As you can see from the above picture, there are four main areas of heat loss in a house.

If you live in a flat or maisonette, you may not have a roof or ground floor to lose heat through - although top floor flats will still lose heat through the roof and ground floor flats will still lose heat through the floor.

The above figures are the generally accepted average figures for an uninsulated property. They will vary according to the construction of the building. For example, a metal roof will lose more heat than a tile and timber one.

Do you ever wonder why seagulls will perch on one roof in the street when the weather is cold? Well, seagulls aren't all daft - they're sitting on the warmest roof, the one with the poorest insulation. If you have a loft you can minimise your heat loss by installing loft insulation.

A lot of heat is lost through the walls. Most homes built since the 1920's are of cavity wall construction. This gives you a chance to do something about the heat loss by investing in cavity wall insulation.

Make sure that your home is properly draughtproofed. This is the quickest, cheapest and most cost-effective way of cutting down on heat loss through doors and windows.