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.

Keeping the oven door closed while you are cooking helps keep your oven at a stable temperature. It can also improve your cooking whilst saving you energy.

Properly used, dishwashers use less water and energy than washing dishes by hand. However, make sure you only wash full loads and don’t pre-rinse everything in the sink first unless it really needs it.

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

Washing a small load of clothes? Check you washing machine’s settings to see if you can use the “half load” programme to save water and energy.

Think before your print. Reducing the amount of material you print has a long list of benefits including saving paper, chemicals and electricity. More and more offices and industries are going paper free, so think about how you can reduce any printing you do.

Make sure your computers are programmed to shut down and save power when not in use. Most operating systems have built in power settings and the capability of being switched on or off remotely if required. If you need them on for network upgrades and backups, commit to running these on a specific schedule and build this into you power settings. You’ll be surprised how much energy you can save.

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.

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.

Hanging out clothes to dry will save you energy and money over using a tumble drier.