Winter has well and truly arrived. The cold weather is a shock to the system, especially when I head out the door at 4am.

Utility bills can really blow out in winter when heaters are on, showers are hotter and longer, and lights are used to brighten up dark mornings and afternoons. Here’s how you can save money and the environment this season.

Use an efficient heater

The most economical way to heat your home is natural gas. Gas heaters can be expensive to buy, but are cheaper to run and produce less greenhouse gas emissions than electric heathers. They’re great for heating big living areas. When buying a gas heater look at the energy star rating, the more efficient the better.

Portable electric heaters like bar radiators and fan heaters are cheap to buy but costly to run, so only use them to warm small rooms for short periods. If you have central heating make sure you can select which rooms to heat, so you don’t waste energy heating the entire house.

Heat smart

Be careful you don’t overheat your home. If you’re cold, put on a jumper. Energy Australia says the temperature of a heated room in winter should be 18 to 21 degrees. Every degree above that you program your heater adds about 10 per cent to your heating costs.

You can also cut your heating bill by closing doors to rooms you don’t use, opening curtains to let in the sun during the day then closing them at night, and sealing any draughts around windows or doors. Program your heater to switch on 20 minutes before you wake up then turn it off 20 minutes before you leave the house or go to bed. Use your electric blanket to warm your bed and then flick it off before you go to sleep.

Save hot water

Hot water accounts for around a third of the average household’s energy use.

Resist the temptation for longer showers this winter. The average shower is eight minutes…try halving that. Use hot water less often, but in bigger quantities at a time. This cuts the amount of hot water left sitting in your pipes to go cold. Do things like take consecutive showers and bath the kids at the same time. If you have an electric hot water heater turn it off when you go away on holidays.

Consider using state and federal government incentives to switch to a solar hot water system. It can cut your hot water bill by up to 90 per cent and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

Insulate

Insulation keeps your house warmer in winter, cooler in summer and can cut your heating and cooling costs by a third. It’s one of the easiest ways to save energy and the environment

If you have recently installed insulation your home will be a couple of degrees warmer this winter. Don’t automatically turn up the heat now cold weather has set in. Origin Energy says wait until the minimum overnight temperature is forecast to fall to about 10 degrees.