Monday 25^th to Sunday 31^st October 2010 is Energy Saving Week, organised by the Energy Saving Trust, one of the UK’s leading organisations set up to address the damaging effects of climate change. 

Every household in the UK creates five and half tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) every year – enough to fill a hot air balloon and almost twice as much as emitted by an average car.

Now in its 14^th year, the aim of this annual campaign is to help and encourage people to save energy and reduce their carbon emissions. All week we’ll be highlighting different ways in which you can reduce and manage energy usage in the home. As well as the positive effects on the environment, they will also help save you money on your energy bills. 

To start things off we have compiled a list of top tips as recommended by the Energy Saving Trust.

1. In one week a dripping hot water tap wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off.
2. Turn your central heating thermostat down by one degree and don’t heat rooms when you are not using them.
3. Eliminate draughts and wasted heat by installing a cheap, easy-to-fix brush or PVC seal on your exterior doors. Letterboxes and keyholes should be covered too.
4. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat needn’t be higher than 60˚C.
5. Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle).
6. Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.
7. Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.
8. Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
9. Insulating your loft is one of the simplest ways to save energy – you can even install it yourself. Insulate an empty loft today, and in a year you could save around £145 or £40 if you're topping up.
10. If your boiler is over 15 years old it's probably time to replace it. Replacing an old boiler with an efficient new one could reduce your gas bill by over £300 a year. A new Alpha CDC combi boiler now comes with a standard 5 year guarantee.