Are there any household gadgets you found unexpectedly useful after you'd gotten them?

https://lemmy.world/post/15382214

Are there any household gadgets you found unexpectedly useful after you'd gotten them? - Lemmy.World

I was thinking about how I missed having an indoor thermometer that measures humidity. It’s such a small specific thing, one I’d never think of getting unless pushed to it (which I was by one particularly dry winter). But I like having one now. What are your small, “random” or “junk drawer” type of gadgets that you actually use or like having around?

The idea of getting something before I know its usefulness confuses me. Do you mean finding that something is more useful than you expected?

If that’s the case, I once had an alarm clock which curiously had a thermometer in it to measure the temperature in the room. I was able to use it - for years - to hold my landlord to account for being shitty on the heat during the winter.

Sometimes its a gift. My bread maker was a gift, and it brings me a lot of value, but I prob won’t pay for it.

Other times it’s something pushed on you for fun. My wife made me buy a thermostat gun and now I love it. I test it on the kids too for fun.

I have a digital clock with thermometer feature and a dedicated thermometer. I’ve been logging the measurements every half an hour for months. The clock is ~1.5-3 degrees off (or the other way around, who knows). Just be aware they are not always super accurate.

The idea of getting something before I know its usefulness confuses me.

My spouse buys things because they seem neat. Uses them once or twice, then not again.