Heating and cooling our houses is usually a huge expense for any household. And anything that requires energy from man-made sources has a negative effect upon the environment.

If you can't afford costly insulation for your house, here's some tips for conserving the energy you do use in heating and cooling.

- Every gap in your house that leads to the outside costs you money. Consider using weather strips at the bottom of external doors; they only cost a few bucks and will pay for themselves very quickly.

- Heavy drapes over windows will dramatically reduce your heating and cooling costs; with the added benefit of cutting down on noise.

- Use putty to seal gaps around loose window panes

- If you have bare floors, rugs can help with insulation

- Turn off your heater 15 minutes before going to bed if possible. This can save dozens of hours in heating time over a season.

- Compromise a little. You don't need to be wearing shorts in winter :). Put on a jumper and other warm clothing and knock back your heat setting a notch.

- Heat rises, so a ceiling fan during winter can help push heat down.

Do you have information you can add to this article on heating and cooling in relation to the environment? If so, we'd love to read it; please add your comments below.