Energy saving home improvements and lower bills:

• Double glazing - can reduce your annual energy bill by between £20 and £35 each year, according to The National Energy Foundation (NEF). Research by Halifax shows that this is by far the most popular energy-saving home improvement, with almost half of those they surveyed saying they had installed it.

• Loft insulation - The amount of heat lost annually through roofs and walls is enough to heat three million homes for a year.
  The NEF says that one third of heat produced by a central heating system is rapidly lost through the roof, ceiling and walls and 20% of energy bills can be saved by good loft insulation. Environment minister Elliot Morley says that £1 in every £3 spent on heating is currently being wasted in 10.3m homes because of poor insulation.
  According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), investing in loft and cavity wall insulation can save you £100 per year while Uswitch says you can save £275 per year if you put in loft insulation and if you have electric central heating. It's easy to understand why the the Halifax research shows that loft insulation is the second most popular energy saver in the home.

• Cavity Wall insulation - The NEF says that up to half of all heat is lost through the walls of a house that is not insulated. Wall insulation can reduce this loss by up to two-thirds. According to British Gas, cavity wall insulation could save up to 30% on heating bills. EST puts these savings at £100 per year.
• Draught proofing - According to EST, draught proofing your property costs around £50 and can save £20 per year on energy bills.
• Boiler - Replacing your old boiler can save you up to £180 a year, according to EST.
• Radiators - Fitting thermostatic radiator valves, which stops you from heating rooms that you are not using, will provide annual cost savings of between £10 and £20, according to the NEF.
• Energy saving light bulbs - Energy saving light bulbs use about a quarter of the electricity of normal light bulbs and last eight times longer, says the NEF. The annual saving on your energy bill is £5. If every household installed three energy saving light bulbs, the energy saved in a year would supply all street lighting in the UK.
• Energy saving appliances - We know about not leaving the TV on stand-by (let's hope they start to make them without standby) and only boiling the amount of water you need in the kettle. Make your next washing machine an energy efficient model and it will need just two thirds of the energy of the old one. The same goes for energy saving dishwashers which use 40% less energy than old models.
• Solar panel - According to the Energy Saving Trust, a solar water heater can provide all your hot water in the Summer and half in the Winter and costs around £8,000. This cost includes a 50% discount from a Government grant. This kind of system saves between £80 and £100 in annual electricity bills.