I know it's absolutely crucial to always have working smoke alarms in your home, but it seems to me that they run out of batteries roughly once a week and beep like crazy until I'm almost tempted to trash them (I never would, and please please don't do it either). DuPont's self-charging smoke alarms address this problem by plugging into ceiling-mounted light sockets, and charging up each time the light switch is turned on. You don't lose your light either, just plug the bulb directly into the alarm. Flipping the switch twice tests the alarm, and if you get a false alarm, three quick flips of the switch silences and re-sets the alarm. These alarms also have the annoying (but absolutely necessary) low power beep, but instead of needing to take it down to replace batteries, turning the light switch on charges up the alarm.

Self-charging smoke alarms are $39.95 at First Street.

From my new favorite "social shopping" (tagging) service, Wists.