The Gas Tank Locator Trick You Might Be Missing

One of the trickiest things about stepping into a new, or new-to-you, car is remembering which side the gas tank is on. The problem is there’s not exactly an easy rule you can memorize. Most of the time, the gas tank is located on the driver’s side, relative to the country that makes the cars. But that’s not always the case, and besides, do you really want to have to memorize where every brand you may drive is manufactured?

Fortunately, most of today’s cars have a handy gas tank locator if you know where to look.

What is a Gas Tank Locator?

In short, a gas tank locator is a symbol or icon that shows you what side of the car your gas tank is on. This way, you know which pump at the gas station is the right one to park at and fuel up. Sure, you can usually work around it if you make a mistake, but it’s so much easier to line yourself up hassle-free if you remember the correct side from the start.

Where is My Gas Tank Locator?

Your gas tank locator is on your dash. The exact placement varies from car to car, depending on where your fuel gauge is. But it will always be right next to the gas pump icon.

You’re looking for a small arrow next to that pump. Once you find it, it’s fairly straightforward to read. The direction the arrow points tells you what side of the car your tank is on. So if it points to the passenger side, like in my Subaru, your gas tank is on the right. Conversely, if it points to the driver’s side, your tank is on the left.

Troubleshooting

Some of the newer cars on the market have a lot of information you can cycle through on your dash, including an estimate of how many miles are left in your tank. If you’re looking at this display and you see an arrow, ignore it. That’s not your fuel gauge, and therefore, it is not the gas tank locator. It is simply the car estimating how far you can go until you absolutely need to fuel up again.

Once you know where to look, you’ll never have to worry about ever again pulling into the gas station the wrong way. Whether you’re driving a new car or a rental, you’ll be set for easy fuel-ups.

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35,000 Hyundai Vehicles Recalled Over Risky Sunshade Glitch

Car recalls are common news, but they’re still unsettling to hear about. Hyundai has announced a recall of some of its Santa Fe hybrids. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issues a brief explaining which vehicles are included, what the problem is, and what to do if you own one of these vehicles. We’ve parsed it for you so that you can quickly glean all the important information at a glance.

What Hyundai Vehicles Are Being Recalled?

Hyundai is recalling roughly 35,000 vehicles this time around. If you own a 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid, then your vehicle is probably included in this recall. Keep an eye on your mailbox, as owners impacted by the recall will recieve a letter from Hyundai in the next couple of months confirming that your vehicle is in need of repair.

Why Are These Hyundai Vehicles Being Recalled?

According to the NHTSA brief, the impacted vehicles are having electrical issues. Specifically, “the overhead console rear sunshade switch knob may not be fully recessed.” This is a problem because faulty switch knobs “can result in unintentional closing of the sunshade.” This problem means that the impacted Hyundai vehicles “fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 118, ‘Power-Operated Window, Partition and Roof Panel Systems.'”

Until you can get this issue repaired, exercise caution when using your sunshade. The NHTSA warns that “a sunshade that closes unexpectedly can increase the risk of injury.” Encourage any children you have to avoid playing with the switches and to keep their hands well clear of the sunshade at all times. It’s best to minimize use of the sunshade entirely until you can get your vehicle repaired.

What To Do if You Own a Hyundai Santa Fe

Hyundai says that dealers will replace the faulty switches free of charge. The company will mail letters out to affected owners in early January 2025 further explaining the problem as well as the proposed repair.

If you don’t want to wait to receive your letter, or if you have further questions about this recall, you can also call Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. If you call in, be sure to mention that you’re asking about Hyundai recall number 270. You can also check with the NHTSA for more information. Their safety hotline number is 1-888-327-4236, and the campaign number for this issue is 24V843000.

Source

Sunshade May Operate Unexpectedly/FMVSS 118, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2024.

