home appliances Archives

Can HEPA air purifiers help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in your home? Here’s what you need to know.

by Caroline Siegrist | Around the House, Fitness + Health

Let’s talk HEPA air purifiers and the coronavirus. I’ve started to hear some noise about how these appliances might help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, so I’ve been reading up to see if buying one is worth the money. The TL;DR version?...

12 tech gifts you should probably just buy for yourself already | Holiday Tech Guide 2019

by Kristen Chase | Holiday Tech Gifts

We’ve got lots of cool tech gifts for big kids and teens, not to mention some awesome STEM holiday gifts for kids as part of our Holiday Tech Guide, but what about us? We love tech too! Except sometimes, the tech gadgets we want aren’t super gifty. But...

Tonal is a home fitness system that’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

by Kate Etue | Fitness + Health

This mama still has it going on in many ways, but let’s face it: the 40s are here to stay. A brisk walk with the toddler in the stroller isn’t cutting it as my daily workout anymore. So, when I heard about Tonal, a sleek, super-convenient, high-tech home...

Molekule: The gorgeous high-tech air purifier that’s touted by MoMA (yes, the art museum)

by Kate Etue | Smart Appliances

Spring is nearly here, despite snowy forecasts even down South. But our allergens haven’t gotten the note that we’re not ready for them yet, and my entire family is sneezy, itchy, and cranky. And after my son’s allergies got so bad we ended up in an...

High tech baby gifts: 4 of the best splurges for your very favorite parents-to-be

by Liz Gumbinner | Around the House, Baby Tech, Geeky Baby Gifts

If you’re shopping for a baby gift and want to go in on The Big Gift with a group — or maybe all on your own, generous soul, maybe consider high-tech baby gifts. Talking to you, best friends from college, generous boss, first-time aunt-to-be, and amazing...

Hot home tech design: 7 devices you never knew could be gorgeous

by Liz Gumbinner | Around the House

It’s amazing how far home tech design has come, even since we started this site six years ago. What once may have looked sleek and amazing — a baby monitor, a humidifier, even a lawnmower — now looks clunky and dated compared to what’s...

8 cool gadgets to make your smart homes even smarter | CES 2017

by Jeana | Smart Appliances

We saw a ton of new smart home products launch last year, with offerings from Nest, WeMo, smart doorbells and much more. But wow, after walking the floors at the CES conference last week, it’s clear that 2017 will bring even more integration between products,...

The ultimate indoor/outdoor grill for people who thought they could never have one. Tech to the rescue!

by Jeana | Kitchen Tech

Of course tech innovations are making their way to the traditional BBQ now too, and if you don’t have the space for an outdoor grill, I’ve found a solution in the Kenyon SilKEN Grill which keeps your grilling game on all year round. This portable...

The air purifier and humidifier combo that could help you sneeze (and dust) less

by Kate Etue | Fitness + Health

We’ve seen a lot of new smart devices recently that are helping us monitor our air quality, but I’ve often wondered what to do with this info — short of a major HEPA filter installation — if the monitors tell me my air quality is bad. So when we found out about the...

3 genius mosquito tech solutions to keep your family itch free

by Kate Etue | Smart Appliances

Preventing mosquitoes is one of my big concerns, especially this summer. Not only are they annoying and itchy, they carry some serious diseases that I don’t want anywhere near my family. But I don’t like the idea of spraying chemicals in my yard either....

NEW: The podcast that helps you be a savvier digital parent in under 15 minutes a week

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.

We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.

We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.

(Answer: It's complicated.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.