'I bought my existing house in 2009 and, although the walls had been well insulated in 1994 by the developer with 100mm expanded polystyrene fitted between the studs, there were improvements that could be made,' writes Brian John Griffiths, one of our shortlisted contributors.

'Firstly, I topped up the 100mm of glass wool loft insulation which had partially slumped with a further 150mm of an equivalent product.

'I ignored the Energy Audit’s recommendation to replace the ancient 1994 gas boiler with the latest condensing version as the machine was still in good working order and had been serviced annually. I am glad that I took my own advice as I am aware that over 100,000 British Gas customers reportedly had failures within a one week period during last year’s big freeze due to the condensing boiler’s external pipe freezing.

'Instead, I spent £2,700 on sliding sash secondary glazing to insulate the existing single glazed wooden sash and case units which must remain under the area’s Conservation status.

'The effect was dramatic and well in excess of the benefits indicated by the SAP 2005/9 calculations. The heating consumption reduced immediately along with noise and condensation levels, whilst comfort was substantially increased due to a total lack of draughts.

'This small 62m² cottage has only consumed 10,350 units of gas over the last 12 months and I received a rebate of £130 from my energy supplier following the aftermath of the 2010/11 winter. As a comparison, I am aware of a similarly-sized property in the area that consumes 19,000 units of primary energy per year.

'My advice is that money should be spent on eliminating draughts and cutting heat losses by insulation and other methods in the first instance before investing in replacement boilers which tend not to last as long as their 1990s counterparts.'

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