Big savings from small changes

You can save around £30 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode.

You can save around £50 a year just by using your kitchen appliances more carefully:

●Use a bowl to wash up rather than a running tap and save £30 a year in energy bills

●Only fill the kettle with the amount of water that you need and save around £7 a year

●Cut back your washing machine use by just one cycle per week and save £5 a year on energy, and a further £8 a year on metered water bills

●Switch to LEDs - You can now get LED spotlights that are bright enough to replace halogens, as well as regular energy saving bulbs (‘compact fluorescent lamps’ or CFLs). \

They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and fittings. If the average household replaced all of their remaining old-fashioned bulbs with CFLs, and all of their halogens with LEDs, it would cost about £100 and save about £35 a year on bills.

Turn your lights off when you’re not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again, regardless of the type of light. This will save you around £15 on your annual energy bills. Heating and Insulation Draught proofing - Unless your home is very new, you will lose some heat through draughts around doors and windows, gaps around the floor, or through the chimney.

DIY draught-proofing of windows, doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can cost around £200, but can save up to £25 to £35 a year on energy bills.

Draught-free homes are comfortable at lower temperatures – so you’ll be able to turn down your thermostat. This could save you another 10 per cent off your heating bill.

Take control of your heating - More than half the money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water.

Having a room thermostat, programmer and thermostatic radiator valves installed could save you between £80 and £165 a year.

Even turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save between £85 and £90 a year. Don’t block the heat – Hanging washing over radiators to dry means you’ll block the heat that should be warming up your home.

Instead, hang your clothes on a clothes horse and position it near the radiator. Also, take care not to put bulky furniture like sofas and chairs too close to a radiator or they will absorb the heat and reduce efficiency.

You could also hang reflective foil behind radiators to stop heat escaping through the wall. Saving Water Each household in the UK uses on average around 360 litres of water every day.

But about 21 per cent of a typical gas heated household’s heating bill is from heating the water for showers, baths and hot water from the tap. This is on average about £140 a year. If everybody in a family of four replaces one bath a week with a five-minute shower, you can save up to £20 a year on gas bills and up to £25 on water bills (if you have a water meter).

If a family of four replace their inefficient shower head with a waterefficient one they could save around £65 off their gas bills and around £100 off their water bills (if they have a water meter) each year. That’s a total saving of around £165.

A running tap wastes more than six litres of water a minute, so turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your face. Use cold water if you don’t need hot.

A dripping tap can waste more than 5,500 litres of water a year, so make sure your taps are properly turned off and change washers promptly when taps start to drip.

Make sure that dishwashers and washing machines are full before you use them, and always use the most efficient water and energy settings.

Using a sink of water to wash up twice a day rather than having the hot tap running could save money on your gas bill and about £30 on your water bill (if you have a water meter).

If you need to rinse utensils or wash vegetables, use cold water if possible and don’t leave the tap running.

Insulate your hot water cylinder – a well fitted tank jacket could save you around £25 to £35 a year, more if you heat your water electrically. Insulating the hot water pipes will save you and can help taps to run hot more quickly.

Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save around £10 off your energy bills each year, per person. With a water meter this could save a further £10 off annual water and sewerage bills. If everyone in a four person family did this it would lead to a total saving of £80 a year.

Making a series of small, simple changes in your every day routine can really help tackle climate change