Now that spring has sprung, it's time to start preparing for winter. This isn't as odd as it sounds: if you want your home to be toasty come November, and to reduce your carbon footprint, the time for action is now.

Carbon emissions from our homes make up 27 per cent of the UK total. According to Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, at the recent launch of the “Act on CO2” advice line: “Changes need to be made in people's kitchens and living rooms as much as in parliamentary debating chambers or around the international negotiating table.” The advice line (0800 512012) allows anyone in England to get free, tailored advice from the Energy Saving Trust on how to reduce their carbon footprint.

Some cheap and easy tips include:

Replace all light bulbs with energy-efficient ones. They are more expensive than normal bulbs, but they last far longer and are not the glaring and humming glass bricks of yore.

Treat your hot water cylinder to a cosy jacket. An 80mm-thick coat costs about £12 and will save you about £20 per year in heating bills and 160kg a year in emissions.

Set your heating correctly. Your boiler thermostat, time programmer and thermostatic radiator valves should only heat the rooms that you use at the times that you use them.

Bleed radiators to release trapped air. Turn off the heating and cautiously loosen the bleed valve at the top of the radiator: use a rag to catch the drips.

More substantial energy-efficiency measures in the home require a larger initial outlay, but these will be recouped through savings in energy bills over a period of years. There is a range of grants available. See what you are eligible for at: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

The big investment to consider is insulation. About half of the heat lost from a typical home is through the walls and roof.

Cavity wall insulation costs about £500 to install and saves you about £90 a year in heating bills and 750kg a year in CO2 emissions. The external walls of many houses consist of two layers with a gap between them. Filling the gap will substantially decrease the amount of lost heat.

Solid walls lose even more heat than cavity walls. They can be covered with a weather-proof insulating treatment which costs about £1,900 and will save you about £300 a year in bills and an annual 2.6 tonnes of CO2.

Timber floors can be insulated by laying mineral wool padding under the boards at a cost of about £90, saving £45 a year and 350 kg of CO2.

If you have no loft insulation (that yellow foam stuff), 15 per cent of your heat could be escaping through the roof. Installing the recommended 270mm will cost about £750 and save you £110 and 1 tonne of CO2 per year.

Get double glazing. This can cut heat loss through windows by half. Costs vary, but you could save £90 a year on bills and 740kg of carbon emissions. You can, of course, just do the rooms that cost the most to heat.

Buy a new high-efficiency condensing boiler. It's a pricey investment, but will save you about 1.7 tonnes of CO2 and £200 a year.

The Book of Green Homes is an illustrated guide to building a sustainable home, drawing on projects featured in Homebuilding and Renovating magazine. It presents 28 case studies of environmentally friendly self-build homes, complete with floorplans, materials, costs and suppliers' details.

It is published by Ovolo books at £25 but Times readers can take advantage of a special offer and buy it for £20 plus £2.80 p&p by logging on to the website below or calling or e-mailing us and quoting “Times Offer”.

www.ovolobooks.co.uk/timesoffer : 01480 891777, info@ovolobooks.co.uk Offer ends May 31, 2008.

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