Switch gas and electricity supplier and get up to £80 cashback (such is the competition for your custom) as well as savings on moving to the cheapest supplier (if you've never switched before up to £170 can be saved - if you have then 15% savings are still possible). 

Consider switching your utility providers 3 or 4 times a year. There are several advantages in doing so: (1) Suppliers are curently in a price war - regular switching will ensure you keep getting the leading deal; (2) Suppliers like to overcharge you so as to build up a credit balance with them, which means you are lending them your money for nothing - regular switching will prevent a credit balance building up; and (3) Cashback on sites like Quidco and Topcashback from Utility companies is generous and rising, and you can get it 3 or 4 times over by switching several times a year - there is no minimum time committment required to be eligible for the cashback (though as it usually takes 2 months to be paid to your cashback account, switching more frequently than quarterly is not advised).

Switch to a Water Meter

Depending on your circumstances, switching to metered water could save you money. Use this calculator here. Loosely speaking, if you have a big home with few people living there, you could potentially halve your annual bill by doing so.

If you do have a water meter installed, get smart about your water usage. Fix any leaks as a dripping tap losing one drop a second will waste 15 litres of water a day. Fit a Save-a-Flush device and you could save a litre each time you flush. Don't leave the tap on when brushing your teeth or having a shave. Give your plants a soaking once a week rather than watering daily. Use water efficient appliances in the home. Take a shower rather than a bath. Don't use dishwashers or washing machines half full and use a bowl instead of leaving the tap on when washing up.  

Cut Your Electricity Bill by 50%

Here is the breakdown of the annual cost for average household electricity use before any energy saving measures (and in brackets what it is feasible to reduce it to):

Lighting £72 (can be reduced to £15)
Fridge-Freezer £65 (£20)
Dishwasher £41 (£20)
Tumble Dryer £36 (£18)
Computer £30 (£15)
Central Heating Controls £28 (£15)
Electric Hob £27 (£20)
Washing Machine £27 (£15)
Electric Oven £25 (£10)
Kettle £17 (£10)
TV £15 (£10)
Central heating pump £12 (£5)
Microwave £8 (£5)

Total: £403 per year (can be reduced to £178 – a saving of over 55%)

So here's how to make the biggest inroads into that and cut your bill by 1000kwh / £100 per year:

Energy saving kettle – cost £50 – annual saving 50 kwh
Standby reduction device (socket plug-in intermediary) – cost £10 – annual saving 100 kwh
A-rated central heating pump – cost £204 – saving 78 kwh
4 low energy light bulbs – cost £10 – saving 134 kwh
A++ rated fridge-freezer – cost £569 – saving 494 kwh
A-rated dishwasher - £234 – 163 kwh

Total cost £1079 – total annual saving 1019 kwh – 10p/kwh unit rate – equals saving of £101.90 per year

Next, stop wasting electricity from Standby. OK, there are some appliances that need to be powered all the time:

Home security systems
Gas and oil boilers and central heating controls
Remote garage door openers
Sensor lights

To reduce consumption on these, make sure you buy models with low consumption. However, all these appliances use power continuously but can be switched off:

Battery & Phone rechargers
Plug-in air fresheners
Breadmakers
Coffee Makers
Microwaves (if the clock isn’t needed)
Computers
TVs
VCRs
DVD players and recorders
Hi-Fis
Games Consoles
Rechargeable Toothbrushes

The power switch on many new appliances does not completely switch off all the power. To be sure, switch it off at the wall or unplug it.

Then finally here are simple ways to cut costs for each of the key categories:

Lighting – Spotlights are the most expensive to run, so avoid leaving them on for a long time
Fridge-Freezer – Allow air to circulate round the back, don’t stand it too near the wall
Dishwasher – Use economy programmes
Tumble Dryer – Turn down the thermostat and the timer – save energy PLUS you won’t need to iron all your clothes (very hot and dry embeds creases); Dry your clothes outside on a fine day
Computer – Turn off at the wall when not in use
Central Heating Controls – Replace an old inefficient boiler; Insulate your house
Electric Hob – Cut food into smaller sections before cooking as it will cook quicker; Use the right size pan for your cooking ring
Washing Machine – Use economy programmes; Wash at lower temperatures: 4 loads at 40 degrees costs the same as 1 at 90 degrees
Electric Oven – Use your microwave instead where possible – it is a more economical appliance – plus cooking times can be drastically cut, e.g. jacket potato 10 mins in the microwave or 1 hour in the oven
Kettle – Only fill with as much water as you need; For hot drinks use the microwave instead
TV – Switch off at the wall when not in use
Central heating pump – Get an a-rated pump; Insulate your house
Microwave – switch off at the wall when not in use

Do all these things and slash your elecricity bill in two.

