Goranson: You can run it through that and it [00:07:00] uses steam and of course the soap that you put in there and it cleans the inside of the drum. So it's, uh, spic and span and clean all over again. So, uh, impressive. You know, if you look at the, uh, LG website, , you know, they're anywhere. Looks like actually right now they've got some special offers on those.

[00:07:17] Eric Goranson: You're about two grand, depending on which one you're looking at. Uh, if I look at the one with the gas dryer, it's a little bit more, but, um, LG is saying here that they've got it there for, you know, 18, 1900 bucks for this, for a washer and dryer. I tell you what, solid unit. I'm impressed. Wifi enabled, uh, very cool as far as the smart stuff goes, uh, very impressed with that product.

[00:07:39] Eric Goranson: It is something that I would take a look and, uh, really impressive that it'll take anything I throw at it. And I tell you what, I threw some dirty stuff in there from my DIY projects and, uh, projects I'm doing for TV here. I've thrown some nasty stuff. And it comes out clean and being a front load, it's saving you water.

[00:07:57] Eric Goranson: And of course it is, uh, [00:08:00] using less of the clothing. You know, it's funny when you take a front load washing machine and a top load, you'll notice when it goes into the dryer that the front load has a lot less wear on your clothes because that agitator is not beating it up so bad. And, uh, you get a lot less lint, which means you have cleaner clothes and you're taking less of the clothes.

[00:08:18] Eric Goranson: So it works out pretty good. Your clothes don't get thinner and thinner every time you put them in the dryer. Now, there is a new model out there that I would take a look at. This is the LG Wash Tower, but it has a heat pump. Dryer. And so what this does, and now it's about, about, you know, it's another thousand bucks, so it's something you have to think about, but that heat pump, ventless dryer, yes, ventless, it is now going to take that moisture and drop it off and take it outta there.

[00:08:49] Eric Goranson: You're not putting it outside and it's capturing that heat. So it's going to uh, really do a great job of saving you energy. And with that heat [00:09:00] pump, it's really cool. So that's actually where you're not using that drying element. So it's gonna save you a ton on electricity and that's pretty impressive.

[00:09:08] Eric Goranson: So, uh, that is one of those things that you look at and there's no dryer ducts, so it's really easy to maintain. You don't have to worry about that. So, um, it's impressive. I mean, it's kind of cool that you can get now a heat pump unit that is not venting, that backup. It is reusing that heat so you're not taking that heat and throwing it outside.

[00:09:28] Eric Goranson: It's using a heat pump style, so it's gonna save you a ton on electricity and not that lin mess. Alright, we, we'll be right back after these important messages. More of my product reviews just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:09:57] Eric Goranson: What's up? This is Stick and Satchel [00:10:00] from Stihl Panther and you are listening to Around The House with Eric G. Yeah, we love Eric G and you should too.

[00:10:21] Eric Goranson: Again, welcome back to the Around The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Hey, make sure you catch over on Around the House online. If you're outside of the Portland Metro area, make sure you catch the show around the House Northwest.

[00:10:36] Eric Goranson: You can catch it over there. There's some links on our website if you're in the Portland Metro area and one of the few here catching us here, either on the radio on AM eight 60. The answer of the podcast, you can catch my show every single Saturday at 10:00 AM on Fox 12 plus, which is uh, you know, the Fox 12.

[00:10:54] Eric Goranson: Added station that you see here in the Portland market. So not part of the Big Fox News thing, but this is [00:11:00] your local Fox affiliate, so it's over in Fox 12 plus. Now we've been talking about my product reviews of things that I've really liked over this last year that I've been testing. Now the next one is actually a installation that I did in my first segment of my first show for around the House Northwest.

[00:11:18] Eric Goranson: This is made by high tech PET products. And this is the fully automatic powered pet door. I tell you what, this thing is absolutely amazing. And I used to have, I did this when I first moved into the house. I put in the magnetic double flap dog doors. So the dogs walk through, they pushed through it. Little magnet in the bottom.

[00:11:42] Eric Goranson: I tell you what, it was good, but with high winds and storms, that magnet would get released and you would have air coming right into. Your house, which, you know, that's not two pieces of plastic, is not what I would call very energy efficient. [00:12:00] And so it was not the best thing. Uh, this thing here for about 399 bucks, uh, that's the price today on chewy.com.

