Winter Prep: 6 New Products To Get Your Home Ready For The Cold

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The holidays are fast-approaching, so it's time to get ready - and we don't just mean shopping and family get-togethers. We mean preparing for the winter season.

David Gregg, senior editor of behindthebuy.com, visited The Couch with his tips to get your home ready for the cold weather season. Here are some products he suggests for the upcoming winter blast.

Zippo's Emergency Fire Starter Kit

An emergency bag should have essentials, like food, water, batteries, but also a means to start a fire. The Zippo Emergency Fire Starter Kit does just that. It is compact and made of weather resistant plastic which will allow it to float if submerged in water and its wax encased cotton tinder sticks are water resistant as well. Starting a fire with the Emergency Fire Starter Kit is easy - simply take out a tinder stick, rough it up and fray the cotton, then strike the flint wheel hitting the stick with a spark. The tinder stick will ignite for about one minute, allowing you to get your fire started. This is a MUST have for any family emergency bag. Zippo's Emergency Fire Starter Kit is available direct from Zippo.com ($9.95, replacement tinder sticks - $4.95 for a pack of 8; zippooutdoor.com/emergency-fire-starters.

Rowenta Delta Force Stick Vacuum

This lightweight, cordless and bagless Delta Force Stick Vacuum from Rowenta packs a powerful punch with 99% dust pick up on hard floors, and its triangular head also provides easy access into corners and along edges. The vacuum can be stored in a self-standing position, where the charging cord plugs directly into the unit. Once charged, its Energy-Star® battery runs for up to 40 minutes (18V battery) on a single charge! Available in red, blue, peal, and harvest, youll no longer have to hide your vacuum in a back closet. ($179.99; rowentausa.com)

Pinhole Press Holiday Cards and Gifts

Pinhole Press simplifies the creation of customized holiday cards and gifts with their affordable online solutions. Pinhole Press is an online boutique that makes it easy to create high quality customized holiday cards and gifts! With more than 100 holiday card options available, they offer a variety of elegant designs and styles for everyone on your greeting card list - everything from an accordion card showcasing eight of your favorite family photos to the new Ultrathick Pinstriped card with a bright red candy-colored stripe.  Every card is easy to make with your digital photos online. Additionally, once you check holiday cards off your list, consider Pinhole Press for your gifting needs, too, with a huge selection of photo gifts - from calendars and photo books to wine labels and notepads. Its simple to make your holiday cards or gifts at Pinhole Press, just Snap, Click, Gift! ($1.89 and up; PinholePress.com.
Cuisinart 3-in-1 Cook Central

Cuisinart simplifies the consumption of your favorite hot beverages and the creation of your holiday meals with these two products.

The Cook Central is perfect for busy home cooks because it lets them bypass the stovetop - you can brown ingredients right in the unit before switching to Slow Cook.  In addition to Brown/Sauté (with temperatures up to 400˚) and Slow Cook, it also has one other fully programmable cooking function, Steam, which can be activated for up to 90 minutes. So, for example, you could brown meat for a stew right in the Cook Central, then add all the other ingredients and set it to Slow Cook - perfect for a chilly day.  The one touch controls let you switch modes instantly for combination cooking, and the 24-hour timer and Keep Warm function make it easy to have a hot, delicious meal totally prepared whenever youre ready to eat. ($159; cuisinart.com as well as specialty retailers and department stores)

Cuisinart PerfecTemp Programmable Tea Steeper & Kettle

Cuisinarts new Programmable Tea Steeper & Kettle is designed with the true tea lover in mind.  It easily opens up so you can put in loose or bagged tea, and has six preset tea temperatures for green, black, herbal, delicate, white and oolong teas. This is important because different teas need to be steeped and served at different temperatures in order to extract the flavors as they are meant to be consumed. You can also use it as a kettle to heat water, and it has a variety of programmable controls, like an adjustable countdown timer and a 30-minute keep warm function.  ( $129; cuisinart.com and other specialty retailers and department stores)

Amber Alert GPS

The Amber Alert GPS was developed by a parent that wanted to guarantee that they will never suffer the heartbreak and pain associated with a lost or abducted child. By melding common consumer devices with GPS technology, Amber Alert GPS provides a priceless, yet affordable solution to guaranteeing the ultimate peace of mind.

Amber Alert GPS is a child safety device that allows you to watch the movement of your child, anytime from your web enabled smartphone or computer. The Amber Alert GPS V3 device sends location updates of the childs location, every five minutes.

In addition, parents can create Zones around their home, school, etc. and receive an email or text alert whenever their child enters or exits a Zone.  The V3 integrates its tracking with the National Sex Offender database as well, alerting parents when their child is within 500 feet of a registered sex offenders home.

The Amber Alert GPS also features a two way calling and SOS button, allowing kids to have an easy and safe way to get a hold of parents if they feel in danger.  (Device is free with 3 year service contract and Premium package, plans start as low as $14.99 a month; amberalertgps.com).