7 Modern Household Conveniences We Take For Granted

The 7 Modern Household Conveniences We Take For Granted

Modern households contain many conveniences that save time and labor and increase personal comfort. Many of these were unheard of 100 or even 50 years ago, but life today would be difficult without these inventions. The following are seven common household items that are often overlooked to the point of being taken for granted.

Refrigerator

In the days before refrigeration, food was preserved by salting or curing or it was consumed quickly before it could spoil. Modern refrigerators have revolutionized food preparation and storage and are generally the item of most concern to homeowners in the event of a power outage. The ability to safely store several days of perishables and keep leftovers for another meal is a modern convenience that most people find it hard to imagine living without.

Vacuum Cleaner

The vacuum cleaner, invented in the early 1900s, revolutionized home décor and personal comfort. Before the vacuum cleaner, only the well-off could afford the upkeep associated with wall to wall carpeting which had to be taken up several times a year and cleaned by hand. The first vacuum cleaners were so large they were mounted on a cart pulled by a horse to a customer’s house. The house was cleaned with flexible pipes inserted through windows and doors. Smaller household vacuum cleaners soon followed and the invention has since found its way into nearly every home.

Light Bulbs

Before the harnessing of electric power and the invention of the light bulb, most people went to bed shortly after dark and remained there until daylight. Candles, lamp oil, and kerosene were too expensive for most households to use for hours at a time and firelight does not provide adequate light for most activities. The invention of the light bulb served to give people more productive hours in the day and made leisure activities like reading at night possible.

Microwave Oven

The microwave revolutionized food preparation by streamlining everything from heating water to making popcorn. A whole new category of “convenience foods” designed for people in a hurry became available. Despite the early alarm over irradiating foodstuffs, microwaves have been proven safe and are used in tens of millions of homes every day.

Modern Climate Control

Fire was the earliest form of climate control, tamed by cavemen and utilized with little improvement for thousands of years. With the invention of electricity, however, new forms of indoor temperature regulation including central heating and air conditioning were introduced. These niceties of modern life are generally overlooked until a storm cuts off the power, an event that invariably occurs on either the hottest or coldest day of the year.

Flushing Toilets

People have always found a way to take care of “personal business” but in the days before flush toilets came along some of those ways were unpleasant and involved sitting outside in the freezing cold or blistering heat. This particular household convenience is so taken for granted today that most households have several of them strategically located at various places throughout the house.

Internet

Providing access to worldwide events, weather forecasts, business contacts, recipes, crafts and best friends all with the click of a mouse, the Internet has become a necessity for most households. Many people have even become dependent upon the web as their main source of income, taking it for granted that the Internet will be waiting every time they turn on their computer or smartphone.

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Sandy Burton is a professional housekeeper who enjoys sharing information about innovative products that make life easier, often when it comes to cleaning. Sandy has also helped to find the best reviewed vacuum cleaners on the market today.