[00:12:08] Eric Goranson: You can get on Amazon everywhere else. Uh, I tell you what, this PX one powered pet door. Dang impressive. And here's what I thought was cool about this, is that these, this basically plugs into the wall and it is your Star Trek door for your dogs. It has a hard piece of composite clear plastic that comes down.

[00:12:29] Eric Goranson: It is shut and sealed. They show on their website like a flood where water's up against it and it's solid. So I got the large one for my large dogs, and I tell you what, this thing, I plugs into the wall. I put it through the wall, and for about 400 bucks, this thing works amazing. Now, as I said in the TV segment, the one thing that I say with this is that your dogs might need a little additional training.

[00:12:56] Eric Goranson: But it works out really well. It is a motor, motor driven [00:13:00] pet door, which, uh, you put a little tag around there on their collar that tag when you get close and you can adjust the sensitivity the door opens up so they can walk up. So this is, uh, as they call it, it's made from bulletproof resin with an automatic deadbolt locking feature for superior security against intruders.

[00:13:17] Eric Goranson: This is not gonna be like home alone with, uh, Joe Peche sticking his head through it. Not gonna happen. And so you've got a four-way. Without only full access, closed and locked door options, which is cool. And you can run it from your phone. So if you want to go out and lock the thing while you're out and say, Hey, uh, man, the weather's really bad out there.

[00:13:36] Eric Goranson: I wanna keep the dogs inside. You can lock it from your phone. And, uh, make sure the dogs don't go out outside for a while and keep 'em out in inclement weather. Or another situation like lightning or something when you just want to, don't have your dogs. So it is airtight, weatherproof, waterproof, and uh, you would have to, I don't know what it would take to kick it out, but I tell you what, um, man, you would sit there and have to just [00:14:00] bash on that thing to get through it.

[00:14:02] Eric Goranson: It would be easier to break a window than it would be to get through it. I think I went with the PX two, which is the larger dog version. Uh, but I tell you what, you can also get a battery charger pack if it's gonna mount on a movable wall or something like that. But, uh, that was super impressive. I really like it.

[00:14:20] Eric Goranson: That I think is the ultimate pet door for your dogs or cats that you wanna let outside. And so, uh, really good, solid quality. Uh, very impressed and it was definitely worth it. One of my favorite pieces that I've installed this year to make things very easy and. Boy, it has changed how my house feels inside and I know I'm saving a fair amount of energy.

[00:14:41] Eric Goranson: And it'll be nice this summer when it's hot outside cause I'm not gonna have that hot air come blast an inside and it's one less thing that I have to air condition and I'm not air conditioning the outside. Alright, this next one here, you can make fun of me. I'll take it. All of my contractor friends that have been telling me for probably a decade to get [00:15:00] these hammers.

[00:15:01] Eric Goranson: Okay. I was wrong. I was very wrong. These things are amazing. And what am I talking about? I'm talking about the stiletto, hammers, these things. If I would've got this 10 years ago, my elbows and arms would've been in much better shape. Throwing a hammer around and doing work because these things are absolutely amazing.

[00:15:22] Eric Goranson: And what am I talking about? The stiletto. It's the T-bone mini 14 ounce, uh, face, you know, smoother or waffle, face hammer. These things are amazing. And I can't tell you what how cool these things are. They are a hammer that you can use day in and day out. You put it in someone's hand and you go, how is this big hammer, this light?

[00:15:50] Eric Goranson: and it is so cool. It has a magnetic nail starter, uh, stronger prying power than steel. It is something that it's, [00:16:00] it's just stunning. There is nothing absolutely like it. So you got a titanium handle with a contour grip, and it has the same out, same hit as a 24 ounce steel hammer, but with 14 ounces. That is a huge difference.

[00:16:18] Eric Goranson: And when you're swinging a hammer around all day, there is nothing that fits better in your hand. And you know, something for a couple hundred bucks depending on where you get it. I think I saw it on Amazon, uh, for about 2 27. I get it, they're expensive, but if you are going to be using a hammer and you're gonna buy a hammer once, There's a huge difference with these and, uh, I tell you what, your insurance deductible on having to get, you know, elbow and arm surgery because you've been swinging a hammer too much in the jarring on your wrist and elbow this here.

[00:16:51] Eric Goranson: Is a complete game changer. So when holiday season comes around, you wanna get somebody something special. Maybe it's uh, your kid getting into the trades. Maybe [00:17:00] it's dad, maybe it's your wife, maybe it's your husband, or significant other. This would be a great gift because I tell you what, these are game changers and I'm sorry I was late to the game on this one, guys.

