One of the more popular recent types of home improvements are those that help to get the household bills down. Some are large investments like new boilers, while others cost just a few pounds, like a new, energy saving letterbox.

You’d be surprised how the cheaper jobs can mount up too. To take the letter box example, the brushes in the cavity help to prevent draughts getting in, and heat getting out. During the winter months, you can find the savings from a simple improvement like this can save you as much as replacing poorly fitting windows, as they’re essentially doing the same job.

There’s a lot of ways to get these types of home improvements paid for too, whether it’s loft insulation, replacement windows, boiler replacements or little things like letter boxes and draught excluders.

For a start, there’s the government’s energy saving programme, the Green Deal. If you’re on benefits or pension credits, there’s also the Affordable Warmth programme, and there’s some near universal opportunities under the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO).

Doing a little research into the available funding could saving you hundreds, if not thousands of pounds on the cost of getting energy efficient. That’s before you even think about the savings on your bill, and that’s the motivation for doing the work in the place! There’s even the chance that you’ll create the side effect of putting a bit of value onto your home too.