The term "eco" is a much used term, and a term I do not like to use, but it is the word of the moment so I will go with it until I can think of something better.

All the tips that I have listed will in the long term save energy and therefore save you money, and into the bargain it will help to save the environment.

Some of the things you can do yourself, some might have to be carried out by tradesmen, some should be considered when you are refurbishing parts of the property.

Most older properties will have met the relevant building regulations when they were built, but most would come nowhere near the new building regulations.

There are various small jobs that we can do to make our homes more energy efficient, there are also larger more costly things that we can consider which can greatly improve our energy efficiency.

Energy used in the home is responsible for 27% of UK carbon dioxide emissions, so therefore what we do as homeowners does have a direct impact on our environment.

The simple things

• Change all your light bulbs to either compact fluorescents or LED lamps, you can buy all shapes and sizes of compact fluorescent, and you can even purchase dimmable fluorescents now.

• Change your electric supplier to a green company, but it is best to investigate who truly is the best environmentally.

• Buy the most efficient appliance in the shop, check how much water they use, and how much electricity they use.

• Fill you dishwasher and washing machine, there is no point in buying an energy efficient appliance and running it half empty.

• Throw your tumble dryer in the recycling bin, they are huge energy eaters.

• Buy a washing line and airer.

• Paint your house using natural paints that don’t contain nasty chemicals and solvents, there are several out there but they take a little finding.

• Wash using at the lowest temperature you can for cleaning clothes, and use green environmentally friendly detergents.

• Recycle. It is so easy, most things can be recycled even old carpets, and compost old food or get chickens.

• Turn the lights off when you leave a room.

• Don’t leave appliances on standby, if the sockets are awkward to get to there are lots of things on the market that make it a simple task.

Not so simple

• Get all your pipes lagged to stop any heat loss.

• Fit draught strips to all windows and interior doors.

• Where and when possible fit more insulation, sometimes this is not always possible but if you can get any extra insulation in a loft or wall then do so.

• Cut down on water use by fitting rain water harvesting, this can take the form of a simple water butt on a garden shed to a 10,000 litre tank buried in your garden.

• Change to low water use toilets and low flow taps, they will also cut down on water use.

Get the professionals in

• Improve your heating controls; this could be as simple as fitting a 7 day digital thermostat.

• Change your boiler, the options are limitless, you can have a condensing boiler with 99% efficiency, a carbon neutral wood pellet boiler or even an oil seed rape boiler. Again do your homework and ask loads of questions before making a final decision.

• If you have not got double glazing then get it fitted, it will cut down on heat loss.

• Fit solar hot water, it will soon start saving you money.

• Fit a microgeneration system, this could be a combined heat and powerboiler, photovoltaic solar panels or a wind turbine at the bottom of the garden.

Don’t forget to ask questions, it’s the only way you get answers.