Carbon-monoxide and smoke alarms: Daylight-saving time, which ends on November 1 this year, is the traditional date to check and change batteries on carbon-monoxide and fire alarms. If you haven’t replaced your carbon-monoxide alarm in five years or your smoke alarm in a decade, it’s time for a change. We also found that no one device, like a combination smoke-and-carbon-monoxide alarms, we found that can offer complete protection.

Cordless drills and tool kits: Prices are down and performance is up among these household mainstays, always a popular holiday gift. We found an excellent drill for $100 and a capable cordless drill set for $160. Watch this video to see how our tests show performance under real-world stresses.

Best products for the home: Whether you want to give a memorable gift or need to replace an appliances, it’s hard to go wrong by picking one of the many home or garden products that made it into the 398 Top Products special in the November 2009 issue of Consumer Reports. The story covers top-performing dishwashers, vacuums, coffeemakers, slow cookers, sewing machines, and more. (See the video above for more tips on smart appliance-buying.

Home(wreckers) for the holidays: Our experts offer advice and videos instructions for dealing with household spills and other miscues like furniture stains and dripping wax. Videos on removing cranberry, gravy and wine and soda stains and low-cost alternatives to expensive cleaners are also available.

Claim Check—Tide Total Care: We followed up our July 2009 report on laundry detergents by putting Project Runway star Tim Gunn’s TV-ad claims about Tide Total Care’s ability to retain colors to the test.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Discuss products you feel are worthy of recognition or reprobation in our revamped appliances and home-and-garden forums.