Don’t get hot under the collar this winter with rising energy bills! - you can cut the energy you use, help the planet and save money with This Is Money’s six-step guide.

1. An energy saver's home is his castle
2. Installing smart electricity and gas meters
3. Buy Online
4. Improve your home’s Energy efficiency rating
5. Save on Water Bills
6. Change your energy-wasting ways

You don't need to be living the self-sufficient good life to achieve the savings. A few minor changes to the way you live will boost your green credentials and your bank balance.

The tips in this document can be attributed to Andrew Oxlade the Editor of This is Money.

For more simple ideas to save cash on everything visit www.thisismoney.co.uk

1. An energy saver's home is his castle
Serious energy savers know that the biggest reductions in energy use are to be found in the roof and four walls of your home. If you install 10 inches of loft insulation - costing about £230 – you could save between £180 and £220 every year after that.

You could also fill the cavities of your home's walls with insulation and save hundreds in fuel costs. Not all homes will be able to have wall cavity insulation but if your home was built between the 1920s to the 1980s it could be a candidate.

The insulation costs £260 but you will savings between £130 and £160 each year in fuel bills.

Replacing your boiler with an energy-efficient update could be costly but if your boiler is more than 15 years old it is probably time you think of replacing it anyway. It will save you about £90 a year in fuel bills.
Insulating a water tank can cost as little as £10 or £20, but will save you £25 each year in fuel bills.

2. Installing smart electricity and gas meters
Installing smart electricity and gas meters could save households hundreds of pounds a year, particularly in London where as much as £134m could be saved. Smart meters allow householders to monitor how much their energy use costs them - and the environment.

They can also tell which household appliances are costing the most money to run. The study was commissioned by the Energy Saving Trust. It claims that if every household in Britain switched to a smart meter we would save a combined £1.2bn a year on energy costs and prevent 7.4m tonnes of carbon emissions.

3. Buy Online
Only one in eight energy customers are on their supplier's cheapest advertised tariff because they are exclusively offered to online consumers. Customers on their supplier's standard plan could save an average of £132 by moving from a standard to an online deal.

4. Improve your home’s Energy efficiency rating
Energy Performance Certificates now rate homes on how energy-efficient they are on a band system - A being the best and G the worst. The more efficient the home, the lower the fuel bills should be. EPCs also rate the impact the home has on the environment - again from A to G.

The report includes advice and recommendations on how homeowners can improve the energy efficiency of their properties. - Simple things such as upgrading to a Band A condensing boiler could save her £73 a year, replacing all light bulbs with low-energy ones - a move that could save her £24 a year. Installing double glazed windows. Unplugging appliances at night will also reduce usage by almost £40 a year, according to consumer watchdog energywatch.

5. Save on Water Bills
With a surge in water bill costs in recent years, it may make sense to fit a water meter. The loose rule is that if there are fewer than 3/4 people in a home you should save money if you're fairly careful with how you use water. And if you use This is Money's tips, you'll save more...

A. You'll only benefit from using less water if you have a meter installed, which is free of charge.

B. In the bathroom: fit a Save-a-Flush device (you may see it called a 'hippo' or even a 'bog hog') and you could save a litre each time you flush. Don't leave the tap running when brushing your teeth and fix that dripping tap as a dripping tap losing one drop a second will waste 15 litres of water (3 buckets' full) a day.
Alternatively - Save water when washing - take a shower rather than a bath, or why not bath with a friend?

C. In the kitchen: use a bowl instead of leaving the tap on when washing up, boil only the amount of water you need in the kettle when you fancy a cuppa and don't use dishwashers or washing machines when they are only half full.

D. Save water in the garden - collect rainwater in a water butt, and give plants a summer soaking once a week rather than watering daily.

6. Change your energy-wasting ways
Some energy-saving measures cost you nothing at all. Changing a few daily habits will lower your energy usage and bills. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that turning the thermostat in your home down by one degree can reduce your energy use by 6% you save you £30 a year –and you will hardly notice the change in temperature.

Turning TVs, videos and DVD players off, rather than leaving them on standby, will save you about £25 a year and shaves 1.3% off the energy you use.
As the nights draw in, pull your curtains closed at dusk – reducing heat loss through your windows.