5 Home Depot Gadgets That Are Actually Worth Buying

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A garage filled with tools can handle all sorts of demands. With a bench grinder in your arsenal, tackling lawn mower blade maintenance is relatively simple, for instance. Similarly, your power tool shelves support a range of building and renovating tasks that might dominate much of your weekend downtime. Whether you're an avid DIYer or just someone who likes to fall back on your own know-how and skills when something needs a repair or a bit of attention, tools are one of the most prominent features in any task. But the classic "tool" tends to focus on one aspect of the workshop, toolbox, or garage floor. Implements that are used in direct pursuit of a task's larger outcome fit this description: Your impact driver, insulated needle-nose pliers, or hacksaw, for example.

But there's another category of workplace implements that might be generalized as "gadgets." These are the testing tools, support accessories, specialized maintenance gear, and electrical items that help support your work. Mechanic's gadgets are a big deal, but these solutions run the gamut. This might be the digital tape measure that you use to quickly take measurements of a room when calculating the square footage for new carpeting, or an air compressor that underpins your use of air-powered tools. These five gadgets from Home Depot are game changers for pros and novice home maintainers alike who are seeking to make their job just a little easier. They have all received rave reviews from users, underscoring the performance you can expect from each.

A very important tool that can significantly alter the speed at which you tackle projects is a laser level. This piece of equipment performs roughly the same function as a torpedo level in many instances, but the laser-enhanced offering really takes the value of this solution up a notch. The Milwaukee M12 Green 3-Plane Laser Level Kit is a solid choice when it comes to picking among these tools. Indeed, there are a variety of options on the market, but this solution comes from one of the most prominent major tool brands with plenty of additional value to be found. For one thing, the level runs on Milwaukee's M12 battery platform, meaning it's compatible with a range of other tools that may already be in your collection. The kit comes with an XC4.0 Ah battery, so you'll have the opportunity to enhance your existing collection with a new power pack as well.

The Milwaukee gadget expands significantly on the functionality that most level users will be familiar with. It features a 250-foot range, offering coverage across vast spatial requirements. The 3-plane laser also provides support for just about any direction you might require. With micro-control pivoting and rare earth magnets in the base, the tool can be confidently mounted on a metal surface and adjusted with ease, allowing for both a steady measurement and the ability to make necessary changes. Users deliver high praise for the tool, giving it a 4.6-star average rating across 589 reviews.

Drivers in the colder parts of the country understand how winter weather can affect a car's performance all too well. EVs are frequently known to perform worse when the mercury starts to recede (although some strategies can help combat this range issue). Conventional vehicles may also struggle to start in cold weather, particularly if they're running with older batteries. Car batteries aren't cheap, and finding your vehicle with a dead power pack always seems to happen at the worst possible moment when you're in a rush or perhaps even while you're out and about rather than at home.

Whether you're dealing with the effects of winter weather or simply know that your battery is near the end of its lifespan, one important gadget that you can bring into your garage is a battery maintainer or trickle charger. This tool is also instrumental in keeping your car's battery maintained at full capacity, even if it's a newer one. The Ryobi 2 Amp Battery Charger and Maintainer has received 56 reviews from Home Depot buyers with a 4.5-star average rating. It's available for $58 and offers solid performance coverage for vehicles that might need a bit of help, as well as those that often sit idle. Recreational equipment like a camper van or dirt bikes that you only use during certain seasons can be reliably kept at a full charge during lengthy downtime. Whether as a support system for your routine transportation or to keep a fun vessel operational, this is a cost-effective and high-performing asset.

An interesting piece of gear that many homeowners engaged in significant landscaping tasks may not have considered before is the Fiskars 34-Inch Stand Up Weed Puller. Weeding tools sometimes feel a bit gimmicky and often do more harm than good. This tool is different. The Fiskars weeder is long enough to use while standing at full height. The tool features a 4-claw design and a reinforced foot platform that allows you to dig the tool into the ground exactly where you need it. Once you've pushed the tool into the soil on top of a weed you wish to remove, all you have to do is step on the foot pedal and then tilt it backwards. This will grip and tear just the weed out of the ground. Then, simply by using the ejector located midway down the handle, the weed you've pulled will fly out of the tool's grip, allowing you to set your sights on the next victim of your garden maintenance tasks.

Users give this tool high praise, delivering a 4.3-star average rating across 1,369 total reviews. Moreover, it has amassed nearly 1,000 5-star ratings. The weed puller's four serrated stainless steel claws feature deep digging capability. This allows the tool to get down to the root base of a weed, removing it wholesale from your yard and preventing regrowth. This is an especially useful addition for those who might have a bad back or sore knees that complicate effective removal.

A moisture meter is an important tool accessory for numerous woodworking projects. As a woodworker, when approaching any new building task, you'll want to explore the moisture content of the wood you're working with because it can inform your decision-making process regarding when and how to use a board. Too much moisture results in shrinkage that can warp or even permanently damage the workpiece once it has the chance to settle. The moisture meter is therefore an important diagnostic solution that can help yield better projects overall. A good balance between extravagant and feature-rich operation and a functional, cost-effective, and efficient tool is frequently the best choice here, and the General Tools Pin-Type Digital Moisture Meter is a solid middle-ground solution that fits the bill.

Woodworking isn't the only application for this gadget. When painting a room, repairing damaged walls after a leak or rain exposure, and much more, knowing how much moisture is in the air and the material you're working with can ultimately be the difference-maker between success and failure. This is an ideal measurement solution when tackling mold and mildew issues, and it's equally valuable in determining appropriate dryness in a wall before painting or applying a new layer of mud or filler product during the building phase. Users give the tool a 4.5-star average rating out of 176 reviews and note its ease of use specifically.

Electrical testing tools are far more important than they might seem at first glance. These pieces of equipment can be the difference between an injury or even a fatality as a result of an electrical shock versus a nondescript repair or component replacement. You aren't going to see big, headline-grabbing results from equipment and gadgets like this, but your health and long-term safety will absolutely thank you for including diagnostic gear and testing doo-dads in your toolbox. The multimeter is an obvious starting point, but there's a lot more to consider than this device. Moreover, multimeters can feature something of a steep learning curve for newer users.

Instead, the Klein Tools Circuit Breaker Finder Tool is the highlight here. It's listed at Home Depot for $65 and is worth every penny of that price tag. With over 1,749 reviews, the tool has garnered an average 4.5-star rating from Home Depot buyers. It's particularly valuable for those who have just moved into a new home and are having trouble with the breaker box's labeling. If you've been lax with your own notations or find yourself living somewhere new without a good handle on which breaker delivers power to what part of the house, this is the ideal gizmo for you. The tool features a two-part layout with a GFCI testing plug component and a transmitter unit. Users plug the tester into an outlet and then place the transmitter against the circuit breakers to identify the corresponding switch with both an audible and visual cue.

Recommendations in this article were also made considering user reviews and ratings as listed on the Home Depot online store. Each tool featured has received substantial customer feedback, some in the thousands of individual reviews. All of them have been given high praise by users with specific hands-on knowledge of the tools themselves, with the lowest average rating for any of the included pieces of equipment coming out at a 4.3-star rating.

The gadgets featured were also selected as inclusions across differing categories. No two selections come from the same general area of the toolbox, giving users plenty of depth to work through when considering something new to add to their garage. Lastly, although I don't have personal experience with these pieces of equipment specifically, I've used equipment either identical in nature or very similar to all five, giving me a solid knowledge base to inform these recommendations and the value they add to a toolbox.