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Carving Her Niche: Inside Jen Woodhouse’s DIY Dream Home

Kentucky entrepreneur Jen Woodhouse made a living as a singer-songwriter before becoming a mom. The change in pace didnt stop her from being creative; she just ended up sketching a new life path. For my first Mothers Day, I got a miter saw, she says. Woodhouse got to work creating a shoe bench and was surprised by how easy it wasand how much she enjoyed it. If you can follow a recipe, you can build a table. Its that kind of thinking that inspired her to try bigger projects and launch a YouTube channel devoted to easy builds and fixes.

Inside the workshop

Woodhouses very first project when she, her husband, Adam, and kids, Evie and Liam, moved into their Louisville-area Colonial in 2017, was building a workshop adjacent to their new home. It needed to be more than 9 feet tall, so I could fit a full sheet of plywood and have a ton of electrical to run a table saw and shop vac at once and not flip a breaker, she says. It has more power than our house! In the workshop, she builds the new additions for her home on her own, with the camera rolling.

Stair runner solution

The Woodhouse family always found their staircase to be awkward. It was two-thirds carpeted and one-third hardwood floors. And it looked datedan orange honey-tone oak with beige carpet and balusters from the 90s.

But it was their Rhodesian ridgeback dog who really sealed the deal on getting them to do something about it. At 100 pounds, Watson is a big guy who in his old age started having mobility issues, and going up and down stairs was a challenge made even more complicated by the slippery hardwood. Woodhouse took the problem into her own hands and overhauled the stairwell, replacing the wood with white oak, adding new railings, newels and balusters, and adding a runner to provide better footing for Watson and her family.

The three-day project started with heavy sandpapering to get down to raw wood, followed by an oil refinish and paint job, and rug pad and runner installation. She added brass stair rods as a finishing touch, which she says was purely decorative and a bit pricey.

Check out Woodhouse’s step-by-step guide to installing a stair runner.

Basement home theater

As a huge movie lover, Woodhouse saw instant potential in the basement. She combined her love of history and cinema to refashion a space into an Art -Decostyle home theater. To create the effect, she installed sconces and heightened the drama with gold trim.

My saw didnt cut that steep of an angle so I had to make a jig, she says.

Of course, the main attraction here is the drop ceiling. Previously, the ceiling was covered with everyday white tiles. Woodhouse knew a gilded look would recall the glory days of theater, so she scoured samples from Home Depot and chose a thin plastic, but incredibly ornate-looking, option. The material is so thin I actually cut it with scissors, she says.

The basement fireplace had a typical beam mantel, which she jazzed up by installing a custom build around it, highlighted by beveled edges. She kept the original wall paint and amplified some walls with a different strength of paint for a subtle tone-on-tone look.

Home office with DIY built-in filing cabinets

While the office came fully loaded with built-in bookshelves and didnt need much TLC, Woodhouse was sold on the room for a different reason: the south- and east-facing windows with hand cranks. She added French doors a transom above them.

To give the shelving an even more functional twist, she built cabinets underneath. I want filing cabinets that didnt look like filing cabinets, she said, giving the entire piece a paint job using Roycroft Bottle Green from Sherwin-Williams. I pulled the color from the wallpaper, which I decided on after asking for dozens of samples online. The floral print looks Asian-inspired, and considering Im Filipino, it felt perfect.

Today, Woodhouse continues to share her love of DIY not only on her website (jenwoodhouse.com) but on her online marketplace, Sprucd Market, where vetted builders can upload and sell their project plans.

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Advance Auto Parts Joins Wave of Retail Giants Closing Hundreds of Stores

North Carolina-based Advance Auto recently is the most recent retail giant to announce it will be closing hundreds of its locations across the United States by mid-2025. This decision is part of a move the company describes as “strategic,” and hopes will improve its business performance.

“The company is executing a strategic plan to improve business performance with a focus on core retail improvement,” Advance Auto announced in a Nov. 14 financial statement. The statement included a summary of the company’s 2024 Q3 financial results, which showed a 6 million dollar drop in profits from the same quarter in 2023.

The announcement of store closures comes fresh on the heels of Advance Auto closing its sale of Worldpac, a global distributor of auto parts that will now operate independently from its former parent company. Advance Auto sold Worldpac to the investment firm Carlyle for 1.5 billion dollars.

