Best gifts for new homeowners

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The first weeks in a house are spent finding out what the last owner left behind. Which breaker runs the kitchen. Whether the outlets are wired correctly. How old the water heater is, and what happens to the floor when it fails. Each of those has a small tool that answers it, and none of them is something a new owner thinks to buy until the day they need it.

Start with safety and water. Combination smoke and CO alarms with sealed batteries replace whatever is yellowing on the ceiling. A leak sensor under the water heater and behind the washing machine turns a flooded floor into a phone alert. A non-contact voltage tester is the first electrical tool anyone should own: it says whether a wire is live before a switch plate comes off.

Then comfort and cost. A smart thermostat pays back mostly by making setbacks happen reliably, and on a heat pump it keeps the expensive backup heat from running. Check the wiring before you buy one: most want a C wire, and each maker has an online compatibility checker. A plug-in power meter and our electricity cost calculator show what each appliance is adding to the bill.