Clever heating is cool

Heating your home in winter is a major source of carbon pollution, but you can reduce your power consumption by around 40 per cent if you use an energy efficient heating system.

You can easily save power in your home during winter by wearing warmer clothing or throwing an extra blanket over the bed. When your heater is on, make sure you always shut windows and doors and keep the curtains closed, especially at night when a window can lose 10 times as much heat as the same area of insulated wall.

Don't over heat. Keep rooms at a comfortable 18-21°C in winter. Every one degree increase in temperature can increase the heating component of your power bill by up to 10 per cent.

Choosing the right heating system for your home is all about being comfortable at the lowest cost to you and the environment. You need to think about size, energy sources, and the most efficient type of heater for your budget.

An efficient natural gas space heater is usually the best heating choice. If you don't have gas, an efficient reverse cycle air conditioner is also a good option. Gas heaters and air conditioners have energy rating labels to help you choose the most efficient model (the more stars the better).

Work out which areas of your home you need to heat, how large the areas are, and how long you need to heat the areas for. Your options include:

• zoned central heating systems when you need to heat living spaces and sleeping areas for long periods
• high efficiency space heaters to heat smaller areas or single rooms
• radiant heaters like infra-red lamps and heated towel rails for bathrooms.