Outdoor Electrical Outlet
One really useful invention which I don't think is seen enough are outdoor electrical outlets which allow you to have a socket connected to the mains electricity outside of your house.
Now to some people this is completely irrelevant and wouldn't really impact whatsoever upon their daily lives. Perhaps they rarely go outside or they don't often need to use appliances when they're in the garden. There are plenty of others however who have patio heaters and electric barbeques that want to use them throughout the summer effectively.
Before the widespread use of these types of outdoor sockets it was usual for an extension cord to be stretched out to the backyard. Although these of course did work they were a definite eye sore and would have to be stretched long distances. Not only this but pieces of furniture may have to be moved and that's not taking into account trying to find the device after packing it away at the end of last summer.
An outdoor electrical outlet isn't just an ordinary plug, but is almost always covered and protected by a metal/plastic layer. This protects it from the outdoor elements such as wind and rain which would substantially damage the socket. However it's very easy to remove this kind of protection, and there are generally two types of defense. The first is similar to a plug but which isn't connected to an appliance and has a wide base which stops anything entering the socket as well as protecting the overall structure. The second is an actual installment that's place around the socket and attached to the wall which has a plastic or metal covering which is attached to a spring so that it's always closed shut. When you need to access this socket all you need to do is pull the covering back, plug in what you need and the covering will snap shut.