Cut your heating bill by up to 20%

70% of the heat produced by radiators is lost in heating the wall directly behind the radiator. By fitting insulation panels behind the radiators, you can save this cost.

These radiator panels are accredited by the Energy Savings Trust and can save up to 20% off your heating bill. That’s £60 a year for the average 3 bedroom semi-detached house, which can be typically fitted out with £50's worth of panels. That means they will pay for themselves within a year, and then keep your bills lower year after year.

Just cut the panels to the required size and fit behind. There's no need to remove the radiators. They are hidden from view once in place.

Cap Carbon are selling a 10-pack at a reduced price of £36.50 with free delivery - see here. On average, about 2 panels will be used per radiator (depending upon size of radiator).

Go Wood

With oil and gas prices soaring, have you considered wood? If you have a wooden garden your supply could be free - similarly if you back on to woodland, the owner may be happy for you to thin out the woodland periodically. Otherwise you can use your initiative and hunt for wood where you can.

You can buy a wood stove with a back burner to run 10 radiators for £600-£700, or you can buy a logs / wood pellet boiler for £3000. The flue cost and installation costs will total around £1500. You will then need somewhere to store the wood or pellets.

Here are the fuel cost comparisons:

Electric heating 3.9p to 7.6p / KWh

Oil heating 4.2p / KWh

Gas heating 2.8p / KWh

Wood chips or pellets 1.5p to 3.5p / KWh (this cost is based on a local supplier delivering them regularly to you)

Logs  - free - if you have access to them

More information can be found at The Log Pile and Stoves On Line.

Over the past year, oil heating has worked out at 6.5p per kilowatt hour, electric heating 12p and natural gas 4.2p. Over the next few years we foresee prices for all three rising exponentially.

So, you could consider installing a boiler that runs on logs or wood pellets instead. Logs work out at 1.6p per kwh or wood pellets at 2.9p, both if bought in bulk. That's a significant saving on the mainstream alternatives. However, there is the cost of the new boiler to factor in plus the 'labour' involved in having the wood delivered and getting the logs or pellets into the boiler.

Euroheat specialise in log, pellets or woodchip boilers. Their 25kw HDG Pelletmaster PM25, for example, costs around £9000 and feeds itself the wood pellets as it needs them. It also self-cleans. You need to source a local pellet supplier who can deliver them at an agreed frequency to your door.

If you have your own woodland or if you have access to waste wood, then you could go for a log boiler and pay nothing for your fuel. You would need to confortable with the labour involved in loading and monitoring the boiler wood.

Go Green

Here are the latest payback statistics from the Low Carbon Building Programme on installing eco-power in your home:

1kW Solar Panel: cost to install £5000, annual saving £130, years to recoup cost: 38

3kW Solar Panel: cost £15000, annual saving £350, years to recoup cost: 43

1kW Wind Turbine: cost £3000, annual saving £150, years to recoup cost: 20

2.5kW Wind Turbine: cost £10,000, annual saving £350, years to recoup cost: 29

1kW Hydro (water power if you have a running stream/river): cost £4000, annual saving £150, years to recoup cost: 27

3kW Hydro: cost £12,000, annual saving £400, years to recoup cost: 30

Ground Source Heat Pump: cost £12,000, annual saving £750, years to recoup cost: 16.

If you are considering wind or solar, the ideal is to have both, to compensate for each other when there are either cloudy or still conditions. Not many will have access to a river or stream on their land to harness water power, but this is more reliable than solar or wind. Currently though, none of them offer compelling payback cases, though as oil and natural gas are rocketing, they will become more attractive. The best of the bunch is a ground source heat pump, paying back the set up cost in 16 years, after which all your heating costs are then free. This technology uses the natural heat in the Earth deep down, piped up to heat your house and water - it requires excavations to a depth of 600ft or so. You can apply for grants towards the set-up costs of these technologies here.