“We are pleased to have made progress on our strategic actions, including the completion of the sale of Worldpac and a comprehensive operational productivity review of our business,” said Shane OKelly, president and chief executive officer of Advance Auto. We are charting a clear path forward and introducing a new three-year financial plan, with a focus on executing core retail fundamentals to improve the productivity of all our assets and to create shareholder value.”

Advance Auto, which operates mainly in the United States but also has a presence in Canada and Mexico, plans to shutter 523 corporate locations and four distribution centers. Details on which locations will be closing, and the number of employees affected have not yet been announced.

Sources

Advance Auto Parts: “Advance Auto Parts Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results and Completes Comprehensive Review of Operational Productivity” (2024)

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Why Does My Car Shut Off When I Stop?

I have driven thousands of cars throughout my life and was not aware my new car came with the auto start-stop feature. So, imagine my surprise while driving home from the dealership and thinking the engine was stalling every time I came to a red light. That surprise quickly turned into frustration when the engine restarted as soon as my foot came off the brake pedal.

As a 50+ year ASE and General Motors master technician and automotive technology vocational educator, I’m thinking, how can a technician fix a stalling problem when the engine restarts by itself? But then my automotive “Spidey-sense” kicked in. Before calling the dealershipand sounding like a foolI decided to read the number one best-selling unread book of all time: the owner’s manual.

This is where I first learned about auto start-stop. Read along to find out what you need to know about the start-stop system.

Why Does My Car Shut Off When I Stop?

If your car shuts off when you stop and then turns back on when you take your foot off the break, it is equipped with a start-stop system. The system is remarkably beneficial when driving in heavy stop-and-go traffic since It increases fuel mileage and reduces engine tailpipe emissions (smog). Frequent stops and long periods of idling can lead to significant fuel consumption, so vehicles equipped with start-stop technology come equipped with heavy-duty starter motors, engine components and batteries designed to deal with an engine frequently shutting off and restarting without causing premature wear to the starter motor or engine.

What Is the Stop-Start System?

When coming to a complete stop at a traffic light or while sitting in freeway traffic, the start-stop system turns the engine off. If your engine isn’t running, it’s not using any fuel, producing exhaust emissions or causing engine parts to wear. This increases fuel efficiency by saving fuel that would be wasted while sitting at idle. The engine automaticallyin my experienceinstantly restarts (the system was engineered to restart the engine in less than a half-second) as soon as you begin releasing the brake pedal, so you can continue driving without hesitation.

How To Reset the Stop-Start System

For any number of reasons, you may need to reset your start-stop system. First, it’s best to check your owner’s manual in case there are instructions specific to your make, model or year. Here are the generic steps:

• Battery: Disconnect the battery for five minutes.
  • Disconnecting the battery may cause you to lose any “pre-sets.” You may want to consider plugging a battery memory saver into your car’s power outlet or cigarette lighter to supply a bit of current, protecting the computer, radio, keyless entry, and clock memory settings from being erased.
• Scan Tool: Depending on your make, model and year, you may be able to reset the start-stop system with a scan tool. Scan tools can also clear ECM and other system’s error codes.

Why would I have to reset the start-stop system?

Unfortunately, there are a few reasons why you may have to reset the start-stop system, including:

• Battery: A weak, failed or shorted battery can keep the start-stop system from functioning properly.
• Battery cables: Loose or corroded battery cables and grounds can wreck the electrical system in today’s sophisticated, highly complex vehicles, whether electrified or internal combustion engine (ICE).
• Replacing components: Replacing the starter motor, alternator, or computer (or computer software upgrade) may result in lost communications between the start-stop system and the new parts, keeping the system from operating correctly.
• Start-stop system malfunction: Extreme temperatures, bad or failing engine and other sensors, part wear and tear, or glitchy software can cause errors with the start-stop system.
• Warning lights: Resetting the start-stop system may be necessary to turn off the warning light and restore normal system functions.

Do All 2024 Cars Have Stop-Start System?

