For many homeowners, the biggest burden on their finances across the winter months is the cost of keeping their home warm.

NHBC, the UK’s leading warranty provider and standards setting body for new build homes, offers the following advice to keep your home cosy and draught free for the winter:

Look after your boiler: Central heating boilers should be checked and serviced at least once a year by a Gas Safe Registered engineer to ensure they remain safe and efficient. Boilers fitted in the UK now have to be energy-efficient condensing boilers, as they waste the least amount of energy. So if you live in an older property with a boiler older than 10 years you may want to start thinking about having it replaced.

Reduce draughts: Make sure that your house is free of draughts. Check the weather-stripping on your windows and seal your doors to keep heat from escaping. At night, close your curtains to help insulate your windows against heat loss.

The energy-saving homes of the future will have no bins, rubbish-sorting robots and a self-cleaning bathroom, according to elaborate new research, says express.co.uk.

The futuristic design comes from a report by environmental services company Veolia Environmental named "Imagine 2050".

According to the report, homes in the future will not need any bins.

Nanoscopic robots will sort waste in the kitchen and then quickly eat away the rubbish once it has been separated into materials.

Alternative energy schemes could provide alternative investment for millions of UK savers but how do they work, what are the risks and what are the returns?

Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk

With recent energy bills rises, there has never been a better time to make our homes more efficient. But the best solution for you will depend on your home, how you use it, and your specific aims and budget.

The European Commission said Tuesday it would examine British government support for a massive 19-billion-euro nuclear plant to be built by French and Chinese firms, reports expatica.com.

London announced Monday plans for two reactors to be built by French energy giant EDF, backed by the world's leading nuclear power company, Areva of France, and Chinese nuclear firms CGN and CNNC.

Controversially, the deal guarantees the price for electricity produced over 35 years at about double the prevailing rate -- with the government to pay the difference if the market falls below the set level.

Despite the fact that two thirds of Brits think they’re paying too much for their energy bills, a new survey shows that many of us are still carelessly wasting huge amounts of energy and heat from our homes, reports skegnessstandard.co.uk.

Three quarters of the 2,040 UK adults questioned said they are frustrated by the year-on-year increase in energy costs, yet 13 per cent admit they have the heating on when they are not in the house and the same number confess to opening windows when the heating is on.

An additional £70m has been announced to protect households in some of the most deprived parts of Wales from fuel poverty, says newswales.co.uk.

Alun Davies, Minister for Natural Resources and Food, has confirmed that the Welsh Government will allocate £35m in 2014-15 and £35m in 2015-16 to encourage energy companies to invest in Wales.