With energy bills increasing, using water efficiently is a simple way to save money.

Each person in the UK currently uses about 150 litres of water every day, and much of this is wasted.

Around 30% of the average household’s gas bills are spent on heating water – that’s around £200 a year – and the cost could be even higher if you use an electric immersion heater.

If we only use the hot water that we need for daily tasks, such as having showers, doing laundry and washing up, there are significant savings to be made on our energy bills.

On average, hot water use accounts for more than a fifth of a home’s carbon footprint and makes up 5% of the UK’s total CO2 emissions. If every UK home reduced their hot water use by just 5%, the CO2 saving would be equivalent to taking nearly 600,000 cars off the roads.

The Energy Saving Trust recently launched a new water saving advice service in Cardiff with Britain’s Got Talent’s Shaheen Jafargholi, thanks to EU Life+ funding. The free advice service will help consumers understand how much energy is used in heating up water in their homes and show them how to reduce their energy bills through practising water efficiency.