In the sixteen plus years I have been in real estate, technology has played a huge role in not only expanding the real estate business but it has also impacted our daily lives in many many ways. Between advancing my real estate skills, computer knowledge and other facets of life I have always embraced technology and it has served me well. At the same time however, technology can sometimes backfire and I recently learned this with a problem at my house.
As may of you are aware I recently sold my own home and moved from Collingwood to Clarksburg which is adjacent to Thornbury. My better half and I have been living in our own homes for many years and it was time to consolidate two residence into one. She and I both work long hours, this combined with maintaining two homes plus a cottage(s) I have owned for many years on Manitoulin Island had become more than full time jobs and it was time to simplify our lives.
I had made many improvements to my Collingwod house including steps that were aimed at reducing my energy consumption and expense. In addition to newer appliances, a hi-efficiency gas furnace and central air conditioner I had also switched most of my interior lighting to LED's. One area in my home where the LED lights backfired so-to-speak with on my garage door opener. The standard incandescent light bulbs on my opener were always burning out mostly the result of the excess vibration they had to endure from the opener itself every time the door was opened or closed. Even rough service bulbs seemed to fail fairly often so I switched the standard bulbs over to LED's. I also did the same on mt spouse's garage door opener.
Things worked fine with better lighting in the both garages other than we found the garage door remotes had lost some of their effective range and they would often fail to activate the door openers unless you were very close by. Ultimately I discovered that the problem was not the opener or the remotes, it was the LED bulbs. LED bulbs have a frequency of their own and this was creating a conflict with the frequencies of our garage door openers and their respective remotes. Once I removed the LED bulbs and replaced them with normal incandescent bulbs the remotes went back to working as they always had.
A move that was implemented to lengthen the life of the garage opener light bulbs ended up causing more frustration than just having to replace the standard type of bulbs on a somewhat regular basis. If you are having trouble with the performance of your garage door opener and you too have installed LED bulbs on the unit, this is more than likely the problem.
We have plenty of LED bulbs throughout the interior of our Clarksburg home. The garage door works perfectly with the tried and true incandescent filament type bulbs, I will just have to be content replacing the door opener bulbs more frequently when they fall victim to the wear and tear they are subject to via the opening and closing of the garage door. Lesson learned.
Space in and outside our homes is often a problem for many of us but there are solutions. One, you can get rid of stuff (which I have done) and or two, you can create some additional space especially in the garage. Besides having my own needs to address as real Estate Broker I am always helping clients solve various issues with the properties or ones they are looking to purchase. 
Like my father (deceased) I am a car nut, actually anything with a motor in it gets my attention. Back in the fifties, sixties and seventies all the new car models came out at the same time usually in early October. It started when I was about four or five years old and my Dad would drag me around on a Friday night and Saturday to the various dealerships looking at all the new cars. I still remember staring at the first Mustangs, Camaros and Firebirds that came out. I have owned and restored many cars over the years as well as motorcycles and boats. 
Between my wife and I we have three vehicles, plus a boat and I have a motorcycle. She has always loved Corvettes particularly the mid-sixties models but they have become very expensive. Looking for something more affordable that she could use and enjoy we found her a great, low mileage 1980 model, fully optioned with a factory four speed transmission which is somewhat rare. With all this "stuff" at home space was becoming s problem so we decided that a car lift in the garage was an potential option to look at. As with most major purchases we shopped around looking at the various vehicle lifts on the market, comparing features and of course price. We settled on a unit made here in Ontario (Oakville) that was well engineered and unlike some others used North American parts versus components imported from abroad. 
The lift was delivered and installed this week and we are very pleased with the results. Taking advantage of the available ceiling height the lift allows us to store three vehicles plus my motorcycle in our double car garage. For hobbyists like myself a car lift is a low cost option that will pay for itself while de-cluttering your driveway. The lift allows you to raise a vehicle to different heights for cleaning and or doing other maintenance tasks including underneath the car. If you are interested visit The Lift Superstore in Oakville or I would be happy to answer any questions you may have so feel free to Contact Me.