No, there are a few, mostly sub-compacts, which forgo the start-stop function. For example, the Kia Soul, depending on the trim package, may not come with a start-stop feature. Also, hybrids and plug-in hybrids that have ICE employ a similar but slightly different start-stop system. This results in a smoother transition from battery power to gasoline power when starting from a stop. Full battery-powered electric vehicles do not use nor need a start-stop system.

Can I Turn Off the Stop-Start System?

Yes, if you find start-stop infuriating (as my wife does), virtually all vehicles with the start-stop function have either a button or switch that will temporarily disable the system.

Is it recommended that the Stop-Start System be turned off?

No, turning off the start-stop function is not recommended. Although the EPA may or may not include start-stop in how they determine a vehicle’s fuel miles per gallon estimates, depending on your driving habits, you may expect a 3-9% increase in fuel economy. Remember, an ICE releases “zero” tailpipe emissions when it’s not running.

Things to Consider When Using the Stop-Start System

Start-stop systems are purposely built for durability and are designed to withstand constant starts-and-stops that normally cause excessive wear on the started motor and ICE. If you are concerned about premature wear and tear, then disable it while driving.

Batteries in cars with start-stop technology take a beating. However, newer cars with high-demand electronics use either high-performance Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) or Enhanced Flooded Batteries (EFB). These batteries are intentionally designed to manage constant discharging and charging due to start-stop. To reduce battery stress and load:

• Check and service the battery and battery cables/terminals regularly.
• Avoid letting your car sit for too long and minimize short trips.
• Turn off accessories, including the HVAC system, infotainment, and lights to keep them from drawing power from the battery.

Resources

• U.S. Department of Energy: “Why Is Fuel Economy Important” (Nov 2024)
• Edmunds: Do Stop-Start Systems Really Save Fuel? (Nov 2024)
• Battery Council International: “Start-Stop Vehicles Reduce Emissions & Boost Fuel Economy” (2024)
• Kia: 2024 Soul Owner’s Manual (20204)

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I Tried the New Battery-Powered Toro Leaf Blower, and Here’s How It Went

I tried the all-new Toro leaf blowerthe Toro 60-volt Max 900-CFM 165-MPH leaf blower, to be exactand I was (literally) blown away. This was my first experience with the Toro leaf blower, and I am quite impressed.

I have used dozens of leaf blowers in my day and can confidently say I’ve experienced a wide range of performances from blowers. I started my leaf blower journey with the classic handheld Stihl BG86C blower. Since then, I have personally owned and tested five handheld gas blowers, nine backpack leaf blowers (both battery and gas), three handheld corded electric leaf blowers, and 11 handheld battery-powered blowers.

What Is the Battery-Powered Toro Leaf Blower?

When Toro designed their new battery leaf blower, we were shocked to see how much thought went into the design and the performance. You can easily tell that the team that pulled this blower together included people like me, who have used dozens of blowers and knew that Toro needed to push the envelope to stay competitive in the battery-powered leaf blower space.

I admit that I was skeptical when I first received this blower. Toro, a brand with an amazing reputation for providing some of the most powerful zero-turn mowers, has long been known for its success with golf course management tools and a wide range of commercial products. However, they have only recently begun to dip their toes in the battery-powered space, starting with their classic lawnmowers, which I have come to know and love.

TYLER GRAHAM FOR FAMILY HANDYMAN

$349 at Lowe's

$349 at Acme Tools

I Tried It

Toro Flex-Force 60-volt Max 900-CFM 165-MPH Battery Handheld Leaf Blower

$349 at Lowe's

$349 at Acme Tools

Toro Leaf Blower Features

The blower boasts a whopping 900 CFM (cubic feet per minute) and 165 MPH air speed, both of which are at the top of the game in the leaf blower world. You can reach the maximum airspeed by using the “Turbo” button, which is meant for temporary blasts of air that help remove wet leaves and grass from surfaces.

