Cut Your Energy Bills By 75%?

There are two types of people in this world, those who turn off the lights when they leave the room, and those who leave them blazing away.

I'm a switcher-offer, but my girlfriend is a leaver-oner. Last week, she accused me of following her around the house, flicking off the lights behind her. I confessed. With the cost of energy soaring, I said in my defence, we can't afford to squander electricity.

And with the average household now spending more than £1,200 a year on home energy bills, you probably can't afford it either.

High energy

Now we come to the big money. If you haven't properly insulated your walls, roof, loft, water tank, pipe and floor, the work could save you on average £501 a year.

Installing a brand new heating system could save up to £155, while double glazing and draught proofing your house could save £150.

That makes a total saving of £972.70. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it… but alert readers will have noticed there is a catch.

Installing double glazing, buying a whole new heating system and replacing all your white goods such as dishwashers will set you back thousands, or even tens of thousands of pounds. It could be years before you see a return from that outlay.

So we can take those figures with a pinch of salt. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do your bit. Don't you know there's a credit crunch on? Not to mention a warming planet. Plus, as long as you don’t move house before you break even, making these improvements should eventually prove cost-effective.

Save the planet

Some of you might be able to get a Government grant for the work. Pensioners over 60 who receive state help such as pension credit, council tax and housing benefit can claim up to £2,700 in energy-saving grants under the Government's Warm Front scheme, called Warm Deal in Scotland and the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in Wales.

Many local authorities also award grants to local residents to help them cut their energy usage. The Energy Saving Trust website helps you search for details of grants and awards. It also gives you plenty of advice on cutting back on energy use.

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