An INVENTION made in North Yorkshire is set to slash the nation's household energy bills.

Stan Whetstone, a 61-year-old inventor from Barlby, near Selby, has begun to market the Tadpole, his patented green device.

When tagged on to existing central heating systems, it is claimed the Tadpole will significantly increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions and energy bills.

Stan, the managing director of Aquastan Heating Ltd of Barlby, says that by fitting a £195 Tadpole to his own gas heating system at home, he has seen an improvement in efficiency by about 30 per cent over the last 12 months.

And he estimates that he has slashed his household CO2 emissions by as much as two-thirds of a tonne a year, bringing down his heating bills from an average of £600 per year to £420.

The invention arrives on the market just as the government's Home Information Packs (HIPs) are extended to three-bedroom homes.

The packs must include an energy performance certificate, with advice on how to cut carbon fuel emissions and fuel bills with every house sale - leading to Stan's claims that his Tadpole could make houses more attractive to buyers.

He said: "The Tadpole works on the simplest of principles, improving the efficiency of heating systems by minimising the dissolved air which makes the water in boilers slower to heat.

"With the air removed, boilers reach higher temperatures much faster, resulting in much less energy from gas, electric or oil being required.

"As added benefits, The Tadpole works silently, without vibrations, and even reduces the need to bleed systems, as the oxygen which contributes to the corrosion is no longer present.

"It can be fitted to most central heating systems which operate on a stored water or an immersion heater' principle, whether gas, electric or oil is the energy source."

He calculates that if just ten per cent of the 13 million UK homeowners with a gas boiler heating system "tagged on a Tadpole" to improve efficiency by 30 per cent, the net reduction of CO2 emissions could be more than 1.25 million tonnes a year.

He said: "The average household gas central heating bill of £700 claimed by National Energy Action could be brought to below £500 with the use of a Tadpole, although savings would vary depending on the age, size and type of heating system."

Having patented the Tadpole last December, he has also run successful pilots of the device with a firm in Northumberland and at the home of a heating engineer in Nottingham.

Both reported "immediate and dramatic" savings.

As a result a number of distributors in East and West Yorkshire, the north-east and the Midlands are already supplying the unit.

It is available to buy on the internet at www.tagonatadpole.com.