New user-installable appliances coming to market are making it easier to decarbonize a home. But some are still in the works — and none are particularly...
Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products . I went to CES with Engadget for the first time this year and, among the robots, laptops, TVs and more robots, the most exciting products I saw were ones trying to make our homes more eco-friendly in the most low-effort ways possible. I saw an induction stove, a window-mounted heat pump, a battery back-up system and a few other promising appliances — these are user installable, work with standard 120V outlets and do their part in lowering a home's carbon footprint. A couple are coming to market this year, while others are still on the road towards wide availability. When I first thought of decarbonizing my home, solar panels on the roof immediately came to mind. So I took out a loan and did exactly that. Well, I didn't do it — it took many months of the solar company filing permits on my behalf and two days of skilled technicians crawling all over my roof and installing complicated-looking boxes and tubes on the side of my house to get it done. Last month, my electric bill was $6, but it wasn't a low-effort process. In contrast, these new appliances I checked out don't require calling a contractor for installation and you'll be able to get your hands on some of them later this year. Since there's no installation, people who live in apartments and condos or otherwise can't permanently install appliances where they live can use them. But these products aren't cheap. The hope is, as the popularity of accessible, user-installable green tech grows, the prices go down. In the meantime, I will keep daydreaming. Amy Skorheim for Engadget The first thing to really catch my eye at CES was a plug-in backup battery from BioLite, a brand I knew from making camp stoves that can recharge your phone. The Backup by BioLite is the company's first non-outdoor item and…