This blower also comes with a concentrated nozzle, which helps further focus air and increase overall air speed for targeted clean-up. The Toro battery-powered blower also comes with several easy-to-control measures, including a textured grip, a well-balanced body, variable speed and cruise control so that you don’t tire out your hand, and an aggressive design that helps hold the blower down and forward.

You can use the 60-volt battery on the Toro leaf blower on other 60V Max products from Toro, which saves you money on buying new batteries for these tools in the long run. As Toro continues to build out the 60V Max lineup, this can result in huge savings for the average homeowner who doesn’t have to buy a new battery with each tool.

How I Tested the Toro Leaf Blower

Assembly

The new Toro battery-powered leaf blower was very simple to put together. It comes in two or three pieces that easily snap together. I quickly snapped the nozzle onto the base of the blower and excitedly rushed out the door to start eviscerating leaves.

Job Site Test (Commercial Landscaping)

I used the Toro battery-powered blower on the job site first. Having recently re-started a landscaping company, I had about eight lawns back-to-back on my first day with the Toro blower. I was excited to see how it would perform relative to other handheld battery blowers. My first stop was mowing my friend Chase’s house. He lives in a nice neighborhood with lots that are about acre or less.

This presented the ideal opportunity to see how the Toro blower would perform on a typical lawn. Another positive of using the battery-powered Toro blower is that Chase has two small kids that I knew napped at various points throughout the day. My gas-powered backpack blower could wake the dead with its high noise levels, so having an electric tool was great for making sure I could maneuver around their home without waking the kids.

I will also caution that most handheld battery leaf blowers aren’t used for commercial landscaping purposes. They aren’t designed to last all day, and I knew that going into this round of testing. Other blowers, including electric ones, are designed to go with you on the job site. Toro designed this blower for residential homeowners looking to crush leaves and debris in their backyard, put the battery back on the charger and get on with their life. That doesn’t mean I am not going to push the blower to its limits and use it however I can.

Home Test

I used the Toro on my yard after the first time mowed again after a week straight of rainfall here in middle Tennessee. The grass clippings were still a bit moist. If you have ever used a leaf blower after mowing a moist lawn, you will understand that this situation is headache-inducing. Wet grass sticks to concrete like nothing you have ever seen. In order to get it off, you generally have to either wait until it dries, use a push broom, or have a blower that can somehow lift it off of the concrete.

Most leaf blowers put out about 400-500 CFM. Even some of the most powerful backpack leaf blowers will put out 700 CFM or so of air. At 900 CFM, the Toro 60V Max may be one of the most powerful handheld leaf blowers I have ever seen. The combination of tremendous air volume output with wind speeds of 165 MPH means that very few blowers on the market come close to this amount of power.

So naturally, I had to use this on the famous wet grass clippings to see how it would do. It was an absolute demolition. The leaf blower removed almost every blade of grass from the concrete driveway. I was so impressed that I wanted to ring the doorbell and tell my friend all about it. I have never seen a blower, especially a handheld battery-powered leaf blower, push this much air and perform so well.

Blowing Heavy Debris

I set this blower back in the trailer and moved on to the next house. At the next job, I was looking at a garden bed that had been washed out with water and spread mulch all over the lawn and sidewalk leading up to the front door. The mulch was a shredded hardwood mulch and was mostly dry by this point. Before I mowed the yard, this needed to be cleaned up. It presented a perfect opportunity to give the Toro 60V blower a chance to run wild by blowing mulch in the grass (which is notoriously difficult) and pushing it across a sidewalk.

The blower accomplished both of these. Moving mulch across concrete was a breeze, and I was shocked to see how easily it lifted the mulch out of the thick, long grass and placed it back into the garden bed.

I moved onto the third house of the day, which was just like the first one. The grass was slightly dryer, and the clippings blasted back into the grass easily. At this point, I was texting my wife, telling her I couldn’t believe it.

As a second reminder, this blower was not designed for professional landscapers in the same way that gas-powered leaf blowers are. Those can run all day because you can keep buying and pouring gas into the blower for as long as you need. Toro’s new blower obviously requires you to recharge the batteries.

