As I have been becoming more eco conscious I have been looking somewhat dismayed at all the wasted running water in my shower before it is hot enough to step in it. Now there is a new solution, a device which heats up the water to 90º F in your shower before letting the water flow out. You can either retrofit your existing showerhead or replace the existing shower head-so how good is that! These water saving shower filters are on my shopping list for immediate installation. $39.95 for the new shower heads that Conserve up to 2,700 gallons of water per year. Retrofit options coming soon.
 

I am a big fan of the Euro Styled power heads which for my money are nice and light, but still pack enough of a powerful punch to get the job done on both carpets and bare floors. Electrolux used to carry them but discontinued them much to my surprise. So Bosch is the only game in town with a lightweight power head, and not surprisingly the Bosch Electro Duo Plus is their best selling model. It is really a nice vacuum, perfectly sized in my opinion and is made in Germany, so you know it is going to last a long time. I am from the old school and like my vacuum to last for many years, and the cheap stuff on the market nowadays is just a breakdown waiting to happen. Starting at $649.99

I did some interesting market research recently. While I am a firm believer and devotee of the Royal Pedic latex mattresses, our company decided to offer a very high quality memory foam mattress - the Sandmahn, which I put in our guest room. So when I had a girls’ reunion and sleep over, my houseguests were scattered through out my house. When they all gathered at breakfast and I politely inquired how they all slept, the person who slept on the Sandmahn waxed effusive that she had woken up without any pain, even though she had had her knees replaced recently. The other girlfriend who had slept on a Royal-Pedic said she had slept better than usual, but since she had had her hips replaced and still experienced pain, she wondered if the Sandmahn would be better; so my two friends swapped beds for the next night. The second girlfriend arrived at breakfast the next morning with tears in her eyes. She said she had woken up not entirely pain free, but it was such a remarkable improvement that it gave her some hope that she need not wake up in pain for the rest of her life!

  Curious after my girlfriends left, I have tried out the Sandmahn memory foam mattress on many an occasion. There is no doubt it is supremely comfortable and does a good job at reducing early morning stiffness. My only personal caveat is when I want to move around the bed, the indentation in the memory foam takes a little while to regain its original shape and I found that disconcerting at first. It is a characteristic of all memory foam beds. So I will stay with my latex bed but if you have a lot of aches and pains, the Sandmahn starting at $4349.99 is well worth your consideration.

Hamilton Beach sold the rights to distribute their TrueAir humidifier through the name Graco.  For those looking for a reliable cool-mist humidifier, the Graco cool mist humidifier (currently on sale for $89.95) is a very good value.  The Graco covers a large area of 1200 sq. ft. and is very easy to clean - just place it in the dishwasher. 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the elderly even when they are being maintained at home can be susceptible to leaking at night, a quick way to destroying a mattress. I sent my sister a waterproof mattress cover for use with my Dad which has a nice soft toweling covering on one side and plastic on the other. This has worked wonders. Recommend this highly at $49.95
 

If you travel to a third world country you will know that the quality of water coming out of the tap is more than suspect - it is undrinkable, and you should not even brush your teeth with it. Trouble is that even when you religiously use bottled water to brush your teeth, when you are tired, the sheer force of habit has you rinsing your tooth brush under the tap by mistake. I cannot tell you the number of times I have done that and then wondered if I was going to get sick. Now I take a travel toothbrush sanitizer with me which disinfects the tooth brush with UV light and so far so good- my stomach has survived my travels. Starting at $29.95.
 

Most important of all in my opinion, is that these comforters are cruelty free and the down is not “hand harvested” but is collected naturally as part of the molting process. Hand harvesting is banned in some countries and for good reason- how shall I put it bluntly? Live birds are strung up and plucked till they are bare and bleeding and shrieking as the down and feathers drop into collector bins below. Hypodown is collected in a way that is cruelty free, so animal lovers need not feel guilty when they buy one.

Then let’s get down to basics! The most important part of a down comforter is the quality of its fill which should be 700 or 800 fill weight for the lightest, fluffiest, and best insulating down. The next important feature is the quality of manufacture and we recommend box baffling to make sure the down has enough room to remain lofted but does not shift around. For allergy sufferers, the cleanliness and hypoallergenic properties of the down is paramount, and the Hypodown Collection does it better than most because it introduces a tiny amount of Syriaca into the down, which in turn enhances its hypoallergenic properties. You do not need the most expensive covering; this comforter will last more than a lifetime if given proper care and that means putting it into a duvet cover so it is protected. For most people the Monarch covering is the most effective choice since it is soft and supple.
 

I confess that I have been wrestling with loving my full spectrum lights which I have all over my home and replacing them dutifully with compact fluorescents which save energy. When I originally had switched to full spectrum I said at the time that there was no turning back since they give off a cleaner, brighter, and more natural light. But now wanting to be a good green citizen, I have been replacing them slowly with regular spiral Verilux compact fluorescents. Now I am thrilled that I can have my cake and eat it too. With full spectrum compact fluorescents available, I am going to buy them by the case and go around the house replacing them. The best thing is that besides saving energy, these last longer too and come in all the shapes such as floods and traditional light bulb shapes that you are used to around the home.
 

I was asked today to recommend a mattress pad to soften up a child’s bunk bed mattress. We have two new mattress pads which I know will fix this problem without costing too much money. Both mattress pads come with deep pocket elasticized sides so you can avoid straps - which can slip off your mattress. These are what I would buy if I did not have mattress pads already. I think the Dream Essentials Pillow Top Pad, which is really puffy, is a really nice pad and moderately priced at $199.95.

The open faced Wool Fleece from Home Essentials is quite sumptuous and definitely is our best value for the money
 

So here is the ugly truth, at the end of last summer, my husband was complaining about cat odor and a musty smell when he graces our residence in Newton with his presence one day a week (the rest of the time he spends at our summer home). He pontificated that the odor was coming from our lower level and that I must need a dehumidifier. Now usually he would be right, and I advise people to use a dehumidifier as the first line of attack when getting rid of musty smells. However in this case the relative humidity was 42% which I measured with my hygrometer so I knew that he was wrong. I had to admit that he was right about the smell. I had got behind in replacing filters for my beloved IQair HealthPro Plus which is seven years old and going strong and I needed a quick solution. So like any company president, I went into the samples room and rifled an Allerair 5000 Vocarb air purifier and took it home. Here is the miracle…24 hours later my husband was exclaiming that he did not know what I had done, but the odor was completely GONE! I told him smugly that I had used an air purifier with a ton of carbon in it. So if you have that kind of problem, the AllerAir 5000 could be your answer. After a few days I was able to lower the fan speed so now I can hardly hear it. Starting at $499.98