Making your property greener

 There are several ways people can make their properties more energy efficient and by doing so they could significantly lower the cost of their gas and electricity bills. 

With the cold snap only recently thawing and all six of the UK's largest utility companies increasing their gas and electricity prices over the past few weeks, you could find you are faced with costly utility bills being put through your letterbox in the coming days.

But while there is little you can to do reduce the amount of money you have just been charged, by taking steps to make your property greener it is possible for you to improve its energy efficiency and consequently reduce the amount of money you have to pay for future bills.

There are many ways in which you can lower your home's carbon footprint and while this will involve some initial outlay, in time you will be able to recoup such expenditure in the form of lower gas and electricity costs.

If you're particularly keen to reduce the amount of money you pay in electricity, you should be sure to invest in energy-efficient LED lighting.

Victoria Lee, lighting designer for Light IQ, recently noted that although these products are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, people "will reap the rewards when they're looking at the electricity bill".

Purchasing LED lighting, Ms Lee adds, also means homeowners will not have to change bulbs as often, which in time can also lead to further savings.

Another way you could reduce your house's utility bills is by getting loft insulation and this is certainly a popular measure for making a property more energy efficient.

Recent data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) shows that of the 26.6 million homes in Britain at the start of this year, 12.9 million had loft insulation to a depth of at least 125 mm fitted, a rise of 310,000 from those which had this green feature in October 2010.

Substantial savings could well be seen by investing in loft insulation. The Energy Saving Trust (EST) reports that insulating a previously uninsulated loft can save the average homeowner £145 each year.

The DECC also reveal that the number of properties with cavity wall insulation rose 140,000 over the last three months of 2010 to stand at 10.6 million.

Investing in a new boiler could also go a long way to making your house greener. The EST reports that in a gas-heated home these account for around 60 per cent of the CO2 emissions generated, so significant energy savings could be on hand by getting a new boiler.

All boilers have an energy rating from A - for those boilers with the best efficiency performance - to G, reserved for the worse. By purchasing a top-performing model, you could soon see a difference in your utility bills.

If you are getting a new boiler installed or having maintenance work carried out on your existing one, it is vital that the engineer who does it is a member of the Gas Safe Register (GSR).

Only those with GSR accreditation are legally qualified to work on gas appliances, so make sure that anyone visiting your property to fit or repair a boiler has the right documentation.

Buying a boiler and getting it fitted can involve some significant outlay, however there are several other, less expensive, ways in which you can make your home greener. Why not invest in draught excluders to stop heat from escaping through the windows and doors? You might also want to buy lagging to wrap around your water pipes, while a thick pair of curtains could make your home feel cosier during the cold nights.

There are so many ways in which you can make your home greener that just investing in a few of the above measures could see you enjoy lower utility bills for many years to come!