This summer I turned off the circulating electric fan motor on my gas furnace to CONSERVE energy, just like the ads say. But the house smelled stale and the basement musty. Turned on the furnace fan and in a few hours back to normal.

Using the hydro Smart Meter web site, I looked at my hourly/daily/peak/off peak electrical load. The furnace motor uses about half a kilowatt to operate. At the current hydro delivered HST included cost of some 15 cents per kWh, running the fan cost about $650 per year. Plus Toronto Hydro have just asked for another rate increase!

An new technology ECM motor in my not so old  furnace would save about 75 % or almost $500. New motors should cost about $700 installed - an ROI of 70%+ or 16 months to get my money back. A better investment than my stocks and bonds.

Do you know a good installer?

By the way if 2 M Ontario homes did this we would save several new nuclear reactors which are planned to cost billions of $.

Bob Fisher

One of the things that I like about being a contract executive is that it affords me the time to do some volunteering. I need to admit that I’m one of those people who have difficulty saying “no”, so sometimes I get myself overcommitted. Someone asked me why I do all the things that I do, and my answer is much like it is for being a regular blood donor – I have O negative blood, the universal donor, so I was given this gift and I have an obligation to use it to help others. I feel the same way about volunteering – I have skills and abilities, and there are organizations that need these abilities to do their good work.

Because there is such a need for volunteers, it is easy to get into something which is not enjoyable. I think finding the right volunteer opportunities is much like finding the right job. First and foremost, you need to believe in the work of the organization. Second, you need to understand yourself – what you enjoy and what you’re good at. Do you want to be part of the committee that organizes everything? Do you like to be behind the scenes preparing things? Or do you like to be on the front lines interacting with the recipients of the programs? If you don’t think through this carefully and choose correctly, then you will begrudge the time that you spend with the organization and likely won’t give it your best effort, so you won’t really be adding to the work of the organization. As one of my friends describes it, the time that you spend as a volunteer should be “life giving”.

I really like the thinking behind the requirement that all high school students in Ontario must spend 40 hours in community service. It’s important that we instil the practice of giving freely of their time to our youth. I know of many teens who have done something merely to get their required hours or to beef up their resume, but I hope that there are others who have had their eyes opened to this important part of making a difference to society.

Sheila Hamilton

If you’re anything like me, you cling to the last days of summer and try to squeeze in all your favourite things – barbecues, less formal clothing, freer schedules, sitting outside, long days – these are all things that I hate to see end every year. But with the winding down of summer, there is a new energy. We’ve already had some cooler nights, which remind us that fall is coming, and it’s time to get more serious about work life. For business owners, it may just be time to tackle some of the tough projects that you’ve been putting off. Before you start to get really busy again, think about whether you have all the resources that you need to get these projects done, or do you need a fresh perspective to help them get off the ground? A contract executive makes an ideal project manager because they can focus all of their time and energy on your project, not getting side-tracked with other issues.

Sheila Hamilton