I have these disturbing dreams during the night where plumes of hot air escape the home. This air appears sort of orangish. And, as it escapes my home, I hear a noise that sounds like jingling; money disappearing down a deep well. The visual imagery represents the desperation of the terrible heating bills from last winter. Now, it’s later in the year again and the cold is upon us. I must take steps addition to help my energy budget. I checked out some HVAC websites to do some research; I called my local HVAC business for some tips too. The technician at my local heating and cooling shop was really helpful. They dealt me a number of tips that I had never thought about. Aside from being stingy with our temperature gauge, making changes by first sealing the house is one of the ideas for savings. I replaced the worn weather stripping around each door in our house. I am not in a place to budget for window replacement but I did use insulating foam around each of them to close off cracks I couldn’t see. I used silicone and caulking for a couple of days. I found each gap and every tiny crack plaguing the exterior of my house to fill them. The HVAC tech recommended that I also seal around all of the light fixtures built into the ceiling of my home. To further assist in saving money, I sealed around all the flues and the chimney too. I sealed them both from the side of the roof and from the attic side. Finally, I put in a backdraft damper on the dryer’s exhaust. I was surprised to find that these existed.. This damper allows exhaust from our dryer to flow out freely yet is halts the chilly outdoor air to enter our warm house. All of this spanned maybe a week of my free time; I would bet that it will all be worth my efforts Just from these few preventive measures, I plan to save upwards of 15% on this season’s utility bill. I hope now that these measure have been completed, I can sleep through the night.