The average home can save up to £280 a year by being energy efficient and, with the cost of energy bills on the rise, there’s no better time than now to take back control of your bills! To celebrate this year’s Energy Saving Week, 24 – 28 October, here are our top tips to help you save money and stop wasting energy.

Look for cavities...
Around a third of the heat lost in an uninsulated home is through the walls, so insulating them can be one of the most cost-effective ways to save energy in the home. Not all buildings are suitable, but if your
home was built between the 1920s and 1990s then it could be the ideal candidate for cavity wall insulation and you could save up to £135 on your annual heating bills! Like double-glazing, cavity wall insulation will keep you warm in winter and can also help to keep you cool in the summer. If your house was built before 1920s and has a solid wall construction you could think about installing internal or external wall insulation? It could save you Up to £475 a year on your heating bills.

Be eco-chic and look out for the logo...
Look out for the Energy Saving Trust Recommended logo when you’re buying new electrical appliances. The logo is a simple and quick way to find the most energy efficient products on the market. You’ll find it on a wide range of products from kitchen appliances, heating and lighting to televisions and computers. The idea is that whatever the product, whichever the labelling system - all you need to do is look for the Energy Saving Trust Recommended logo. For instance, replacing your old, energy inefficient fridge-freezer with a new energy saving recommended one could save you up to £26 every year.

Boilers... If it isn't broken, it still might need fixing...
We rarely think of our boilers – until they go on the blink! If your boiler is over 15 years old, it’s probably time you thought about replacing it with a new energy efficient one. Replacing your old boiler with a new A-rated condensing model with a full set of heating controls will save you up to a quarter on your heating bills straight away – that’s up to £300 on average in gas heated homes. If all homes in the UK with gas or a G-rated boiler switched to condensing boilers, we’d save around £886 million a year!

Be nice to your freezer...
Fridge freezers are the most hardworking appliances in our kitchens – in fact, UK households use around £2 billion worth of electricity on refrigeration and freezing every year. To help cut costs, don’t leave the door open longer than necessary, as cold air will escape. Avoid putting hot food into the fridge, defrost the freezer regularly and check the door seals are working properly.

Wrap up your hot water tank... Give it a jacket...
An insulating jacket for hot water tanks costs only a few pounds and pays for itself within months. Fit one that’s at least 75mm (3") thick and you could save around £40 a year. If every UK household fitted a jacket on their tank tomorrow, we’d save around £141 million on energy bills every year.

Draw at dusk... Close your curtains...
As the days get chillier, closing your curtains at dusk will stop heat escaping through windows. This is an easy and practically free way to help you reduce you energy bills and stop wasting energy.

A bright idea... Buy energy-efficient light bulbs...
When the days are shorter you’ll be relying on your lights more. Trade up your ordinary light bulbs for energy-saving ones. And with inefficient light bulbs being phased out over the next few years, now is a great time to do so. Energy-saving light bulbs last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, and by fitting all the lights in your house with energy saving bulbs you could save around £30 a year and £480 over the lifetime of all of the bulbs... This saving could be around £120 over its lifetime if you’re replacing a high wattage incandescent bulb, or one used for more than a few hours a day.

Take to the floor...
Stop draughts and heat escaping by filling gaps under skirting boards with beading or mastic sealant. That’ll save around £25 off your heating bills every year!

See double... and cut heat loss by 50 percent...
Double-glazing cuts heat loss through windows by 50% and could cut your heating bill by up to £165 a year. If you can’t afford to replace all the windows, why not choose the rooms that cost you the most to heat, such as the living room and occupied bedrooms.

Feeling chilly? Loft insulation will keep the heat in your home...
If your loft is uninsulated, about 15% of what you’re paying for your heating could be escaping through your roof. Insulate your loft to 270mm and if it’s currently uninsulated you could save around £145 a year off your heating bills. If you have less than the recommended 270mm, topping it up will save you around £25 a year. If everybody in the UK who could install 270mm of loft insulation did so, we would save around £437 million per year.

Generate your own!
If you have the funds available, then why not think about installing your own microgeneration unit such as solar PV for your electricity or a ground source heat pump for your heat. Schemes like the Feed-in Tariff offer you income for the electricity you generate, while the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) helps cover the up-front cost of green heating systems. You can find out which technology suits your home best with our Home Energy Generation Selector – www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
/renewableselector.

Be switched on - take a home energy check!
To find out how much energy can be saved in your own home, fill out the Energy Saving Trust’s online home energy check www.energysavingtrust.org.uk. Alternatively, you can call our free phone advice number on 0800 512 012. Our regional Energy Saving Trust advice centres can provide you with free, impartial advice on how to make your home more energy efficient and talk to you about grants you may be eligible for to implement energy efficient measures.

[published online 24/10/11]