Techie houses for the rest of us

Arctic blasts in the fridge

Product: LG Super-Capacity French-Door Refrigerator with Blast Chiller

Price: $4,199

This truly is the refrigerator for party people. It has power: The Blast Chiller is a powerful compartment that can chill a 12-ounce canned beverage in less than five minutes or a bottle of wine in just eight minutes. And it has cred: The Consumer Electronics Association honored the Blast Chiller as a 2012 "Best of Innovations."

David VanderWaal, LG Electronics USA's director of home-appliance brand marketing, says that chilling a room-temperature drink in a standard freezer compartment can take 45 minutes or longer.

This fridge has one of the industry's largest capacities, at 31 cubic feet, and LG says it also is designed to keep food fresher longer than other models.

• Bing: Read reviews about this refrigerator
  
  
• On our blog, 'Listed': America's ugliest mansions? Maybe not
  
  
• Facebook users: Check out MSN Real Estate

Codes, not keys

Product: Schlage Camelot Keypad Deadbolt

Price: $129 to $149

Now and then, we misplace our keys. Usually, it's when we are rushing out of the house, late for an appointment.

Now you can chuck the keys and concentrate on a code. Dozens of lock companies manufacture keyless residential door locks that are affordable, secure and relatively easy to install.

Schlage, which has been in business since the 1920s and is one of the most popular brands of residential door locks in the country, sells several varieties. The Camelot deadbolt, pictured here in brass, comes in various finishes and is easy to program, with multiple codes for family members and visitors — including the handyman. No worries about someone copying or losing a key. Because you can change codes quickly, you don't have to worry about unauthorized visitors getting in.

Schlage says that installation requires only a screwdriver and takes about 30 minutes. The lock operates on a battery that lasts three years, and it has no wires.

• Video: Return of the American McMansion
  
  
• MSN Money: Too rich, too soon? What to do
  
  
• On our blog, 'Listed': 'Queen of Versailles': Boom and bust, supersized

Super-speedy washer

Product: LG 5.1-Cubic-Foot Mega-Capacity TurboWash  Washer with Steam Technology

Price: $1,499

LG says its TurboWash feature, available on several LG washers, cleans clothes better and quicker. The technology could save as much as 20 minutes per load, LG says. "It's like pressing the fast-forward button on your laundry," it says on its website.

The innovations don't stop there. This washer also comes with LG's SmartDiagnosis, which uses diagnostic tones to troubleshoot problems. VanderWaal  says this feature can eliminate the need for service technicians to visit in person.

• Find luxury homes for sale in your city
  
  
• Video: Inside billionaire's high-tech castle
  
  
• Pinterest users: Check out MSN Real Estate's boards

Touch-free 'smart' faucet

Product: Optima Lumino

Price: $838

Germaphobes and interior designers can clasp hands to celebrate this creation. Or maybe not — unless some sanitizer is provided.

Touch-free faucets are standard in many hospitals, medical offices and places where spreading bacteria is a primary concern. But the elegant Lumino takes the technology a step forward. It allows users to set the faucet to a desired temperature, and it comes with an illuminated temperature-indicator ring that tells you when the water is hot, warm or cold.

What's more, you can always find the faucet when the bathroom is dark. That's because it comes with an optional standby mode that keeps the light ring illuminated.

Environmentally conscious folks also may like the automatic water-shutoff switch, which kicks in after one minute of continuous water flow.

• Bing Shopping: Ready to buy this faucet? Shop here
  
  
• On our blog, 'Listed': America's ugliest mansions? Maybe not
  
  
• Facebook users: Check out MSN Real Estate

Truly a royal throne

Product: Kohler Numi

Price: $6,400

What drives better: this toilet or your car? The Numi boasts a motion-activated lid and seat, and a cleaning wand that features an array of spray patterns, temperatures and pressures. Even better: Air around the Numi is pulled through a "powerful, deodorizing charcoal filter," manufacturer Kohler says.

For midnight visits to the loo, the Numi offers a seat warmer, heated air for your feet, and ambient lighting via illuminated control panels.

All that and music, too. Built-in speakers allow you to play programmed audio selections from a radio or MP3 player, which can be connected to a removable docking station.

• Video: Return of the American McMansion
  
  
• MSN Money: Too rich, too soon? What to do
  
  
• On our blog, 'Listed': 'Queen of Versailles': Boom and bust, supersized

Tube in the tub

Product: Cosmo

Price: $2,848

Di Vapor has crafted a one-person, luxury bathtub layered with 18 water-massage jets and affixed with a 17-inch, touch-sensitive LCD television, with video input. A headrest offers a comfy spot from which to watch your nightly soaps amid the soap.

