Winter s around the corner and our house gets very cold. What can we do to make it warmer without spending anything

A.� There are a number of things you can do that will cost you very little or even nothing at all. For instance, just because it is winter doesn't mean we don't get sunny days. When they do occur, open doors in the sunny rooms and let the warm air circulate around the house. It could save as much as �5 per year.

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Another tip that could save you three times that annually is simply remembering to draw the curtains at night to keep warm air in. If you have radiators next to windows tuck the curtains behind them.

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Heat leaks out through party or outside walls so insulate behind them with kitchen foil so the heat is reflected back into the house. Another trick is to fit shelves above radiators so the heat deflects into the centre of the room rather than rising up to the ceiling.

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A.� There are three main culprits. The worst are walls, accounting for up to 35 per cent of all the heat lost from some properties. A further 20 per cent finds its way out via cracks under doors, poorly fitting windows and floors while the same amount escapes through the roof.

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A.� Good insulation is the key. Installing cavity wall insulation may set you back quite a lot of money initially, but it is estimated that it can cut average domestic fuel bills by anything between �75 and �150 a year.

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It is said that the nation could shut down one nuclear power station if everyone insulated their lofts with an eight-inch layer of insulation material. However, despite possible savings of 20 per cent on heating bills for a relatively small outlay a recent survey by Which found that only 14 per cent of the country has done so.

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A.� It is a sad fact that annual an estimated 30,000 people, the majority on low incomes, die of winter-related illnesses and the treating people who get ill who live in cold or poorly insulated homes costs around �1 billion per year.

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The government is trying to address this with free grants to improve insulation and heating for three groups; the over-60s, the chronically sick and disabled and families with children of under 16 in receipt of one or more state benefits. There are grants of up to �700 available for insulation and up to �2,000 to the over-60s to improve heating.

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The grants are available to homeowners and tenants of private landlords. Call 0800 9520600 for more information.

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