Wash fruit and vegetables in a bowl, not under a running tap, to cut water use. Use the leftover water for your houseplants or patio pots.

Carbon monoxide is a silent killer. Every year in the UK it kills around 50 people and sends 4000 to A&E for emergency treatment. Make sure you get all your combustion appliances properly serviced and fit an alarm. Good quality alarms are available from most DIY suppliers and take minutes to fit. It could save your life!

Solid brick walls can be insulated internally or externally to reduce heat loss.

Check the programmer on your heating and hot water to make sure the timings match your needs. If you don’t have a seven-day programmer fitted consider getting one.

Insulate hot water pipes along their full length. Don’t waste the energy you have used to heat your hot water.

Use a microwave. Generally a microwave oven is the most efficient way to heat up and cook food.

Fitting a new insulating jacket to a bare hot water tank can save over £100 per year. Costing just a few pounds, the investment can pay itself off in a few months.

Draught excluders are a cheap way of cutting out the chill from poorly fitting doors and windows. Most are also easy to fit, a simple DIY task.

If your charger has an LED to show it’s in use, it is still using energy until you switch it off at the wall or unplug it.

Use the sun to reduce your heating bills. Leave internal doors open to rooms which trap the sun so the heat can spread to other areas.