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I came across this website and thought I would share the good news.If you are a customer of Virgnia Natural Gas, they are offering you incentives to conserve energy. At a minimum, you can receive a free programable thermostat for your home! Virginia Natural Gas wants you to go green, at home and in your wallet. They recently introduced a new program designed to help you conserve energy and save on your natural gas bill.

The programmable thermostat is easy to use. If you are away from home for a long stretch (even if you have pets that sleep all day like we do,they don't notice a few degrees) you can adjust the programmable thermostat so that when you are at work you can raise or lower your indoor temperature while you are out. You can program it to start warming up or cooling down prior to you coming home at the end of your day. Please check out their website and have your account number ready to cash in on some savings! The Virginia Natural Gas energySMART program includes exciting opportunities to make it even easier for you to conserve!

You can better control your expenses by regulating your heat with a programmable thermostat. The website notes according to the U.S. Department of Energy, by using the recommended manufacturer settings, you can save up to $180 a year. I just signed up today and I am looking forward to my programmable thermostat!

Living in Norfolk, you have probably seen a lot of slate around up on the roof tops. I think this is another beautiful perk of our area. It is a perk that roofs can be beautiful architecturally as well as serving a functional purpose.

Slate is a natural product that has been used for hundreds of years. Although slate quarrying was not common in the US until the latter half of the 19th century, slate has been found during an archaeological excavation in our backyard in Jamestown ! The slate located is dated from 1625-1660! This slate was probably imported from North Wales. the U.S. slate industry reached it's peak for quality and output from 1897-1914. Most of the slate we see here is from that time period.

Slate comes in many colors ranging from gray,black, brick red and shades of green. In Virginia we have the deep blue/black variety. Most of our slate in Norfolk has the high sheen in it due to the high mica content. Lately slate has been imported from overseas (China, Africa) for new projects . Our friends on the West Coast are now desiring the slate look for their new construction. We are such trendsetters on the East Coast!

Many slate roofs in the Norfolk area have been lasting up to 175 years! Due to weather and erosion some may need repair attention especially around the cleavage planes. We at Sunset Home Repair believe that slate is beautiful and should it be deteriorating it can be repaired to maintain the character of the house.

Being a roofing and siding contractor in Hampton Roads, Virginia has given me a chance to use alot of different tools, so I figured I would share my opinion on the tools I've used.

Dollar Store Hammers and Screwdrivers

One day I was in the dollar store and I saw a hammer on the shelf. I thought, wow a hammer for a dollar, you can't beat that. I bought the hammer to keep in my truck as a backup. Then one day I was doing a gutter repair and realized I left my hammer on another job. I grabbed my handy dollar store hammer and headed up the ladder. I needed to re-set a gutter spike so I positioned it and struck it with the hammer once. I drew the hammer back to strike the spike again and the head flew off of the hammer and out into the parking lot. The head of that hammer came about twelve inches from going through the windshield of a BMW. That one dollar hammer nearly cost me who knows how much. If your hanging pictures I guess it would be alright but if your doing anything heavier than that, buy a real hammer.

I don't have a story about dollar store screwdrivers. I'll just tell you if you turn them too hard the handle is going to spin right around the shaft. If your in a pinch and a dollar store is the closest store, then you may want to take your chances but don't put yourself in a position where you have to rely on one of those tools.

Check back for more tool reviews in the future. Dan - http://www.SunsetHomeRepair.com

Aside from spending money to save money and the earth, there are a ton of things you can do in everyday life. Below are some things you already know and some you may not. The most important thing to remember is keeping a green mind set. If you throw one aluminum can in the garbage it's not going to send the earth flying off its axis but it will start to take you out of your green mind set. First it's only one can then two then soon your not recycling cans at all.

Try to incorporate these habits into your life and save money and the earth.

Bathroom

• Turn water off while your brushing your teeth.
• Don't turn your water on full blast if you don't have to. Even in the shower you can turn the pressure down and still be fine. This will save water and energy. It will also make your hot water last longer if alot of people have to take showers or if you just like taking long hot showers.
• Dry your hair as much as possible with a towel before using the hair dryer.
• Put a large rock or something else that will displace water in your toilet tank.

