A recent study of nearly 7,000 married couples posits a promising premise for those who hate housework: Slaving over a hot stove could also turn up the heat on your love life, as might vacuuming the carpeting, doing laundry, and undertaking other chores. The study, covered in today's Wall Street Journal, was based on a nationwide survey of families and households and published on the Web site of the Journal of Family Issues.

Data from "Who Has the Time? The Relationship Between Household Labor Time and Sexual Frequency" and other studies provide some strong incentive to tackle more chores: The more housework you do, the more likely you are to have sex with your spouse.

Note to men: Balancing the inequity between the amount of work you and your wife probably couldn't hurt either. Wives spend roughly 42 hours a week cleaning, cooking, washing dishes and clothes, ironing, and the like compared with only about 24 hours for husbands. If you're a guy who's averse to doing laundry or cooking, note that the JFI study includes chores like yard work and car maintenance—yet another reason to crank up the leaf blower or change the oil on your minivan.

Another study quoted in The Wall Street Journal's article placed "sharing household chores" right behind faithfulness and a happy sexual relationship, while still another linked housework by husbands to more feelings of warmth and affection from their wives.

The Journal of Family Issues' study didn't explore whether you can do so much housework that you're too tired for sex. But a nationally representative poll of 1,000 adults conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center and published last Valentine's Day found that 81 percent of respondents said they had avoided or delayed sex with their partner in the past year. The two most common reasons: "Too tired" and "too sick."

The bottom line for couch potatoes: Helping out at home is likely to help your love life. Just don't overdo it.—Bob Markovich | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Our reviews of vacuum cleaners, washing machines, kitchen appliances, lawn mowers, snow blowers, and other power equipment include models that help make chores less onerous. Also read our advice for making easier work of fall cleanup.