Copyright (c) 2010 Paul Sherrington

Since 2004, domestic energy bills have gone up by a staggering 75%. And more is to come. The Government watchdog Ofgem, have warned that the wholesale price for gas is likely to increase by 13% by next spring, leading to average annual gas bills alone going up by about £81 to £706.

If we add the likely increases to our electricity bills as well, the situation is more worrying. Mark Todd, the director of energyhelpline.com, warned that fuel bills - gas and electricity - over the next 10 years are likely to rise by "50-100% overall, meaning the bill for an average home would rise from £1,150 now to between £1,725 and £2,300 by 2020"

With ever higher energy bills looming, the easiest way to reduce your bills is to use less energy. But that doesn't mean living in a cold home, or installing expensive technologies such as solar panels. You can have a warm home and lower bills, without having to spend thousands of pounds.

Typical houses in the UK lose around 60% of their heat through the roof and walls. The National Insulation Association (NIA) is raising awareness not only of the amount of heat lost through inadequate insulation, but also the amount of money that householders can save by having their home properly insulated, in most cases supported by generous insulation grants.

With the average family spending over £1,000 a year on heating and powering their homes, insulation provides the householder with a quick win.

It makes sense to keep as much heat in your house as possible. With home insulation, your heating can be turned on less often and for shorter periods. It's like wrapping your house in an extra blanket! And there are insulation grants that can cover some or all of the cost of having it installed.

The two most cost effective insulation measures are Loft Insulation and Cavity Wall insulation. With the insulation grants available, a householder can expect to pay just:

- £149 for loft insulation - £199 for cavity insulation - £298 for both loft and cavity insulation

If a family is heating their home with a gas boiler central heating system, the energy bill savings could be around:

- £110 per year from Cavity Wall Insulation - Between £40 and £145 from Loft Insulation, depending upon how much loft insulation is already in place

(savings figures provided by the Energy Saving Trust)

There are currently 9 million cavity walls that require insulation. Although many houses have some insulation in their lofts, it is often too little and/or very old. It is estimated that 15 million lofts would benefit from new loft insulation.

But research carried out by the National Insulation Association suggests that the majority of people are unaware that 60% of heat produced by a heating system is lost through poorly insulated roofs and cavity walls. New research by Rockwool suggests that this 'lost' energy costs UK householders £2.9 billion on energy bills, and releases 15,529,410 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

So why not take advantage of the existing Insulation Grants and invest in Loft and Cavity Wall Insulation. It will both save money, and make a valuable contribution towards saving the planet.