About a quarter of all our clean, drinkable water at home is flushed down the toilet. Place a sealed bottle of water or brick in your cistern to reduce this amount.

A dripping tap can waste at least 5,500 litres of water a year. If this is hot water you’re also wasting the energy used to heat it. Get leaking taps fixed promptly.

Some vulnerable people need to keep their homes warmer than normal. However, most of us can save money and energy by dressing for the weather and putting on a jumper before turning up the heating.

Are your heating costs literally going through the roof? Check to ensure you have 250-270 mm of loose roll loft insulation and top up if necessary.

Make sure your radiators are clear so they can heat the space efficiently. Curtains or furniture can easily block them.

Giving your plants’ roots a good soaking once or twice a week in dry weather is much better than lightly watering them every day because most of that water just evaporates away. However, new plants do need regular watering until they are established.

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.

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