Long-Term Performance

In my personal use of this blower around my house, which seems to be more and more neglected the more I work on other people’s lawns, I continued to be impressed with the Toro leaf blower. In the course of my normal weekly lawn maintenance, I found the blower to have consistent, extremely powerful performance.

One downside I noticed relatively early is that when you use the turbo button off and on, there is a noticeable drain on the battery life. I expected extremely high power to reduce battery life, but I was a bit disappointed to see how quickly it reduced battery life. Without using the turbo button, I still had more than enough battery life to care for my yard (and then some).

As the weeks passed and leaves began falling from the trees, I retested the Toro battery blower once more. Leaves were absolutely light work for this blower. The blower is an absolute bully for drying leaves, easily launching them across my yard. The turbo button was unnecessary, but I had to use it for the sake of science. It was total and absolute destruction of the leaves.

Pros:

• Extremely high power with 900 CFM
• Ergonomic grip with easy maneuvering
• 60V Max battery system used across Toro’s 60V lineup
• Finger-saving cruise control function
• Much quieter than gas blowers
• Turbo button to toggle maximum speed

Cons:

• Battery life drains with Turbo usage
• Fewer tools in Toro’s battery lineup than some other brands

Why You Should Trust Us

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I have personally tested dozens, if not hundreds, of leaf blowers, including backpack blowers, corded electric blowers, cordless blowers and gas-powered handheld blowers.

As a landscaper, I developed a unique love for lawn tools after using them every day for years. Now, I spend my days testing lawnmowers, string trimmers, leaf blowers and more. Much of my time is spent using new leaf blowers and comparing them to see which one reigns supreme.

FAQ

How long does a Toro leaf blower last?

The Toro leaf blower advertises a run time of 120 minutesbut this is generally on a low-speed setting under ideal conditions. In my experience, the blower can run for about an hour for typical use around the house, where you may maximize the power for a longer time. Introducing the turbo button drops the run time to about 30 minutes.

How do you use the Toro battery-powered leaf blower?

The Toro battery leaf blower can be easily controlled using the variable speed trigger, which changes the amount of power coming from the battery. It also has a cruise control function that holds a certain speed in place, allowing your hand to relax and hold the blowerno more cramping.

This is a handheld leaf blower, meaning you simply pull the trigger and point it at whatever debris you want to blow away.

What Other Reviewers Had to Say

While the Toro 60V Max Battery-Powered Blower is still relatively new, the few who have used it have agreed with meit rocks. One reviewer at Lowe’s felt similarly, calling the blower a “powerhouse” with “the size and weight of the blower working perfectly to balance the blower when used in turbo mode.” Another reviewer at Lowe’s had the same experience as me, using this blower on “1/2 acre of concrete around their farm” and mentioned that the blower “gets rid of those pesky leaves and grass clippings.”

Toro Battery-Powered Leaf Blower vs. Ryobi Battery-Powered Leaf Blower

I’ve had the distinct privilege of using the Toro and Ryobi battery-powered leaf blowers. The Ryobi battery-powered leaf blower is a great blower. Ryobi’s new Whisper series produces quiet, powerful tools that can be found at The Home Depot for a great price. Ryobi’s Whisper series blower was the cat’s meow when it was released. It had one of the highest CFM and MPH ranges on the market and was advertised as the quietest blower.

Times have changed in the last two years. There are a number of other blowers in a similar power range that also exhibit quiet run times. The Toro battery blower simply outguns the Ryobi blower. I have used both side-by-side, and the Toro is the better blower.

Final Verdict

I can confidently say that this is hands down the best combination of price, power and performance on the market. I am excited that Toro will continue to build out their electric lineup with the 60V Max batteries so that I can achieve better cost efficiency in the future. I also think Toro can keep refining their battery technology so that the batteries last longer.

All in all, this blower has set a new standard for power in handheld electric blowers.

