Like most people, the Chancellor suffers from green guilt. “We need to do more to reduce carbon emissions and we need to do it now,” he said on Wednesday. And to prove the point he promptly pledged £26million for the Green Homes Service - a voluntary eco-audit for your flat, mansion or castle.

The service is due to launch nationwide next month, but a similar service - the Green Homes Concierge Service - was introduced in London in December by the London Development Agency, so I decided to give it a try.

Like Mr Darling, I am troubled by green guilt. It's not that I don't do my bit: I recycle when I can, use public transport and even buy locally produced food whenever possible. But when it came to buying a flat, my eco-conscience went out of the window - literally. I opted for a Victorian conversion with single-glazed sash windows, high ceilings, and no insulation. When I sit on my sofa the windows let in what feels like a force 10 gale on the back of my neck. So I was prepared for the worst when an adviser from Green Homes Concierge Service came round to give me a home assessment. The concierge service works like this. For a fee of £199 a consultant comes to your home and performs a number of tests; once the visit is complete you will receive a full home energy assessment. This consists of the Government's standard energy performance certificate, a more detailed assessment of your home and a 12-month follow-up service offering information and practical advice to help you to reduce your carbon emissions. The follow-up service is what makes the difference. “We're not some kind of green police,” explains Geoff Keys, the advisor who carried out my assessment. “We're here to help you achieve the results you want.” Which makes sense, given that you are paying for it.

First of all Keys sat me down for a chat about how I would like to improve my flat in southeast London. Having just received a massive gas bill, my aim was to cut my utility bills as well to ease some of that green guilt. Keys then set about assessing my home. Most of the time was spent measuring and taking pictures, so I let him get on with it. But when he started fixing a huge red plastic sheet with a fan to my front door, I became inquisitive. Keys explained that this was to identify the loss of heat. The process is quite simple: the fan pumps air around the flat, then Keys walks around the windows and any external openings with a pen that emits smoke, to show where any heat is escaping. It was no surprise to watch the smoke vanish through the gap in my living-room sash windows.

The final test was the thermal camera. Keys took images of all doors, windows and walls. The whole process took a couple of hours and at the end the data was fed into a computer programme that came up with the results. These were not as bad as I had feared. My energy efficiency was 59 out of 100, my carbon emissions a little worse at 52. This gave me a rating of D and E respectively. Considering a new-build would attain only a B, I was feeling quite good.

Keys then sat me down to discuss what changes I would be prepared to make. Fitting low-energy lightbulbs would save me £16 a year in total and would be a minimal outlay (these bulbs are about £3 each). I could change my boiler to a condensing one but this would cost more than £2,000 and save me only £98 on my annual heating bills. These two changes would, however, cut my carbon emissions by 23.8 per cent and improve my ratings to C and D.

Within days I received a full report, together with thermal images. At the initial meeting I had requested information on low-energy lighting, hot water cylinder insulation, secondary glazing and heating options. All the details came through the next day and the concierge service offers help with pricing and finding suppliers and appliances. It will even let suppliers into your home if you cannot take time off work.

The fee will put some people off, but if you can afford it, the service is excellent. My improvements are fairly basic but I have at least replaced most of my lightbulbs with low-energy ones. For now, that is as far as it goes. And even if my finances do not allow me to change anything else, I have a year in which to make use of the service, and can give the flat's next owner the full green assessment. In the meantime, my neck will just have to weather the wind.

FACT FILE

The full home energy report by the Green Homes Concierge Service assesses your home's insulation, heating, hot water system, fixed lighting, ventilation, the fuels that you use and the number of windows in your home.

The follow-up service provides details of prices, suppliers and appliances, and can arrange installation.

For details, call 0800 0890098 or go to www.greenhomesconcierge.co.uk The Government's Green Homes Service will be launched on April 1, and will provide a home energy audit as well as advice on how you can save water, reduce waste, “green” your travel, and take advantage of grants and offers from energy companies. For details of this scheme, go to www.defra.gov.uk

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