Recycle or reuse

• Have a seperate trash can for recyclables and if you have the room seperate the aluminum so you can recycle it your self for cash.
• Make sure you know what your county accepts in the recycling bin. In Hampton Roads, VA where I live we can even recycle paper and cardboard.
• Re-use your ziplock bags if you can.
• Always think if you can use a recyclable for another use, for instance- egg cartons can be used to store small arts and crafts things, peanut butter jars work great for storing nuts and bolts.

Electricity

• Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms, outside during the day and in the house when your gone.
• Turn the thermostat down on your water heater down so it does not take so long to heat the water over and over during the day.
• Unplug chargers when not in use.
• If you still have a VCR for those old tapes and you only use it once in a while unplug it when not in use.

Kitchen

• Take everything you need for cooking out of the fridge the first time you open it.
• Don't keep your fridge on the absolute coldest setting.
• Keep your fridge stocked, once the food gets cold it helps to keep the air in the fridge cold.
• Buy the select a size paper towels to cut down on paper towel use.
• Take frozen foods and left overs out of the fridge a couple of hours before coofing to save on the energy it takes to heat or defrost.
• Wash dishes buy hand if you have time.
• Cut and mix food by hand if you can.

Heat and A/C

• Keep furniture clear from heating and A/C vents.
• Keep your A/C filter clean to save electricity.
• If you have ceiling fans - use them when you are in the room only.
• Turn your thermostat down at night and use a thicker blanket.
• Turn you thermostat down if you are gone during the day or out of town or better yet, purchase a programmable thermostat.
• Keep your thermostat down a couple of degrees all the time and wear thicker clothes in the house .
• Take your vents out and spray WD-40 on the moving parts to get them working easily, this way you can close the vent and open it when you want. Close the vent in the kitchen when you are going to be doing alot of cooking or in the bathroom when alot of hot showers are going to be taken.

Laundry Room

• Make full loads of laundry to save water (some washers have a load size selecter switch, this will save you water also).
• Don't wash clothes that are not dirty ( it may sound silly but often we will put on a shirt for an hour then change it for some reason and without thinking throw it in the hamper).
• Keep the lint screen in your dryer clean to save electricity.
• Hang your clothes out to dry if you can.

Windows

• Open your windows on mild days.
• If you have storm windows make sure they are closed when heat and A/C are on.
• Open your curtains on sunny winter days and let the natural heat and light in.

Outside

• Let the trees and bushes around your house grow tall to shade your house in the summer.
• If evergree trees are shading your house in the winter trim them back to let the sun heat your house.
• Use hand operated trimmers instead of electric when you can.
• If you have evergree trees on the north side of your house leave them and let them grow because they block the north wind.
• Motion sensor lights can be adjusted for sensitivety and length it is on to fit your needs. In the driveway you may need it on for 5 minutes to get the kids out and unload the car but in other areas you may only need them to come on for 5 seconds.
• Solar motion sensor lights cannot store alot of power so adjust them to stay on for a short time to get the most use out of the batteries .

Attic

• In the summer go in your attic and make sure none of the vents (soffit vents, gable vents roof vents) are blocked to keep your attic as cool as possible.
• In the winter go in your attic and block the vents to keep your attic as warm as possible.
• Instead of throwing old blankets away lay them out in your attic for extra insulation- don't lay them over anything electrical.
• Inspect the insulation in your attic and make sure none of it as been displaced and, if so, spread it back out like it should be.

Alot of these things take time that you may or may not have but if you think about what you spend your time on you might find better uses for that time. For instance - instead of watching TV, turn on the radio and take some time to perform some of these money saving activities. If you exercise daily maybe you can cut that out and just do these things at a high rate of speed. Silly you say, maybe, but once again mind set is everything, If you say it's only a dollar, soon you will say it's only ten dollars then it's only a hundred dollars and I don't beleive the words "only" and "a hundred dollars" should be in the same sentance ever.

Dan - http://www.SunsetHomeRepair.com

Welcome to Sunset Home Repair. We are Roofing and Siding contractors in Hampton Roads, Virginia. We also install windows, doors and decks. If you live in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Hampton or Newport News we can handle all of your exterior needs. Customer service is our #1 priority because we feel that customer service encompasses quality work, reliable warranties and respect for the customers needs. We understand that your home may be your largest investment and we want to help you retain its value by working with you and your budget to give your house the look and durability you desire. For a free estimate just give us a call at (757) 235-3320 or email us at info@sunsethomerepair.com. Also look for our re-built new and improved website that will replace our existing site. The new site SunsetHomeRepair.com will go live on Thursday Feb. 19^th.