I’ve always had that temptation to spend extra money on cordless things. But the extra expense has never quite seemed worth it.
However, battery-powered, cordless things are getting cheaper. And, while I won’t paint a life of posh, cordless-powered luxury in the Wintle household (because that’s not what it’s like at all), I have made some purchases recently that have really helped with getting things done.
Firstly, I know Lidl do a cordless hammer drill that gets good reviews. But they don’t stock it very often! (Watch out, they stock the non-hammer-action drill often, but it won’t do masonry!). So when it DID appear in stock one week I bought one.
And not only did I then go and hang a load of things on walls that had been waiting for me to do so for ages, but I also went a bit crazy and creative and made my son a basketball hoop on a whim!
Freed from the constraints of having to find an appropriate combination of socket, circuit breaker, and extension lead, I could now just grab-and-go. And it was a joy!
I’d had this nagging feeling that I’d get more done with cordless things. Being able to just pick up a tool and do a job was great. Especially with busy family life where having kids around corded electrical goods is a bit of a hazard for everyone. And it had been proven true. So what next?!
Well, my wife broke her ankle, that’s what was next. And I was in charge of EVERYTHING for six weeks in the late spring. 2 children. All the cooking. Even carrying cups of tea around the house. I barely had a moment to spare. So anything that would speed up household tasks and let me do little bits here and there rather than committing to huge long sessions of cleaning would be a boon.
So, one day in Lidl again, I saw they were selling a battery-powered lawn strimmer.
“That’s amazing!”, I thought, “I can just grab this while the kids are playing in the garden, whizz round a bit of the lawn and keep it from getting too long, all without that incredible hassle of traipsing up and down my long garden with extension leads and stuff. AND it uses the SAME batteries as the drill!!!”
And that was proven right too. Sure, a battery-powered strimmer isn’t as powerful as a corded one. And it feels a bit plasticky and flimsy. But it really does the job. I grab it and “mow” while the kids are playing. I can do 10 or 15 minutes of it at a time and the job gets done in little bursts as a part of daily life.
So finally, and this took some convincing and research and waiting for a good deal, but I caved and also bought a cordless vacuum cleaner. These things can be expensive. But I got one for a huge 50% off. And it’s not perfect, but it has transformed cleaning in our house.
It’s less powerful than our “big vacuum”, but this has the benefit that it’s also much quieter. And it’s great. We can just grab it, do a room while the kids watch TV or something, and then put it away. So quick and easy and brilliant for a busy family.
Some problems are people problems and have solutions with people. But sometimes technology really is a help in everyday life. I’ve loved ditching cables around the house. Are there other appliances I should go cordless with?