5 gadgets under $100 to improve your garage

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Like most other garages, yours has probably gone from an empty place to park your car to a catch-all space for your household projects and tools. There’s really nothing wrong with this development, but compared to the rest of your home, your garage may seem dated. Maybe the only light source you have is an old, dim bulb in the center of the ceiling. Or maybe your storage bins are so chaotic that finding a simple screw takes forever.

Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Just because you now use your garage for everything, doesn’t mean it can’t be as high-tech and functional as your living room or bedroom. The good news is that you don’t need a costly renovation to transform your garage into a more comfortable place to work.

You can actually start upgrading it with just $100. Here are five popular Amazon gadgets under $100 that could improve your garage. All of these products have been selected based on their Amazon reviews and their practical benefits in a garage.

Your garage is where wall outlets are most needed, but they are either limited or poorly placed. To solve this dilemma, you can add a power strip to your garage. The Kasa Smart Plug HS300 power strip – sold on Amazon for $50 – is a solid choice, especially if you’re planning to transform your garage into a smarter space. This power strip consists of six outlets, each of which can be controlled independently and has its own status indicator and control/setup button.

In total, the sockets can handle a maximum load of 1,875W at 15A. This means you can plug in small fans, bench lights, soldering irons, and even speakers at the same time. However, the power strip may not be able to handle more demanding tools such as shop vacuums or heaters when used with other appliances. Besides classic AC tools, you can also charge or power any USB device via the power strip’s three built-in USB ports.

For added safety, the Kasa HS300 is designed with ETL certified surge protection. You’ll know it’s on when the “Protected” LED light on the power strip lights up. There is also an LED indicator for when the power strip is normally grounded and when connected to Wi-Fi. Similar to some smart plugs, the Kasa HS300 comes with an energy monitoring system. This helps you keep an eye on the power consumption of your garage tools. Each outlet has its own energy monitor, which tells you how much power the connected device has used today and over the last seven or 30 days, as well as how long it’s been on. This data is easily available on the Kasa app.

With how often you enter and exit the garage, it is only appropriate to install a security camera inside. This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to secure your home. One camera option you can consider is the myQ Smart Garage Security Camera, available on Amazon for $50. Featuring a 130-degree wide-angle camera and night recording capability, this security camera captures video at 1080p HD resolution. It is built with motion detection and for every movement detected in the area, you will automatically receive a notification on your phone. If you subscribe to the Video Monitoring Ultra or Essential package, the camera can also send you alerts, especially for people, animals or vehicles that it detects.

Like many other smart security cameras, the myQ connects to your phone for remote control and monitoring. You will have free access to live streaming 24/7. While watching the stream, you can listen and speak through the camera, thanks to its two-way audio. If you instead need to review previous footage, a subscription to a video monitoring plan is required. This allows you to check event history for up to 7 to 30 days, depending on the plan.

From an installation standpoint, the myQ security camera is magnetic, so you can simply attach it to your refrigerator, metal tool cabinet, or support beams in your garage, all without using any accessories. Just make sure you point the camera correctly at your target area using its 360-degree manual swivel. The camera can also withstand extreme cold and heat from -4°F to 122°F, making it reliable even in cold or hot garages.

Parking in a tight garage isn’t exactly easy, and you usually end up hitting things or scratching your car more times than you’d like. If so, it might be time to get a parking assist. Available on Amazon for $40, the STKR Garage Parking Sensor is one of the most frequently purchased parking aids on the site. It is composed of two main parts: an ultrasonic sensor and an LED indicator. The ultrasonic sensor should be placed low enough so that its signals bounce off your car’s bumper. The LED light, for its part, is installed at eye level of the driver.

It is the job of the ultrasonic sensor to detect the distance between your car and the designated parking space, i.e. the stopping distance. This stopping distance can be set anywhere between one and four feet from the sensor. After setting up the device, simply park your car where you want and press the Set Parking Sensor Distance button to save that location. Then, every time you park, the LED light will show how far you are from the stopping distance. Green means you’re continuing, yellow means you’re close and should start slowing down, and red means you’re already at stopping distance.

For your convenience, the STKR Garage Parking Sensor operates on four AA batteries. If you don’t want to worry about changing batteries, you can also plug it into your own USB-C wall adapter. The entire device mounts to the wall with Velcro and double-sided tape, and is compact at just 3.5″ by 4.7″ by 1.25″ to keep it out of the way.

Of all the essential smart home gadgets you’ll add to your garage, a smart light is easily one of the things you’ll use the most. Standard smart bulbs are usually the ideal choice for this. If there are no existing fixtures in your garage, you may be better off using a more self-contained light like the $80 LiftMaster MyQ Smart LED Garage Light. This LED lamp can be used as a ceiling light or wall light. It is mounted via screws and then plugged directly into a wall outlet for power. This gives you more freedom in where to install the light depending on your needs.

Unlike other smart bulbs, the MyQ Garage Light comes in a square, compact shape, measuring 5.9″ by 5.9″ by 2.2″. It also boasts an output of 1,000 lumens, which is brighter than some bulbs. To get the most out of garage lighting, you can sync it with your garage door opener. One opener can handle a maximum of 16 lights, so you So you can create a group that turns on and off at the same time in response to the garage door. For more manual control, the MyQ garage light is also compatible with a garage remote. It specifically supports the 893MAX 3-button visor remote and the 380UT 2-button universal remote.

As with typical smart bulbs, the MyQ Garage Light has a companion mobile app. This allows you to turn the light on and off remotely and set it to follow a schedule.

A thermal printer is probably the last thing you would think of adding to your garage. But you’ll realize how important it is once you see how disorganized all your stuff is. Luckily, you can get a mini thermal printer – the Phomemo M110 Label Maker – on Amazon for just $52, including three rolls of labels in the box. This labeler is handy for labeling bins for your bolts, washers and other parts; containers for your different fluids; and your tool drawers and storage shelves. If you finish a project and don’t want to forget what’s next, you can even print reminders to stick on your garage door. The labels are wear, water and oil resistant, so they should be suitable for use in a garage.

The Phomemo M110 supports a range of label sizes and shapes, from 20mm to 52mm. Simply load the roll of labels you want to use with the printer. For the label itself, pre-made templates are available for editing in the Phomemo app. You can include plain text, images, tables, barcodes and QR codes in the label. To pair the label maker with your iPhone or Android device, simply connect it via Bluetooth. If you prefer to work on a computer, you can plug the label maker into Windows, macOS or Linux via USB.

The Phomemo M110 won’t take up too much space in your garage. Once you’re done, you can throw it in a drawer. It also requires little maintenance, since it is a thermal printer and does not need to be refilled with ink.

All the products we recommend on this list check two major criteria: price and real usefulness in a garage. They’re all in the $100 price range and can even go lower than their usual price during sales. They also serve a practical function inside the garage.

Although all products cost less than $100, they still offer good value for money. We took Amazon product reviews into account and only opted for those with at least a 4 out of 5 star rating.