Use compact fluorescent light bulbs; they use a quarter of electricity consumer by ordinary globes.

Use gap filler to fill any draughty gaps around the house, especially between polished skirting’s.

Weather seals around windows and doors are a great way of keeping the heat in, as are door sweeps on the bottom of your doors. Used to seal the gaps around your doors and windows, they prevent your heating and cooling from escaping.

If you’re buying an exhaust fan for the kitchen or bathroom choose one with automatic shutter doors. This will help prevent heat loss.

Installing insulation in wall, ceiling and floors is the cost effective way of improving your homes energy efficiency and can reduce heating and cooling bills by 50%. When buying insulation look for the R-value. It’s the internationally accepted measure of thermal resistance and ranges from 1.0-3.5. As a general rule ceiling insulation should be at least 2.5. Check with your local True Value store for help with the best insulation for your location and climate.

Fans are relatively inexpensive to run at around 2c/hr. While they do not cool the air they can reduce the need to switch on other higher energy consuming appliances and systems.