Sounds obvious, doesn't it? Close your windows if it's cold outside...

But you might be surprised just how much heat is escaping from forgotten air vents.

Before you reach for the thermostat, hunt around your house for areas where heat may be escaping.

Even when your windows are closed, heat still escapes through the glass. Heat-loss doubles if you don’t have double glazing – to combat this, draw your curtains at dusk to keep the heat in.

Curtains are effective forms of insulation. Draw them at night to keep in the heat, and open them in the morning to let sunlight heat your room.

If there are rooms your rarely use, make sure you’re not heating them unnecessarily.

When you leave home for the day, close all the doors to keep the heat in.

When you feel the cold, try putting on an extra jumper before you turn up the heating. 

Turning your heating down by just 1°C can save up to 300kg of carbon emissions every year. Even remembering to switch the heating off the timer when you’re out can dramatically reduce your carbon footprint.

Take an hour off the timer – so radiators go off 30 minutes earlier in the morning, and come on 30 minutes later at night.
 

Want to get really ruthless with your boiler?  Turn your hot water down to 60°C – and take an hour off the timer. You’ll not only save carbon emissions, you’ll save loads of money on your next heating bill!