[00:17:13] Eric Goranson: I know I'm gonna have people out there rolling their eyes going, how come it took you so long to come along to these. Yeah, they were cool until I got one in my hands and then really played around with it and, uh, my other hammers no need for those. This is the only way to fly, and yes, I do understand that for 20 or 25 bucks I can go down to my Home Depot store and get a decent Crescent or Milwaukee or Stanley, you know, Husky Framingham, and they're gonna get the job done.

[00:17:47] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. But if you want something that's gonna be easy to use and is going to make it where you can frame hammers and use that hammer all day long, and you are gonna take this seriously and you have some big [00:18:00] projects out there, there is no way I would not go that direction. And that's gonna save you a lot of energy and it's gonna be a lot smarter on your body.

[00:18:10] Eric Goranson: So it's something you buy at once. It's like many of the power tools, you can go get that really, really cheap power tool or you can buy the good one and that's gonna last you so much longer. And that's where some of these things can save you. In the long run. You can buy that hammer and guess what? Even if you wear out the head, You can get another head on it and you still have an amazing hammer, and that's why you spend a little bit more.

[00:18:35] Eric Goranson: All right, we come back. I've got a lot more for you just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:18:58] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is Ron Keel, the [00:19:00] middle Cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel Band and Steeler, we are rocking around the house with Eric G. Ray. Is he? Welcome back to the around the house. Sure. This is where we hope you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. I've been talking about things that, um, will products that I absolutely love out there that have passed my testing.

[00:19:24] Eric Goranson: That I've been playing around with, and it could be anything from those Motorola earbuds to the latest in hammers to that smart dog door that I was just talking about. Next up here is a game changer for me because this actually saved me thousands of dollars and it also kept me from having two elbow surgeries that my doctor was saying that I needed to have.

[00:19:49] Eric Goranson: And what is that? A new mattress. Yes. When I had personal information here, guys, I would go to sleep every night and a couple [00:20:00] hours later I would wake up with my wrist in hand, completely asleep. I would roll over to the other side. Same thing would happen. I have had MRIs, I have had nerve tests. I have had all this stuff.

[00:20:15] Eric Goranson: I've gone to physical therapy. Nothing made it better. The next step was gonna go in and maybe do some surgery on my elbow to see if that was where the pinched nerve was. What fixed it? My ding mattress? Yes. I replaced my mattress about two weeks ago. And guess what? My hands have not gone asleep ever since.

[00:20:44] Eric Goranson: Period. End of story. And I'm getting a much better night's sleep. How did I find this place? I was actually out looking for a segment here in Portland for my maiden northwest. I wanted to find somebody that would [00:21:00] make mattresses, and I found this little warehouse called Mattress Warehouse usa. And the good news is here, you're like, ah, it's a mattress company in Portland.

[00:21:10] Eric Goranson: They ship all around the US so they can ship it to you. So this is what's cool. I went down there and watched in this is, here's what's cool. This is what's awesome about this building. It was built as a 1950s VW Bug dealership. So in the fifties it was a VW Bug dealership. So in the back, which is what used to be the service bays, which is maybe only three or four bays, they have four or five guys back there that are handcrafting mattress.

[00:21:44] Eric Goranson: So I literally went in there, we did the segment. I was like, wow, these guys are cool. I brought Julie in on Saturday after I'd done the segment. Went and took a look, tried out mattresses, and went, wow, this [00:22:00] is freaking amazing. This is what I'm looking for. Monday morning they made me the custom mattress and had it out at my house Monday afternoon.

[00:22:07] Eric Goranson: Now, of course, if you're living on the East coast, you're gonna have to be able to, uh, have that shipped across country, but it's really not that big a deal. And if you're in the Pacific Northwest, it's super. , but I tell you what, watching them make out of, you know, 95% made in USA Parts, anywhere they could get it and handcrafting it.

[00:22:30] Eric Goranson: I tell you what, it's amazing. Well, the cu the cool part here with these guys is that they build custom size mattresses. So if you've got an rv, if, uh, well, great example in the Benson Hotel here in Portland, downtown Portland, you know, we have the Portland Trailblazers here, which are our n b. They had to make a whole floor.

[00:22:49] Eric Goranson: They have a floor there for the teams that come in. They have special eight foot beds, so when the visiting teams come in, they can stay there and have special beds to sleep in. So they [00:23:00] have all these eight foot beds. They made cuts custom mattresses for them, for the N B A. So here's the deal that I thought was really cool.

