Want to be hip, virtuous and make a few bob at the same time? Buyers will pay up to £10,000 more for an environmentally friendly house. Seventy per cent of buyers consider energy efficiency to be important when making that important home purchase. And did you realise that three bedroom-plus houses need an Energy Performance Certificate as part of their Home Information Pack (HIP) when selling? Wise up, a bad rating could drop your sale price.

1. Ask those in the know

Try a complete home energy check at the Energy Saving Trust. The online tool shows you where to make the best energy savings in your home and offers advice on grants and funds. See your local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (EEAC) for advice, and find more energy saving information at Directgov. For a DIY energy makeover, the Green Directory contains listings for everything you need to make your life more energy efficient, from solar power to environmental consultancies.

2. Create a hot house

Stop draughts by filling gaps under skirting boards with beading or sealant and cut heat loss by 50 per cent with double glazing. If your home was built between the 1920s and 1980s, it could be a candidate for cavity wall insulation, reducing the heat lost in your home by 33 per cent.

3. Get sponsored

Grants of up to £2,700 towards insulation, energy saving bulbs and solar heating panels are available from the Energy Saving Trust.Second Nature produce a totally natural, wool-based insulator and a DIY 100 per cent recycled loft insulator. Swap to an environmentally friendly energy supplier by visiting Good Energy or consider installing solar heating panels (visit Berr and Carbon Balanced).

4. Be a bright spark

If every UK household installed just one eco bulb, we'd save over £66 million per year. Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs are most efficient in areas where lights are left on for longer periods. In collaboration with the Energy Saving Trust and Glowb, the lowest ever energy bulb, designer Tom Dixon has created the energy-saving Blow Lamp, which he launched at the London Design Festival 2007. Energy-saving bulbs last up to 12 times longer than their regular counterparts.

5. Sort out your appliances

Each year, UK households use £1.5 billion worth of electricity on refrigeration and freezing alone. Defrost regularly and replace loose door seals (test your seals by shutting a ten pound note in the door - if it stays where it is, your seals are working fine). Whatever the energy rating of your machine, move it 20cm away from the wall and make sure coils are dust free to maximise their cooling capabilities and boost efficiency.

6. Go shoppingIf you buy a new appliance, make sure it's got the Energy Saving Recommended logo.

Investing in an award-winning Savaplug from Amazon, can also help save energy by adjusting the electricity supply according to the motor's needs.

7. Friendly flushes

Loads of eco-gadgets can help you cut water use. If you're changing your bathroom, a low-flush loo is essential, but you can convert your old loo using a gadget from Interflush.

8. Shower time

Installing a low-flow shower head will half energy use per shower. See if you could benefit by putting a two litre container on the shower floor in the middle of the water stream. If it takes fewer than 12 seconds to fill up, a low-flow shower head will help. Fit a water-meter and invest in the ingenious Tap Magic Gadget, from Green Shop. When inserted into any tap it reduces water use by 70 per cent.

9. Scrap the old boiler

If your boiler is over 15 years old, it's high time you replaced it. High efficiency condensing boilers are the most energy efficient, especially if you upgrade to modern controls (visit the Boiler Efficiency Database). If your system uses a hot water tank, make sure it sports an insulating jacket at least three inches thick. Use foam piping insulation to wrap the first few feet of the hot and cold water pipes in exposed areas. Even putting radiator panels behind your radiator can boost your system's efficiency by 20 per cent.

10. Still confused?

For big jobs, visit the Carbon Trust or Energy Saving Trust for more ideas and grant info. Watch the value of your home go soaring.
Colin Firth has opened ECO, a green emporium in Chiswick and eco-warrior Oliver Heath has greened up his Brighton home.


Annie Deakin is a journalist, fashion and furniture expert and editor at mydeco.com and is currently very impressed by the great range of gas fires, sheds and bathroom accessories.