Could a roll of tin foil prove to be a better bet than the Green Deal to beat rising gas and electricity bills?

Silver foil placed down the back of a radiator will reflect heat back into a room rather than letting it uselessly escape through the walls of a house. Do-it-yourself buffs suggest wrapping the foil round pieces of cardboard which have been cut to the right size to make it easier to fit.

As an alternative, you can buy specialist radiator foil – which can be stuck on with strong wallpaper paste – for around £7 a roll from B&Q and builders merchants such as screwfix.com.

Homebase sells a four-metre roll with adhesive pads for just £5.99, or pay a bit more for Eco Savers radiator insulation foil, which comes with 10 metres of self-adhesive magnetic tape for easy installation and removal, and is available from several online retailers including ecogreenstore.co.uk at £14.24 a roll.

Celia Locks, a writer from North London, told us: "I've put some bog-standard 30cm tin foil behind the centre of the radiator in my extremely cold kitchen, fixing it with a bit of sticky tape at each end, and am astonished at the result. It's as though I've turned on another radiator."

However, the Energy Saving Trust says that foil behind radiators is not worth doing if you already have cavity wall insulation.

Meanwhile, make sure the heat from your radiators is not obstructed by curtains, furniture or drying clothes and towels.

What inexpensive ways have you found to keep warm?