• Steve
• On November 15, 2012

Nobody wants a vacuum cleaner for Christmas. (Or their birthday, anniversary, Mother’s day or any other gift receiving occasion.)  This little axiom  has been around as long as vacuum cleaners themselves, but it doesn’t always stand true.  For instance, my brother and I were thrilled to receive Shop-Vacs for Christmas one year.  Here are a few other items that might not seem like an ideal gift at first, but should certainly have a place under the tree.

Home Automation

Belkin WeMo Switch ($49.95 standalone and $99.95 w/Motion)

The Belkin WeMo Switch is pretty nifty on its own, but throw a motion detector in the mix and you get up the ante with a little more awesome.  You can control it (i.e, turn on/off any device that plugged into it) with an iOS app, and the motion detector can do the same when you enter or exit a room.

Phillips Hue Wifi Light Bulbs – Single Pack $59.95, Starter Pack $199.95

What is it?  Why do you want them?  The Hue is an energy efficient (they claim to use 80% less power), wifi connected light bulb that can be controlled via iOS app .  This means you can turn them on or off, dim or brighten, and even change the tint and tone from anywhere.  Set them to turn on/off at certain times, and even brighten a kids room for a quick under-the-bed-monster-check.  Take note, you need the Hue bridge that included in the Starter Pack to do any of these things, so the stand-alone bulb is just an expensive light bulb without it.

Hue Remote Controlled Light Bulbs

Honorable Mentions for this category are the Nest Thermostat – $249, the Roomba -$349 – $699, and the iBaby Monitor – $199.95

Garage and Outdoors

Looj -$299.99

Hate cleaning your gutters?  Love robots? Meet Looj, the gutter cleaning robot that makes short work of a nasty task.

Rubbermaid FastTrack Garage Organization System – Starting at $49.99 for 8 piece starter kit

Craftsman AssureLink Garage Door Opener – $229.99

The button in your car isn’t enough for you? Here’s an internet connected garage door opener that can be controlled by iOS and Android devices.

Fir Wood Foldable Potting Bench – $119.98

Christmas might not be the perfect time to hone your green thumb, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a great deal on an outdoor workbench that you can use year-round.

Books

P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes from the Garden – $32.50

Garage Solutions: do it now, do it fast, do it right – $4.99

Can you think of any non-traditional gifts that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments!