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10 most wanted home products

From furnaces that run on wood pellets to toilets that make a splash, new home products bring style and innovation

Gary Dymski | Home Work

February 9, 2006

New technology can make a splash. Like the Swash toilet seat. Or the Jentle Jet laundry sink.

The Swash really is a new twist on an old idea. It's a heated toilet seat with a wand attachment that, ahem, sprays users clean. A panel mounted on the wall near the Swash features controls for a thermostat and a heated dryer. The Japanese have been doing their business on such seats since the 1960s.

Speaking of delicate items, the Jentle Jet laundry sink by Whirlpool cleans such apparel by generating a gurgling stream of water, thereby giving the washing machine much-needed down time.

Although the Swash and Jentle Jet are likely to generate consumer interest, no one knows for sure whether they will be industry hits. But such stylish, upscale items, both featured in the New American Home introduced last month at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla., usually are in high demand by consumers.

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With that in mind, they are among 10 "new" items we think could be a hit in the industry sometime soon. Not all are new this year. Some have been around for a time but just recently have started to pick up support, either in the industry or with consumers. Automated lighting, for example, is not new. But a new technology, called Z-Wave, is making it more affordable.

We have our reasons for picking these 10, of course. The toilet seat, with its spray wand, is a "can't miss." On second thought, it had better not miss. A miss would mean a mess.

And, as the concept of the laundry room changes, expect jet-style sinks to catch on. Laundry rooms are being redesigned as multifunctional spaces, combined to create a hobby room, recreation room or storage area. Washing a couple of items in a small sink while shooting a game of pool in a combo laundry-game room seems to makes sense.

What makes more sense to me, though, are the materials with more substance than style. Items with backbone, like FlexWrap flashing tape or plastic molding that bends around curves. And Warmboard, a pre-grooved structural subfloor designed to make radiant floor heating more efficient. These items can save money for both homeowners and contractors.

We've also included items that make more sense, like pellet-burning outdoor furnaces. Now there's a way to reduce our dependency on oil. Others seem so darn convenient, like automated lighting.

But the building industry is a strange world. Several years ago, steel studs supposedly were the wave of the future. Snap-together steel framing was going to make wood framing obsolete.

Still waiting... .

Housewrap, though, has taken off. Ever since Tyvek was introduced in the early 1990s, every new house and every new addition is wrapped with a protective barrier to reduce air infiltration and the chances for trapped moisture.

What's the next hit, the next Tyvek housewrap? Who knows? But it's fun to imagine not having to worry about running out of toilet paper.