Brampton, ON

Do You Know What This Is?

If you answered a "hydro meter", you were partly right.

What the picture is, is actually a brand new SMART METER, that was installed at our house yesterday. Not just any old hydro meter, let us tell you.

The old meters could only measure the amount of electricity being used over an entire billing period. The new Smart Meter will record the total electricity consumption hour by hour. And it is capable of sending that information wirelessly to the utility company. This new meter makes time-of-use pricing possible.

They say by the end of 2010 that every home and small business in Ontario will be equipped with one of these meters. This meter will allow you to manage your power consumption. The goal is to get us to adjust our habits and use the power in off hours putting less demand on the system.

They have developed daily and seasonal time-of-use periods. The cost of using the power will depend when you use it. There are three different times of use: on peak, mid peak and off peak. By using power in the off-peak times you would be able to take full advantage of the best prices and also help the system by using the power when demand is at it's lowest. In general, weekends, holidays and the hours of 10 pm to 7 am on weekdays will be rated as off-peak times.

By setting your timers on your dishwasher, washing machine and dryer you will be helping yourself financially and at the time putting less strain on the power systems.

We all have to do our part to help Mother Earth, there are many ways of reducing our waste to put less strain on the enviroment. This Smart Meter will help all of us do our part.

To learn more ways of helping the enviroment, check out fellow rainer Chris Smith's recent blog.

Happy Saturday Active Rain,

Hope your weather is good for your kids as they go out and fill their bags with candy tonight.  Our weather is overcast and trying really hard to rain.  Hope it stays away.

Anyway, we came across this little video showing how to get the most candy.  Give it a watch or let your kids have a watch. 

You don't have to finish first to be a winner. Recently Brampton's 53 year old Hans Porten finished third overall and top master in the Kinetico 10-Mile Running Race, organized by C3 Canadian Cross-Training Club. He loves to win, but the real winner was the 1,008 kids that participated in the events. The events attracted only 500 kids last year which with the help and support of the many other sporting groups doubled in just one year.

A big thank you goes out to Kinetico and Riverdale Fitness Mill that supplied T-shirts, medals and post-race food to the participants.

An elite group of professional athletes showed up to sign autographs for the kids, the lines were huge.

All proceeds of the day went to the food bank and the Ontario Lung Association. Check out C3's website at http://www.c3online.ca.

for further information. They have their 2009 C3 Awards Night & Silent Auction coming up on November 21st.

Thanks C3 for helping our kids get fit.

I received an email with the funniest photos of Dogs dressed in their best Halloween costumes.

The email was entitled "Why Dogs Hate Halloween".


Being a new dog owner – we have a German Sheppard puppy – I can really appreciate the love people have for their dogs. I joked with my kids that I would dress “Duke” up as a poodle....but these photos take the cake!

.... Enjoy!!

The new law will be effective from Monday and will ban Handheld device and cellphones i.e. tomorrow the oct 26, 2009 in Ontario.

The provincial ban on the use of handheld devices while driving will take effect on October 26, 2009.

The new law will make it illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial, or email using hand-held cell phones and other hand-held device, communications and entertainment devices (All drivers may use hand-held devices to call 9-1-1). Hands-free devices will still be permitted. The new law also prohibits viewing a display screen unrelated to the driving task such as laptops or DVD players while driving.

To know more read my blog at:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1267988/hand-held-devices-ban-begins-october-26-ontario-canada

Serving Region of peel, its your Realtor Sham Pathania. Visit my website www.greatgtahomes.com for MLS listings and search MLS properties in your desired area.

If you have any questions related to real estate and if you are seeking an assistance in selling or buying a real estate property in Brampton, Mississauga, Milton,Oakville, Caledon, Etobicoke or anywhere in GTA area, you may conact me at 416-562-8417. Ask For a FREE complimentary market evaluaton of your property.

If you are looking for a house and you have a particular School in mind, you must look for these MLS listings with school information.