Customers of British Gas, Octopus, Eon, EDF and OVO told they can get £130 boost with one simple trick

Go easy on that thermostat.

Considering most of the UK is experiencing a big freeze at the moment, with temperatures reaching as low as -10 in some places and several weather warnings being issued, people are reaching for that 'heating on' switch in their homes a lot more than usual.

With that, unfortunately, comes a great deal of anxiety as the cost of heating your home has increased greatly in the last couple of years.

What if a group of researchers from one of the UK's top universities told you that one simple change could remove that fear you feel when the gas bill comes through the letterbox?

That's exactly what a group of experts from University College London told Birmingham Live.

According to them, simply knocking the thermostat down by just one degree UK households could reduce your energy bill by as much as £130 a year - giving a much needed boost.

They advise that you should aim to keep your home at an ideal temperature of between 18C and 22C. For vulnerable or elderly people, it should never be below 18C.

The problem is that many of us rush to the thermostat when we feel the cold and crank the temperature right up to somewhere between 23C and 26C.

Some people adopt the logic that you need to give your boiler a high temperature to aim for, in order to get the most heat out of your radiators.

However, bringing it down 1C or slightly more will still keep your home sufficiently warm, but could deliver big savings on energy bills.

According to home energy specialist Llewellyn Kinch, the ideal temperature while you're up and active at home is about 20C.

"You should find this to be about right for moderate levels of activity in the house," she said.

"Set your heating to 20C when you’re in and active. This temperature strikes a good balance between comfort and winter energy efficiency. If 20C feels chilly, wear warm clothing or use a blanket rather than cranking up the heat.

Ms Kinch, the CEO of solar energy experts Make My House Green, continued: "Dropping the temperature at night for eight hours can save up to 10% on heating bills annually. If it’s cold outside and you switch your home heating off entirely when you’re asleep or out, the house can get very cold, and requires a lot of expensive energy to heat back up. So just tweak it down when you don’t need it to stay cosy - and save."