Where to Buy the Toro Battery-Powered Leaf Blower

TYLER GRAHAM FOR FAMILY HANDYMAN

$349 at Lowe's

$349 at Acme Tools

I Tried It

Toro Flex-Force 60-volt Max 900-CFM 165-MPH Battery Handheld Leaf Blower

$349 at Lowe's

$349 at Acme Tools

You can grab the Toro battery-powered blower from Lowe’s with the battery for just under $350, and you can use the battery with other Toro lawn tools.

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Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree Review: We Tried It, and Here’s What Happened

Christmas lights? Check. Stockings? Check. Smart Christmas Tree? Are you unfamiliar? You wont be for long. We tested the popular Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree to see if it’s worth the hype (and the price). Our product testing team at Family Handyman ordered, unboxed, assembled and tested the 7 -foot tree.

Before ordering your Christmas tree this year, heres everything you need to know, especially if you want to create extra holiday magic with an app-controlled, smart Christmas tree.

What is the Twinkly Christmas Tree?

The Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree is a pre-lit artificial Christmas treean Aspen Pine, to be exactwith multicolor RGB lights. The Twinkly app controls the lights and lets you choose and design lighting effects through your phone. The preset lighting effects include options like rainbow, snow and fireworks light patterns.

There are literally dozens upon dozens of preset customization optionsdifferent color combinations, patterns and animations, says Product Testing Manager Annamarie Higley. It might be a little overwhelming when you open the app to all the flashing colors and lights. But it’s also kind of fun to go through all the options.

With so many lighting options available, you can select a preset pattern and then, beyond that, adjust its speed and brightness, combine patterns and animations, or completely start from scratch and layer a bunch of different colors and patterns over each other. The possibilities for unlocking peak Christmas magic are endless.

Heres a breakdown of the Twinkly Smart Christmas Trees specific product features.

EMIKO FRANZEN FOR FAMILY HANDYMAN

$839.93 at Amazon

We Tried It

Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree

$839.93 at Amazon

Pros:

• Fast and easy to set up
• App-controlled lights and display
• 390 pre-lit RGB LED lights
• Timer functions
• Folding metal stand
• On/off foot petal
• Twinkly Music USB dongle lets you pair display with music
• Use smart plug to pair with smart home systems like Alexa

Cons:

• Stiff branches may be difficult to style
• AC adapters prongs arrived bent but were straightened with pliers

Twinkly Christmas Tree Product Features

Size

The 7 -foot Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree is 90 inches tall and 51 inches in diameter. Our product testing team measured the tree at 90 inches and found it to weigh more than 50 pounds despite the product description indicating it weighs just 33 pounds. About 15 inches stand between the floor and the bottom of the first branchplenty of room for presents from Santa.

Setup

According to our testers, setup is conveniently a one-person job. Even moving the box (before opening) is easy. The entire tree took only 15 minutes to fluff! The lighting process is easy, toojust plug in and go.

The Twinkly Christmas Trees quick-set power pole makes assembling each pre-wired section of the tree a breeze, no hassling with extra wiring or messy cords.

Lights

The Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree is pre-lit with 390 smart RGB LED lights. RGB lights combine red, green and blue hues to create millions of color options. So, no color is off-limits when it comes to your holiday tree experience. You can choose classic warm white options with a subtle twinkle or bright rainbow colors with a flashing effect and just about everything in between. You can even sync the lighting display with music. The lights also turn on and off with a convenient foot petal, so Christmas magic is literally just one step away.

Appearance

Our testers described the needles on the tree as a combination of plasticky and papery.

Product Tester Sheri Kaz says, Its a darker green color, which is nice but solid and uniform, so the tree loses a few points for realism there.

The tree is pretty full, Sheri adds. The lights are nice and bright, but it feels like there could be some more spread throughout the middle and bottom sections.

Our team noticed minimal drooping with this tree and very little shedding. They suggest the Twinkly Christmas Tree should hold up for many holiday seasons to come.

Smart Control

The Twinkly app lets you customize lighting effects, sync your display with music, set timers for automatic lighting and more. Let your Christmas creativity shine by designing a custom light show. Build your own animations from scratch or use pre-set templates throughout the season. Using the playlist feature, you can even set up multiple scenes and switch between them.

