The energy efficiency upgrade given by switching from single to double glazing is 'remarkable', according to comments made this week by an industry expert.

Phil Turley, business manager for PVC-u window and door specialist Kommerling UK, said that boosting the glazing that surrounds your home can have fantastic benefits for both heat retention, draft exclusion and can also have a positive impact on your fuel bills.

"For some years now, [the best area to focus on] has been double glazing - if you change from single to double, the upgrade in efficiency is remarkable. We take pictures of houses with single and double glazing using thermal imaging, and you can see the difference."

And as a result, demand for ever more developed window and door units is driving the technology to become more affordable, efficient and refined.

"After normal double glazing, there's gas-filled double glazing, where you manufacture and insert an inert gas - usually argon - and that acts as a thermal barrier," said the expert.

"The next thing on the list is triple glazing, but that's yet to come into this country in a big way. We're basically about five years behind Germany, although we're sort of creeping up now. Pretty much everything out there is triple glazed and we're just starting to pick up that particular baton. "

And it's a similar story when it comes to switching your home's traditional lighting and replacing it with LED light bulbs.

Although the initial cost is a little more than paying for traditional incandescents, the payoff on your electricity bill means LED lighting will pay for itself within one to five years, with a lightbulb lifespan of some 15 years.

And because of ever more sophisticated developments in LED bulb technology, the light they give out is as instant, bright and warm as any other bulb you're used to.