The £3 trick that’ll maintain you heat AND slash your payments: Our specialists reveal the vitality financial savings ideas that really work and precisely how they may prevent lots of of kilos

The mercury has dropped this week, meaning the usual winter fail-safes such as putting on a thick jumper or hugging a hot water bottle may no longer be enough to keep you toasty.

Temperatures as low as -12.5C (9.5F) have been recorded in England, so even the most hardy may want to turn the heating on for longer, or at a higher temperature, than usual.

The NHS says our homes should be heated to at least 18C (64F) in cold weather, especially for people who are elderly or unwell.

Energy bills rose to £1,758 on January 1 for the average home on a variable tariff because the price cap set by energy regulator Ofgem increased, so households are seeking ways to stay cosy without letting costs get out of control. There has been plenty of well-meaning advice, including Durham County Council telling elderly residents to ‘wiggle their toes’ and wear several layers of clothing.

Money Mail rounds up the little-known energy-saving tips that really work – and how much money they can cut from your bill.

Use a fan heater… if you’re only in one room

These portable heaters, which blow hot air around using a fan, can be expensive to run and are usually best avoided.

That is, unless you are spending most of your time in just one room. In this case, they can work out cheaper than turning the heating on for the whole house. It depends on how much energy the fan heater uses. Check the cost below.

Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at comparison website Uswitch, says: ‘Running a 1kW electric heater for two hours will cost you 55p in electricity, but could work out cheaper than heating the whole home with your central heating.’

This works best if your home is well insulated, so the heat doesn’t escape quickly. If you live in a big home with a boiler that is expensive to run, the fan heater in one room could well be cheaper.

The cost to run your central heating depends on how much energy your boiler uses, how efficient it is, how much you pay for gas and the size of your home. If you have a gas smart meter, try switching off other gas-using devices, run your boiler for an hour and it should show an hourly breakdown of the cost.

Tom Lyon, energy expert at Compare the Market, adds that simply turning down radiators in rooms you are not using can save up to £40 per year.

How much do your appliances cost to use?

Every appliance has a power rating in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW), with 1,000 watts equalling one kilowatt. This tells you the amount of electricity it uses.

Electricity is sold by kWh, often shown as ‘units’ on your bill. At the moment, Ofgem’s price cap means that people on a standard variable tariff pay just under 27 pence per kilowatt hour.

Those on a fixed tariff can find the amount they pay per kWh on their bill, where it might be called the ‘unit rate’.

You can work out how much an electrical appliance costs you to run by multiplying its wattage by the number of hours you use it, dividing it by 1,000 (if it is in watts – if it is kilowatts, skip this step) and multiplying it by the cost of electricity.

Take a 2,000W washing machine, which you use for two hours on a single day.

2,000W x 2 = 4,000W / 1,000 = 4p per kilowatt hour.

Multiply that by the cost of electricity at 27p = 108p or £1.08 for two hours’ use.

Extreme draught-proofing

If you really want to keep the heat in, a draught excluder at the bottom of your door is just the beginning. If you own an older home, sticking draught-proofing tape around windows, doors and other hatches can make a big difference. A six-metre self-adhesive roll can be bought at B&Q for as little as £3.

If you have a fireplace, keep out the chill with a chimney balloon. They cost from about £16 at DIY shops. You put it inside the chimney and inflate it to fill the hole.

Mr Lyon, of Compare the Market, estimates that fully draft-proofing your home can save £80 per year on the average energy bill.

Get a heater you can wear

Use an electric throw blanket to climb under when sitting on the sofa, instead of turning the heating on. They start from about £40 but are very cheap to run.

Uswitch’s Mr Gallizzi says: ‘Running a 100W electric blanket for two hours costs less than 6p in energy, making it a brilliantly cheap way to keep warm.’

Heated slippers, gloves and even jackets are also available.

Cut the boiler flow temperature

If you have a condensing combi boiler – which is likely if it was installed after April 2005 – a tweak of the settings could save you cash.

These boilers allow you to adjust what is known as the boiler flow temperature – how hot the water is when it leaves the boiler and goes to your radiators.

Mr Lyon says: ‘A study by Nesta found that for homes with a combi boiler, reducing the flow temperature, to around 60C (140F) rather than 70-80C (158-176F) can help to cut gas consumption by around 6-8pc.’

Uswitch says the average annual gas bill is £682 per year, so this saving could be roughly £55.

Make sure you don’t turn it down below 75C for radiators and 60C for hot water, though, as this is the temperature at which the legionella bacteria is killed.

If you have a hot water tank, adding an 80mm thick insulation jacket, which costs about £22, will keep the water warmer for longer and could allow you to reduce the time you spend with the heating on.

Switch your supplier

Fixed energy deals went away when energy prices soared in 2022, but many deals are available now that are cheaper than suppliers’ default variable tariff.

Speak to your supplier or use comparison websites such as Uswitch or Compare the Market to check if you could save.

It’s not typically advisable to switch if you’re already in a fixed contract, as providers charge early exit fees – though they can’t charge them in the last 49 days.

• Do you have a genius way to keep warm while saving money? Get in touch: [email protected].