Top tips on keeping snug this winter

With colder weather on its way and the nights starting to draw in after the clocks went back an hour at the weekend, people are likely to be spending far more time in their homes but, with the rising cost of electricity and gas, may not want to put their heating on because they are worried about affording to pay the bills.

Harry Fitch, Herefordshire Council's Home Energy Conservation Association officer, said: "This year we have launched an affordable warmth strategy which seeks to ensure no-one in the county suffers fuel poverty and has to endure a cold home.

"A fuel poor household is one that cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost and it is estimated there are 8,450 homes (10.7 per cent) in fuel poverty in Herefordshire.

"As a council we can help people to access energy efficiency grants for measures such as insulation and heating but there are also many simple, no-cost measures which householders can take themselves to make their homes more fuel efficient .

"These measures will not only lower their bills but will also have the added benefit of helping the environment by burning less fossil fuels," he added.

Top ten energy saving tips from the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre are:

• Turn your thermostat down by just one degree Celsius - this could cut heating bills by up to 10 per cent and save around £40 per year.
• Close your curtains at dusk to keep the heat in - this stops heat escaping through windows. If radiators are below windows, consider tucking curtains behind them to redirect the heat back into the room.
• Only fill the kettle with the amount of water you need - if you put into the kettle just the amount of water you need, it will boil faster and thus save you money.
• Switch off lights when not in use - lighting accounts for around 15 per cent of your electricity bill. Don't light rooms that aren't in use and change to low energy bulbs which only use one fifth of the electricity.
• Put lids on pans when cooking - this keep the heat where you need it, cooking times will be quicker and the amount of moisture released into the home will be reduced, thus cutting the risk of mould and dampness.
• Set your heating programmer and timer properly - just using the on and off button may mean heating is running longer than is necessary. Setting the controls so you only get heat when needed, means no fuel is wasted unnecessarily.
• Pull furniture away from radiators - If furniture is hiding radiators, the central heating system will be working harder and it will take longer to heat rooms.
• Install reflective radiator panels - these can be bought from DIY stores or made using tin foil and they reflect heat back into the room, heat which normally would escape through the walls.
• Turn your appliance off completely - Some appliances on standby such as television sets can use a quarter of the electricity they would be using while in use. If you switch it off at the power button or at the wall, you are not paying for electricity that is going to waste.
• Set your hot water tank to 65 degrees Celsius - if you have a cylinder thermostat, setting it at 60 to 65 degrees celsius is enough to pasteurise the water, killing harmful bacteria, and should be more than enough for bathing and washing. A tank jacket will cost £10 to £15 but save you twice that per year.

For further energy saving hints, see the energy efficiency section of this website.