If the mantra for losing weight is ‘eat less, move more’ than the one for energy saving should be ‘use less, save more’! One of the main benefits of following green practices within the home is the fact that it helps you to reduce your monthly outgoings as well as helping the environment. With this in mind, we’ve put together some top gadgets and technological changes you can make in the home to save you cash as well as energy.

1) Products that help you monitor and cap the energy used by the existing appliances in your home are inexpensive and can help you make changes instantly. Look out for gadgets like this one that monitor the energy being used by items such as your fridge, washing machine and TV as these will prompt you to be more economical with use and help to remind you to turn off appliances you aren’t using. In much the same way, timers will help to ensure you don’t waste energy by forgetting to turn off appliances or keeping them on standby.

2) Keeping heat within your home will help keep energy costs down and make sure you stay cosy and warm in winter. You can help trap heat with your soft furnishings choices – choosing carpets and lined curtains or thermal window blinds. You can also use gadgets such as draft excluders and ecoflaps for letterboxes to plug gaps that could let heat escape.

3) You may want to consider making some changes to your home – albeit some minor ones. By installing your own solar panels you can help reduce your home’s carbon footprint and lower your energy bills to boot. You should also investigate properly insulating your home to increase efficiency. Don’t forget to inform your insurer if you are making changes in the home though, many insurers are like Castle Cover home insurance in the UK and will require you to tell them of changes as part of your agreement.

4) Upgrading your appliances and heating system may be a short term financial pain, but it could lead to serious financial gain. Look out for energy saving boilers, washing machines, air conditions, dryers and fridges that can substantially reduce your energy costs. According to official figures, heating and cooling accounts for 56 per cent of the energy used in the typical US home, so increasing your appliance efficiency can go a long way towards making your home greener.

One of the great developments in the green energy revolution is the notion of mobile energy sources. In our new mobile world, running out of power for our devices is to be avoided at all costs. Now, we have plenty of new options for mobile power such as battery packs, but new devices that rely upon kinetic energy maybe the coolest developments yet. Here’s a recent review of such a gadget:

Set to release later this year, the nPower PEG keeps your gadgets charge while you roam Gotham’s rooftops. The PEG harnesses the kinetic energy of your movement to keep any device that can be charged via USB at full. The thing that sets the PEG apart from other kinetic chargers is its shape and size. It fits perfectly into a backpack or satchel. If you’re in a pinch you could always just stuff this bad boy in the front of your superhero garb. Is that a PEG in your pants?

This will definitely be one of the coolest green products of the year.