[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: They build those mattresses there and they can build them for you, custom, whatever else, and they'll ship 'em out. And it was cost effective from what I would've bought. I would've paid probably four or five, uh, four or five, 6,000 bucks for the mattress that would've cost me 2,500 bucks here, buying a brand.

[00:23:30] Eric Goranson: So very impressed with what these guys are doing, and, uh, nicest people I've ever worked with as well. And, uh, find out more, go to mattress l w.com, so M a t t r e s s l w.com. And they are not paying me to say this. So this is one of those things that, uh, I tell you what, hopefully they'll be an advertiser in the radio show or podcast here soon.

[00:23:55] Eric Goranson: But, uh, we're talking about that. But I tell you what, these guys here, uh, I believe in it. And [00:24:00] um, that's the place to get a mattress. And yeah, they will ship that across country for you if you need it. And, um, talk about quality and craftsmanship. I love something watching, being made handmade. That's the place to get.

[00:24:13] Eric Goranson: Next up here we're gonna get into Smart Home Tech and we're gonna talk about Oro Light switches here, O R R O and their website is get oro.com. You know, these are really cool light switches and, and I'll be honest, I've had a few little mixed reviews of I'm probably not using in it, in the perfect situation.

[00:24:33] Eric Goranson: So this is a. Light switch. And so what it does, it is the aeros or smart living system is that they call it, it mounts in just like any other light switch, and it looks like one of the decor style things. But what it has is it has a sensor. So it's sensing the light, it's sensing your movement, it's listening to you as far as noises, and it's meant to predict when you [00:25:00] walk into a room how much light you need.

[00:25:04] Eric Goranson: And it machine learns kind of how you use it. And so it's meant to, um, kind of work off your, you know, our lighting affects how we sleep, right? And so artificial light does confuse your body clock. So this here is designed to work within that. And so, It's meant to follow, you know, your kind of, you know, natural lighting cycle that you would see from the sun.

[00:25:32] Eric Goranson: And so you can wake up softly. It can be brightest during the middle of the day and during the evening it's gonna wind you down a little bit, which is really cool. The issue that I have with it is I have put it in maybe a couple locations that I tested that I'm gonna have to move out of. That didn't make sense.

[00:25:49] Eric Goranson: So great example. I put it in. My master closet because when I walk in there and I've got clothes, the location of that switch, [00:26:00] it is sensitive enough that if I get up in the, in the middle of the night to to do something at like two o'clock, get a glass of water or something like that. It senses me and automatically turns on the closet because the closet is just far enough away that it sees and hears me.

[00:26:17] Eric Goranson: And at two o'clock in the morning, even though I'm 12 feet away, it is kind of seeing me and so it's turning that light on. So I have to go over and turn that light off every time. But is it better used in a. Another room. Yeah. Bathroom absolutely works great there. Would it be better in the kitchen?

[00:26:35] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. There, but that's kind of where the issue is, is maybe when I don't want the lights to come on. Using it in a, in a bedroom or using it in my, um, you know, in my closet. Probably not the best thing. I'm going to try reprogramming it. It could be some operator error there, but it is a great switch.

[00:26:56] Eric Goranson: But I think application is key with that because, uh, it [00:27:00] does have the, uh, sensors built in and it does work well that way with its onboard intelligence. I think though, the problem that I run into is that, uh, With the oral one is that, I think it's just that it's, it's trying to anticipate me walking into.

[00:27:16] Eric Goranson: The, uh, the, the closet when I'm heading to the bathroom or heading to the kitchen at two o'clock in the morning, then it's turning on the light, which is not great for Julie, because guess what, that's, nobody wants the light turned on even though it's turning onto a low light. It's turning onto the lowest sense.

[00:27:32] Eric Goranson: I don't need that light to come on. I know where I'm navigating. I don't need to have that on. The dogs are outta the way. So it's just one of those things that, uh, you know, that, uh, I'm probably gonna have to play around with a little bit more. So I'm gonna give this one a review, but I'm using it in probably the wrong application.

[00:27:49] Eric Goranson: And it's something that, uh, well, we can talk a little bit more about after I move it and see what happens. I've got some other switches I'm gonna try on there and see if that makes a difference. Alright. Alright. When we come [00:28:00] back here, I have got two products that are great safety things, and then one thing here too that's gonna save you a ton of money that I have been so impressed with.

