- AOL Go Green
- Going financially green
- Energy efficiency tips
- Save on your bills

Growing awareness of the perils of global warming and the need to minimise our collective carbon footprint is spurring more people to 'go green'.

Companies have been quick to get in on the action - Tesco recently introduced a scheme for its 13million Clubcard holders giving them extra points for reusing shopping bags and BP is encouraging drivers to make their car 'carbon neutral' by spending £20 per year on a tree-planting scheme.

The Government is some way off its target of generating 20 per cent of the nation’s energy from green resources by 2020, but consumer patterns are rapidly changing colour with more making the switch to energy-efficient products and services.

While some changes to make your life more environmentally friendly can be expensive, others cost nothing - so you can start going green any budget.

Pull the plug!

It’s easy to make positive changes without forking out any money at all. If you’re not using something, pull the plug! The average household wastes £37 each year by leaving electrical appliances on standby.

Switching off a typical PC at night and weekends instead of leaving it on all day would slash the amount of electricity consumed by 80 per cent. Turning your thermostat down by just 1ºC could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent.

And by making a small investment it’s possible to save energy and recoup costs over the short-term.

Improve and save

Spend around £240 insulating your loft to the recommended depth of 270mm and you could save between £180 and £220 on your energy bills within the first year alone. Energy saving lightbulbs only produce light and not heat which means they use up to 80 per cent less energy than ordinary bulbs.

They last up to 12 times longer than an ordinary bulbs and save up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb – all for about £3.50 each.

And did you know that 70 per cent of the heat produced by your radiator merely heats the wall behind it? Make your rooms snugger by fitting heatkeeper radiator panels – cold spots will be a thing of the past and the radiators will warm up rooms twice as quickly as before.

Solar panels and turbines

If you’re feeling a tad more ambitious, how about generating your own electricity? Ofcom is taking measures to ensure that families who effectively turn their homes into mini-power stations will get a fair price for any surplus power they sell to the National Grid.

Make the most of what sun we have by installing solar panels that convert rays into electricity.

Nine panels, enough for the average home, cost around £9,000 including installation. High street chains such as Currys are now selling them. Solar water heating systems can work alongside many conventional systems and can provide almost all of your hot water during the summer months and around 50 per cent year round.

A rooftop wind turbine with a wing span of 5ft 9in costs around £1,500 (B&Q has just started selling them) and would generate enough power to run a TV, computer, fridge freezer and several lights.

The downside is that not much independent testing has taken place to date and you will need to speak to your local planning department to see if you need permission to erect one on your house.

Combi boilers, hydro generators and heat pumps

Combined heat and power boilers work like a normal gas boiler, but employ waste-heat to make electricity via an internal generator. It costs around £3,000 and generates about the same amount of power as a wind turbine.

If you happen to have a stream running near your house, investigate getting that water to power a fan turbine. Hydro generators cost from £1,000-2,000.

Ground source heat pumps work from hundreds of yards of pipes buried in the ground, filled with water that extract heat in the process. Water is piped into the home, and generally used for underfloor heating. This costs between £10,000 and £14,000 and can be a very cheap heating system to operate.

Becoming energy efficient can mean a hefty initial outlay, but pays dividends in the long term and there is help available for people keen to go green. The Department for Trade and Industry offers grants for householders through its low carbon buildings programme (www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk), which offers grants for a whole range of technologies.

The Energy Saving Trust manages the scheme, and also runs an online grants information database (www.est.org.uk) where you can find out what money is up for grabs in your area. If you’d prefer to speak to someone, call the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on 0800 512 012.