Easy Tech Upgrades to Improve Your Home Life

Upgrade an electric outlet to a USB charger model
Switching out a conventional electric outlet with a USB equipped charger receptacle can come in very handy in this age of power hungry wireless mobile devices, eliminating the need for a computer or a wall adapter when phones, tablets, or peripherals need to recharge. The Leviton T5632-W 15-Amp USB Charger provides not only dual USB 2.0 compatible USB ports for iPhone feeding time, but retains dual 3-prong electrical outlets for other electrical devices.



Speed up you computer by decluttering your desktop
Did you know keeping too many icons on your desktop isn’t just an eyesore—it might be also slowing down your computer? Think of the desktop just like a real room: piles of stuff laying around makes navigating a space a hassle. Instead, create folders labeled “In Progress”, “Finished”,“To Sort”, alongside any additional catch-all categories, and sort accordingly.



Turn off lights anywhere in the house from bed
As someone who tends to remember to turn off the living room lights only once completely settled comfortably into bed with annoying regularity, installing a wi-fi enabled power switch has turned out to be a welcome upgrade in the convenience department. The Belkin WeMo Switch turns not-so-smart devices like lamps, fans, kitchen appliances, televisions, radios, or anything else you can plug into its single outlet into an app-controllable appliance. Adding a wireless outlet could prove especially helpful for those living in two-story homes, eliminating the need to wobble tired downstairs to turn off the lights.



Add temperature control bedding
Originally designed for NASA, Outlast sheets are woven with temperature-regulating technology using “microencapsulated Thermocules” that absorb and store excess heat, then release it throughout the night (similar to fitness apparel). That means couples bickering over “it’s too hot!” and “it’s too cold” can improve their thermal compatibility overnight with just a change of sheets.



Speed up your internet connection for free
You don’t have to understand what the acronym DNS stands for (Domain Name Server), but you should know that it may be affecting how responsive your connection feels while browsing the internet. Think of DNS as the Internet's phone book; by switching to an alternative DNS provider like Google Public DNS you might speed up your browsing experience noticeably. Google offers very easy to follow step-by-step instructions for this optimization.