[00:28:08] Eric Goranson: That, uh, I tell you what it has been working so well and, uh, one is gonna be safety here and two is gonna be say something that could really put a few hundred bucks in back in your pocket this year. We'll talk about that just as soon as around the house returns. Make sure you catch us on social media, Facebook and Instagram.

[00:28:25] Eric Goranson: Just look. For around the House show or around the House Northwest, we'll be right back.[00:29:00]

[00:29:00] Eric Goranson: Strong gets the end of the show. Now down people. It's time to go. It's that time again. It's last call. Last call. Welcome back to the Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, I've been giving you some of my reviews of my long-term products.

[00:29:21] Eric Goranson: I've been testing around my. You know, my house is one big test bed where I get stuff in here and I play around with it, and I see what works and quite frankly, what doesn't? One of my favorite things that I'm playing around with right now that has been in my house now for a couple years, that is saving me a boatload of money is my Bradford White.

[00:29:42] Eric Goranson: Heat pump water heater. This is those new hybrid water heaters. I had a 40 gallon gas water heater and it was probably costing me 350 bucks a year cuz it was an older one to heat water. That's about what it was costing, [00:30:00] and now that was a 40 gallon heater. Now I have changed over to an electric heat.

[00:30:07] Eric Goranson: That is 80 gallons and that is saving me about $200 a year. And I get a lot more water of a lot more water heating out of it. And here's why. This is a great example. So my daughter had her friends over here last weekend. Now this is what's cool is you know, they're 20 something year olds. They've been staying at the hotel.

[00:30:32] Eric Goranson: Do they wanna take a shower there? No. They're gonna come over and use my steam shower and really have an enjoyable shower experience. And as a father for them wanting to come over and do that, I absolutely love it. Great. So her and her, three other friends, boyfriend, two other friends come over here and they all take showers.

[00:30:49] Eric Goranson: So Julie had taken a shower, and then I had four other people. So five people. We did not run out of hot water, and [00:31:00] here's why I have it running in heat pump mode, which means it's using only 500 watts of electricity to heat the water. But it's a slower process, right? It's not gonna be like that instant on from an electric element or gas, but it's also a hybrid.

[00:31:17] Eric Goranson: So when it says, uh oh, We are used in hot water like nobody's business. It will go into putting the elements on and using the hybrid where it's also doing it both ways. So that's what's cool with that. It is awesome. So what I'm stoked about with this whole thing is that it kept up to five people taking solid showers.

[00:31:44] Eric Goranson: And it's saving me a ton of money. There is no way that that 40 gallon gas water heater that I had that was 12 years old, was gonna keep up with that. Probably person two I'd have been done for, and I have low flow heads and everything else in there, but it's [00:32:00] just designed out. Right. But I'll tell you what, that saved me a ton of money and we never ran outta hot water.

[00:32:06] Eric Goranson: It just kept Cru. And because it had the 80 gallon capacity, it had enough power to, uh, well keep that going. So in a large family situation, if you would've been doing a tub or something else like that and somebody would've jumped in a shower, it wouldn't have been a big deal. It would've jumped into hybrid mode and taken care of it.

[00:32:25] Eric Goranson: So that, to me, super impressive. I'm very happy. It, uh, has been there for a couple years. It has not let me down. So that one has been going really well. I'm very, very impressed. Next up, Is a couple safety things. One is Ting Labs. Ting is my smart home sensor that plugs into my electrical outlet. It measures electricity and the sounds that happen with it.

[00:32:54] Eric Goranson: So what it does is Ting, you can find it@tingfire.com. [00:33:00] This is electrical fire Safety simplified ting helps you prevent the electrical fires before they happen to keep your ham happy. Your, your family home and, you know, and everything else safe, right? It's just gonna do that. It won the 2021 Best of the Smart Home Awards and, uh, in 2022 you got the Good Housekeeping Home Rental Award as well.

[00:33:25] Eric Goranson: So pretty incredible. All you do is plug it in the wall and it really takes a look at. It's aware, it's detecting things in your house, so it's quietly watching over your entire home and detects hazard that lead to the most devastating fires. So that sensor sees what we can't see, which is super cool. And they have a, uh, repair hazard insurance there as well.

[00:33:50] Eric Goranson: They coordinate the process and you're covered up to a thousand dollars for the electrical repair, which is pretty cool. Now here's one other. Contact your home insurance [00:34:00] company. This is one of those things where that in your insurance company might cover this for you for free. Because that's how good this is.

