It may be obvious, but turning down your thermostat is easily one of the most effective ways to reduce your energy bills.  Turning down your thermostat by just 1°C could cut your heating bills by almost 10 per cent. If you are comfortably wandering around your house in shorts and t-shirt in mid-December, you are likely wasting fuel unnecessarily. 

If you could make a cup of tea from the hot water that comes from your tap, you have your boiler set too high.  Your hot water thermostat should be set to around 60°C, not only will this save you money, but it will avoid the quite real danger of scalding yourself or your children when having a bath or shower.

Up to a third of heat disappears through the roof, so you really should make sure you have it well insulated. There are all sorts of insulating fibres these days, including the very green option of sheep’s wool. Installing 270mm of insulation could cost as little as £250, whilst potentially cutting your fuel bills by up to £100 a year.

If you’re lucky enough to have an open fire, that’s great, but be careful when it’s not in use.  An open fire might look attractive, but when it's not in use you can lose a lot of heat up the chimney.  To minimise heat loss you could buy a chimney balloon, which can be inflated in the opening to reduce drafts.

Another obvious way to make savings is to avoid heating rooms which are not in use.  If you have any spare rooms that you don’t use, or rarely use, turn the radiators to the lowest settings and shut the doors.  You can quickly heat them up when required.

Installing a more efficient boiler will lower your gas bills, particularly if you buy a condensing boiler. A condensing boiler could save you as much as £235 a year, even though the installation costs can be high you are guaranteed long term savings.

A dripping hot water tap wastes more energy than you may think: in one week they can waste enough hot water to fill half a bath. So fix leaking taps and make sure they’re fully turned off.

If you live in an older house and have an un-insulated (or poorly insulated) hot water tank, you are wasting money every time you switch on your hot water system. Wrapping it up in a cylinder jacket can reduce heat loss by up to 70 per cent. Such jackets can be found for as little as £5.

Sean Burke writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.