If your home isn`t properly insulated you could be losing a lot of heat through the loft and the walls.

Here we will consider just three main areas where insulation can be cost effective, which means you will save energy (good for the environment), stay warmer, and save money.

The figures here relate to the current situation in the United Kingdom, but the general principles will apply everywhere, especially in colder climates.

Cavity wall insulation

Non-insulated homes lose around a third of their heat through the walls. Cavity wall insulation will significantly reduce the amount of energy you need to heat your home and savings of around £200 could be made on fuel bills. The higher the prices of fuel goes, the greater the savings.

Cavity wall insulation isn`t complicated, all that happens is the gap between the two walls of a house are filled with an insulating material, forced through from the outside.

It is estimated that savings of 15 percent can be made by having proper cavity wall insulation.

If you have cavity walls, even if you had to pay the full cost of insulating them, you should recover your costs in savings on heating in around three to four years. If the insulation is subsidised, of course, it will take much less time to make savings.

Right now, though, Loft Insulation & Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are available to all UK Homeowners and Private Tenants.

These grants available are part of the UK Government's new Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT).

Even if you are not entitled to a full grant you can still receive a partial grant. In fact people on qualifying benefits can even get the insulation work done absolutely free.

Contact your gas or electricity supplier direct and ask them about what they can offer. They should arrange for a surveyor to visit you, and depending on the results of the survey, arrangements are then made for an insulation company to call and do the required work.

If you rent a property privately you will probably be required to get written confirmation from your landlord that he/she agrees to you getting the work done, even if it won`t cost them anything.

Insulating your loft could save you around £225 per year on your energy bills if there is no insulation there at the moment. In an uninsulated home a quarter of your heat can be lost through the roof. Insulating your loft is a simple and effective way to reduce your heating bills.

If you want to do it yourself, be careful to use protective clothing, gloves and masks. Usually, though, loft insulation is best left to the experts.

Finally, double glazing, (or in some countries even triple glazing) can cut your heat lost through the windows by over half.

Single glazing is now considered outdated, and many attractive styles of double glazing units are on the market.

Fitting recommended double glazing can save around £150 a year on your heating bills. The air trapped between two panes of glass creates an insulating barrier which reduces heat loss, noise and condensation.