[00:34:09] Eric Goranson: So before you spend the money on one, make sure and take a look. The other thing that's cool is it's plug and play. Plug it in the wall, set up the wifi to it, put the app on your phone and it is a continuous hazard detection and uh, it's smart. It will tell you like when your power goes out, it will tell you if you have issues and that app features are there to keep you informed.

[00:34:29] Eric Goranson: So it's always ha having an electrician in your home 24 7 watching your electrical system. And it's also gonna tell you if you have wa uh, power quality issues as well, maybe you're getting low voltage or overvoltage, it's gonna tell you what you have and free lifetime sensory replacement. If something fails, they will send you a new one without an.

[00:34:50] Eric Goranson: Next up, I'll say I'm not the biggest fan of the Google Nest products. Not my favorite, but my favorite that they have is the Google Nest Protect, [00:35:00] smoke alarm, smoke detector, and carbon monoxide detector. This is an amazing piece that you should have in your home, and I get it. It's 119 bucks on Amazon if you go get it, and I think that price is same everywhere.

[00:35:14] Eric Goranson: There's a couple things that I like. One, it is a smart detector. It will tell you on your phone when it give you a message that there's a problem with the smoke and the co locator. Nest Protect speaks up if there's Smoker Co and tells you where it is so you know what to do. So here's what's cool about this.

[00:35:37] Eric Goranson: It doesn't just go off like the dumb ones we have in our house where it's like, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, and you're like, where's that coming from? This will tell you that there's smoke detected before it goes off. So if you're cooking in the kitchen and it says, warning, smoke, sensed it's spoon enough to go.

[00:35:57] Eric Goranson: What's cool about that is that then if you [00:36:00] forgot to turn on the van fan or need to turn it up, you have that opportunity. So what's cool is, is that this is smart, and if you're traveling or you're out of the house, or maybe the kids are home and you've got the teenagers at home and you're out at the store or out at the movies, that alert comes up on your phone.

[00:36:19] Eric Goranson: So you don't even have to be home for that to go off. So if you've got pets at home or something's going off, you can know about things before the fire department ends up showing up in your neighbor's call. So this is the cool thing is it is communicating to you that you've got a problem just as soon as it starts.

[00:36:38] Eric Goranson: So as soon as it senses it, it's telling you on the phone and then you can turn it off as well. So it's got a little light on it, which is. Um, I really like how this thing works. And so it's got a very fast detection. It tells you, and it has that split se spectrum sensor, so it's looking for fast and slow burning [00:37:00] fires.

[00:37:00] Eric Goranson: So very intelligent hooks right into your wifi system. It is something that I've had here and it is something, it's expensive. Uh, again, I had to buy these. Um, you know, Google Nest Protect doesn't give you these even to test, but, uh, to me it was really worthwhile. And, um, you could also silence it really easy.

[00:37:20] Eric Goranson: So if you knew that you made a mistake, like you burnt your toast in the morning or something, uh, it is a good way to go and it is expensive. But I tell you what, uh, when it comes to safety gear, I don't complain about paying a little bit more if I get the function out of it. And this is one of those and I think is really cool.

[00:37:36] Eric Goranson: So it's something to think about. And if you've got other Google Nest products, it will work with those, which is cool. So, um, you know, it's got the voice alert, um, you know, so that way you can handle things before it goes. And it's a 10 year carbon monoxide sensor. So this works for 10 years and by that time they'll have of course, new stuff out there, but it is really easy to hook up a simple [00:38:00] setup and uh, just put it in the Nest app so you get that worry-free installation on it.

[00:38:05] Eric Goranson: It's something really cool. Hey, if you've got a product that you want me to take a look at, if you're a manufacturer or if you have a question about it to see if I like it, or if I have played with it, head over to around the. online.com. Send me a message over there or shoot me something over on Facebook around the House show, or you can find me over on Twitter as well.

[00:38:25] Eric Goranson: Send me a message and see if it's something that I want to take a look at or if I've played with to get my opinion on it. I'm here to help you. With everything around your house. Now we've got a great show coming up here this next weekend and you can't wait to see what's on the TV show. We've got a great one here that airs this weekend and uh, I'll tell you what, I'll sit give you this one here.

[00:38:47] Eric Goranson: We found a boot company. That hand makes boots. That'll last you your lifetime. And if you wear through 'em after 20 years, you can send them back and they'll rebuild them so much cheaper than if you [00:39:00] actually bought new ones. All that and more on the TV show, head over to Around the house online and you can see it there.

[00:39:05] Eric Goranson: Thanks for listening to Around the House. We'll see you next weekend.