Can you say: Be good to yourself?

This in-home getaway includes a remote control, so you don't need to make waves to change the channel or turn up the volume. A touch-sensitive board also controls a radio, jets and underwater lights.

And in case you were wondering, yes, the TV is waterproof.

• Find luxury homes for sale in your city
  
  
• Video: Inside billionaire's high-tech castle
  
  
• Pinterest users: Check out MSN Real Estate's boards

Invisible electrical outlet

Product: Flush-mounting outlets 

Price: $200 for the Leviton receptacle.

We've come to simply accept two-holed, off-white electrical outlets as part of modern room décor. No more.

Trufig, of San Clemente, Calif., sells an array of camouflaged receptacles that blend into the woodwork and tuck in flush against your walls, whatever the material. These outlets can be customized to mesh with wood, wallpaper, tile, stone or plaster.

Now just be sure to remember where they are when you go to plug in that lamp or laptop. They are they hard to spot.

• On our blog, 'Listed': America's ugliest mansions? Maybe not
  
  
• Facebook users: Check out MSN Real Estate
  

Slide show:  The West's most innovative homes

Scented steam shower

Product: Ariel Platinum DZ981F9 Steam Shower Unit

Price: $3,440

Here's a steam shower that can be a feast for your skin, eyes, ears and nose.

This shower offers 12 body jets and a backlit shower head to spray away the day. A thermostatic faucet prevents the possibility of accidentally scalding yourself. Your eyes can take in the digital thermostat display, as well. The shower also has lights that change color in a specific relaxing sequence, called "chromotherapy." Another cool visual: a "color-screen remote," equipped with Bluetooth.

There's also a surround-sound music system with a radio, CD player and MP3-player jack.

Topping it all off is the moist, heated air that can be scented, allowing for a dose of pleasing aromatherapy. The shower includes a spot for inserting and heating your own scented oils.

• Video: Return of the American McMansion
  
  
• MSN Money: Too rich, too soon? What to do
  
  
• On our blog, 'Listed': 'Queen of Versailles': Boom and bust, supersized

Music for your every move

Product: Sonos Control

Price: $349

Hey, Mr. DJ. You can now manage the beat and volume in every room of your home via this device — plus a few additions.

Sonos Control is a mounted, touch-screen display that operates additional stereo components and is designed to find and organize all of your music efficiently. With this system, you can play the same tune wirelessly in every room. Or, if you want to set a different vibe in each space, Sonos Control lets you mix your medleys, room by room.

If you're grooving to Nirvana in the living room but wonder what the kids are listening to down in the basement, another feature lists all the selections playing throughout your home, in addition to album art and elapsed time of the song. Annoyed by the kids' beats? Sonos Control lets you turn down their volume — without having to raise your own voice a notch.

To get the most out of your Sonos system, you'll need to buy components that integrate wirelessly with the controller. The Bridge, which connects to a router to make the system wireless, sells for $49. The Sub, which Sonos describes as a "soul-shaking" subwoofer, sells for $699. And the Play: 3, a small speaker that can fill a room with sound, sells for $299.

• Find luxury homes for sale in your city
  
  
• Video: Inside billionaire's high-tech castle
  
  
• Pinterest users: Check out MSN Real Estate's boards

Air-purifying hood

Product: Spring E.ion system

Price: $2,885

Breathe easier, even when you're frying fish and sizzling onions. Italian company Falmec, with interior designer Snaidero, has developed a sleek stove hood that regenerates and refreshes air through a system it has dubbed "bipolar controlled ionization."

The idea isn't simply to suck out the bad odors but to cleanse pollutants from the air in your home. The Falmec folks call this a "pure-air factory." That factory quietly produces ions, atoms or molecules that carry a positive or negative charge. The company says that more ions in the air will decrease nasty scents by mixing with and neutralizing microscopic irritants such as bacteria, viruses and dust mites, as well as exhaust fumes and cooking smoke.

Don't want to sniff salmon in the morning? Leave it to the swarm of ions, which normally are generated through sunlight, lightning, wind and water. The Falmec device mimics nature's little air-scrubbing filters, the company says.

Best of all, foodies: There are no exhaust pipes to mess up your cooking space. Check your community's building codes to see if this hood can be used alone atop your cooktop or as an air-purifying component of a traditional hood.

• On our blog, 'Listed': America's ugliest mansions? Maybe not
  
  
• Facebook users: Check out MSN Real Estate
  

Slide show:  The West's most innovative homes