NEW PRODUCTS : Hot Items, California-Style
The hundreds of manufacturers who met here recently to ply their wares to the 11,000 builders and homeowners attending the annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference were, for the most part, quintessentially Californian.
Hot-tub makers dotted the exhibition floor of the Moscone Convention Center like umbrellas on the beach, while other companies set up booths to hawk everything from skylights to barbecues.
Even the “freebies” that vendors offered to attract the attention of passersby had a uniquely West Coast flair: Sun-bronzed blondes and handsome young men passed out trail mix, frozen yogurt and even margaritas.
The annual trade show gives developers and consumers alike an opportunity to see what’s new for the home. Products on display this year ranged from the practical and inexpensive to the luxurious and costly.
Falling into that latter category is the “J-Dream,” a high-tech shower being marketed by Jacuzzi.
Sixteen nozzles affixed to the shower’s wall provide massaging jets of water, while a computer chip ensures that the temperature remains exactly where you want it.
One flick of a switch turns the steady flow of water from the shower head into a cascading “waterfall.”
If all that’s not enough, touch a button under the built-in shower seat and you’ve got yourself a full-scale steam bath. The J-Dream’s price, however, might make you break into a sweat: It retails for about $10,000, and that doesn’t even include installation.
Another hot-selling line of bathroom products is HessCo Industries’ whirlpool tubs. The company’s top-of-the-line “Canadian” features six jets and has a built-in head cushion at either end--one for you and one for a friend.
The Canadian sells for about $2,400 and comes in more than 100 colors. HessCo likes to boast that, unlike many other tub-makers, all of its products are “pollution-free” because they contain no styrene--a substance that can produce noxious gas during the manufacturing process.
Kohler’s Co.’s new Whitecap shower and foot whirlpool offers hygienic heaven on a smaller scale.
The Whitecap is made to fit in a corner, an important factor for homeowners who are adding or remodeling a small bathroom. A bit larger than a phone booth, the unit includes a built-in seat and a 10-inch base with four jets at the bottom to provide a relaxing foot massage.
The top-of-the line Whitecap retails for about $4,500, while a scaled-down version sells for about $3,000.
Folks who would like to keep their feet warm but not wet should check out the new Infloor Heating System. It’s a relatively simple network of low-voltage heating cables and conductive concrete that you install under the floor of your bathroom, kitchen or other room.
Once you’ve put the flooring back down, you can hook the system up to a thermostat to keep it at a specified temperature all day or set a timer so the floor “turns on” at a certain hour. Or, you can simply switch the heating apparatus on or off by hand.
“A lot of our customers are people who are remodeling their kitchen or bathroom,” said Marilyn Glampe, a company spokeswoman. “Since they’re putting in a new floor anyway, tearing up the tile and putting in Infloor isn’t such a big deal.”
The system can be installed in a standard-sized bathroom by do-it-yourselfers for about $750.
Several booths at this year’s trade show featured fireplace kits, but few were more impressive than Ruegg Fireplace’s Prisma and Prismette models.
The Prisma is one of Ruegg’s best. It features a tempered window over the firebox that can swing open like the door of a microwave, or disappear like the tambour cover of a roll-top desk.
Three ducts at the top of the box can be rigged to pump heat from the fire into other rooms: The company says the Prisma can generate enough warmth for a home with 2,000 to 3,000 square feet of space.
The Prisma sells for about $3,700. The smaller Prismette, which can heat between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet, retails for $3,100.
Have you ever wished you could fit two cars into your one-car garage, or four cars into a two-car garage? Or would you simply like to have more space in your garage?
Parking Solutions Inc. might be able to help.
The Redondo Beach-based company has developed the “Parking Lift,” a hydraulic car elevator that’s akin to the one you see when you take your jalopy into a service station.
The first person to get home at night drives onto a metal platform, gets out, and pushes a button to make a heavy-duty hydraulic power unit lift the car about 6 feet off the ground. The second person to get home simply parks underneath.
“A lot of people who buy this product are car collectors, or they live near the beach where land is expensive and houses are small,” said John Honeycombe, a company vice president.
A single lift costs about $5,000.
Folks who would rather spend more time in their garden than in their garage might be interested in the PET Garden Speaker, by Pioneer Electronics Inc.
The handsome, waist-high outdoor speakers look as if they’re made of granite. But they’re actually made of an acrylic polymer and contain a high-fidelity speaker system that’s about as good as any that you can buy for indoor use.
As an added bonus, each 360-degree speaker has a built-in light at the top to illuminate your way while you meander through your marigolds.
Pioneer says the speakers can’t be hurt by rain showers or sprinklers. Each one retails for between $900 and $1,200.
Finally--for those who would like to get away from it all without leaving the comfort of their own home--there’s the “S-Class Get-A-Way Chair” by HWE Inc. of North Hollywood. The high-tech recliner is one part masseuse, one part stereo and all “Star Trek.”
Press a button on the computerized finger-tip controls, and rollers built into the back of the seat travel slowly back and forth from your spine to your neck. Press another button, and you’ve got a gentle vibrating motion designed to ease tension, stress and fatigue.
A little box under the armrest contains a mini stereo and tape-player, allowing you to softly pump your favorite music into the two full-range speakers that are built into the chair’s headrest. The recliner itself looks like leather, but it’s actually made of synthetic fiber to resist staining and premature cracking.
The Get-A-Way chair retails for about $2,100, but smart consumers can buy direct from HWE’s North Hollywood headquarters and save themselves about $200.