Take your Christmas party to the next level by syncing your Twinkly lights with music. With the addition of the Twinkly Music USB dongle, the Twinkly app can make your tree lights dance to your favorite holiday tunes.

With the Twinkly app, you can set timers to turn your smart lights on and off automatically. Schedule your Christmas tree lights to turn on with your house lights at dusk or program them to only light up on certain days. Whatever you decide, you wont have to think or worry about manually turning on your tree lights.

How We Tested It

Our product testing team unboxed, assembled and measured the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree in the studio, where they fluffed it until it was full and presentable. That process was timed. Our testers ensured the product was easy to set up while also noting minor discrepancies regarding size between the product listing and real-life measurements.

Our testers also lit the tree, which involved downloading, registering and pairing the tree with the Twinkly mobile app. From there, they tested all the settings and functions to evaluate the apps user-friendliness, compatibility and capabilities. Despite initially being a little overwhelming due to the sheer volume of lighting options, our product testers found the Twinkly app user-friendly and intuitive. If youre looking to set up more than one tree model in the Twinkly app, you may first spend some time setting up the app. Our team did. However, once they got through the initial troubleshooting, the app could easily manage more than one unit.

Our team outfitted the tree with a collar and ornaments to ensure that the branches could withstand standard-size ornaments. They also swept and collected any needles that were shed during the assembly and disassembly process. The Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree shed virtually no needles and was easy to put up and take down.

Why You Should Trust Us

Our Product Testing Lab put the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree through rigorous testing and collected approximately 275 data points testing Christmas trees ahead of the holiday season this year. In total, they spent an estimated 60 collective hours testing Christmas trees, including researching, sourcing, intaking and testing. They also spent time photographing the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree so you can see how it looks under real, natural lighting without any photoshopping tricks.

FAQ

How does the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree work?

The tree worksby using the Twinkly app to control the lights. From your phone, you can map the location of each LED light on the tree for custom lighting effects, choose from pre-programmed modes and create your own lighting effects. You can also set timers for your lights, group multiple Twinkly products together so they act as a single display and use voice control through Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

How much is the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree?

The Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree retails for $840 on Amazon.

What Other Reviewers Have to Say

With more than 600 reviews on Amazon, the Twinkly Pre-Lit Aspen Pine Smart Christmas Tree earns a 4.5-star rating.

This is my first ever artificial tree and I have to admit it was a tough choice. Like most, I’ve enjoyed the ritual of going and getting a tree, the smell of fresh pine, and having the feels over a good pick at the tree lot, says verified purchaser Ty Carriere. This year was different. I’m an empty nester now and it didn’t feel the same getting a tree by myself, plus though I love the smell of pine throughout the house, I hate the clean up after. So this year I decided to get an artificial tree and I’m really pleased with this purchase!

[The] light patterns are controlled through presets on the connected box or a phone app and are extremely customizable (no literally, I can draw what patterns I want on the tree and how they are animated on my phone, it’s brilliant), Ty adds. Scheduling when you want the lights to come on and off through the app and even which patterns at what time. Looks great!

I was skeptical getting this tree online at first because of some of the reviews on the lights not working properly when connected, says five-star reviewer Elicia, The app was a bit frustrating to work with at first but once we found the directions everything was a breeze. Im so happy with how you can change the lighting colors and effects from glow to twinkle

Final Verdict

While it is a sizable investment, our testing proves the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree is worth the splurge if you want to up your Christmas game this holiday season with a smart Christmas tree. Our team made positive remarks about the Twinkly app, too. In fact, many smart Christmas tree brandslike the coveted Balsam Hill Blue Spruceuse Twinkly for pre-lit, smart options.

Where to Buy the Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree

EMIKO FRANZEN FOR FAMILY HANDYMAN

$839.93 at Amazon

We Tried It

Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree

$839.93 at Amazon

The Twinkly Smart Christmas Tree retails for $840 on Amazon.

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