From gift gaffes to meal prep, the stresses of the holiday season take many different forms.

According to a pre-pandemic survey by PC Financial, Canadians spend an average of 13-plus hours planning, cooking, and shopping for meals over the holiday period. No wonder more than half of respondents said they worry about these feasts, with one in three saying they’d rather work on a Sunday than deal with the main holiday dinner.

At the same time, 43 per cent said they felt stress over not having a gift for someone who gave to them. In fact, 35 per cent said they’d rather shovel snow than buy family gifts, with 49 per cent having blown their gift budgets at one time or another. Combine this with pandemic-related concerns such as porch piracy, and stress relief must be at the top of many Canadians’ wish lists.

That’s where Danby Appliances comes in. Headquartered in Guelph, Ont., the 74-year-old company designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of small appliances that can help send holiday stress packing. For instance:

Meal prep: Convection Toaster Oven

No room in the oven? No problem: This new 1,800-watt addition to Danby’s product lineup offers 0.9 cubic feet of cooking space and Air Fry technology that takes roast potatoes to a crispy new level. A digital LCD screen displays eight pre-programmed cooking functions — air fry, toast, bake, cookie, broil, pizza, dehydrate and warm — that cover temperatures ranging from 150 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. There’s also a 90-minute timer, food tray, wire rack, crumb tray, food tray handle, and air fry rack.

“As well as being more energy efficient than a full-size oven, this keeps holiday fare warm while other food is cooking,” says Danby spokesperson Victoria Freeman. “This is a great way to keep electricity and gas bills from going through the roof.”

Entertaining: Designer Wine Cooler

While a gifted bottle of wine will eventually become empty, this 38-bottle wine cooler keeps on giving. The free-standing unit can store reds and whites separately in two compartments that can be independently set between 5 and 18 degrees Celsius. A bright white LED thermostat is easily visible through the tempered-glass door, with the stainless-steel frame and wire shelving units stylishly illuminated by an LED lighting system that also shows off the vintages within. Last but not least, “this wine cooler saves four cubic feet of fridge space for holiday food and leftovers,” Freeman says, adding that the full-length vertical door handle and reversible door swing accommodates either left- or right-hand opening.

Gift giving: Ice Maker

Moving from wine to cocktails, this compact model churns out as much as 12 kilograms of ice each day in three cube sizes. Up to a kilogram of stored ice can be monitored through a transparent window, with a built-in alarm system providing an audible heads up. Complete with a white ice scoop and electronic LED controls, Danby’s ice maker also does a solid for the environment by using R134A refrigerant.

Secure deliveries: Parcel Guard Mailbox

“Whether it’s a gift, keepsake, medication or anything else that’s being delivered, our goal is for Parcel Guard to give people peace of mind in knowing that we are helping keep their parcels safe and secure,” explains Danby owner and CEO Jim Estill.

Once connected to the Danby Parcel Guard smartphone app, this mailbox sends notifications to recipients when packages are placed in an anti-theft drop slot. The mailbox can be unlocked using any smart device, making it similarly useful for lending and borrowing items securely. The smart appliance also features a tamper alarm, door ajar system reminder, two-way communication, Google Home and Alexa voice assistant integration, and a motion-activated security camera.

Peace on Earth and peace of mind, together at last …

Original blog content can be found here.

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