Hold your hand at the bottom of the door, right down near the mat or floor. Cold? Then a draft excluder will probably help save energy: that cool air is replacing the warm air in your hallway or room and your heating has to make up the difference.

While a front door draft excluder is often a brush-strip (basically, a long row of bristles), one for a living room or bedroom can be a fancy thing bought from a fashionable outlet – or it can just as easily be a rolled-up towel: they don’t have to be expensive to work!

One snag is that, each time the door is opened, the draft excluder has to be pushed back into place. There’s nothing to stop someone pinning one onto the back of the door though. Set it at the right height so it just touches the floor and you’d have an automatic draft excluder. Luxury!