THE HORLER family live in a large four-bedroom house in a particularly chilly, windswept spot outside Sligo town, so it's not surprising that their heating bills were sky high until they signed up for the Power of One Street 2008 challenge.

The Horlers had been keen to become more energy efficient, but the busy lives of both parents - Oisín (26) has started a new business from home and Natalie (25) looks after their three young children - meant they didn't get a chance to put their good intentions into action until they began the energy makeover challenge.

The first phase of the challenge focused on space heating.

Following the advice of their energy coaches, the Horlers made simple changes to the way they heated their home, with impressive results.

"Some of the main things were closing the doors behind you [to conserve heat] and . . . making sure to tuck the curtains under the sill so the draught couldn't get in and the warmth couldn't get out at night," says Natalie.

They also turned their heating thermostat down a few degrees, only heated the rooms they were using rather than the entire house, and stopped using the heating at night-time.

"The kids put warm pyjamas on and had hot-water bottles in bed instead," Natalie says.

By making a few simple changes to their behaviour, the Horlers managed to reduce their heating requirements by 32 per cent without any impact on their comfort.

Not only will they save €450 a year in heating bills if they keep up their newly-acquired good habits, but their annual carbon emissions will fall by 1.7 tonnes.

Did their children mind the new energy-saving rules?

Not at all, says Natalie. "The only change that actually affected them at all was closing the doors, and all you have to do is tell them a couple of times and then they start telling us, 'you have to close the door'!"

Would they recommend their energy-conscious behaviour to others? "Absolutely. It really is worth it," Natalie says. "It really isn't that difficult. It's just a matter of keeping it in your head throughout the day, just being aware of it."

For more information on the Power of One Street challenge, and to find out whether the Horlers manage to cut their heating and electricity bills in the remaining energy challenges, log on to www.powerofonestreet.ie