Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), which are required for the UK’s sale, purchase, and rental of homes, are an integral part of UK home ownership. What is an EPC Rating? But what is an EPC Rating?
EPC Rating is short for an evaluation of a property’s energy efficiency. They’re used primarily by potential buyers or renters to see how much their monthly energy costs will be in their new property.
EPCs are done by EPC assessors in England and Wales. In Northern Ireland, the ‘Domestic Energy Assessors’ (in Scotland they must be government-approved organizations). Before producing an EPC, the EPC assessor must conduct a brief survey of the house. The house then gets placed on a color-coded scale A to G. A is the most efficient, and has the lowest fuel costs.
Your house’s EPC rating is dependent on:
Energy used per m2.
The amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted annually in tonnes
The EPC is valid once it has been issued. You will need a new EPC if your EPC is more than 10 year old before you can either sell or rent your home.
Online access to an EPC can be obtained for free from the EPC registry. They’re useful in comparing potential homes. It is the responsibility of the seller or landlord to provide a valid EPC. The prospective buyers shouldn’t pay anything.
There is more to it. EPCs are a great tool for homeowners to improve efficiency, running cost, and so the overall comfort of their house.
An EPC rating of high quality is important
A valid EPC is required for every house, other than listed buildings. EPC ratings allow for easier comparisons between houses, especially when potential buyers are faced with difficult decisions between many homes. It is easy to see that almost everyone would prefer the A-rated, green property to the G-rated, red.
If this is the case, the Energy Performance Certificate can help you determine what steps to take to increase your EPC rating. It is a good idea to improve your home’s energy efficiency before you sell.
After making the necessary improvements, it’s a good idea have a survey updated to reflect the new changes.
EPC ratings are mandatory for landlords in England, Wales and Scotland. EPCs are required for government incentives such the Renewable Heat Incentive, (RHI) and other government incentives.
Energy Performance Certificate
We will explain the meaning of the EPC once you have located it (you can do this by visiting the EPC register). This EPC is for a house with 3 bedrooms.
Estimated energy prices
The Energy Performance Certificate’s first section describes and highlights the house’s estimated energy cost. This is broken down into 3 categories: heating, lighting, or hot water. These figures are based only on current energy prices at time the EPC was issued. It is possible that you will end up paying more for your energy because the cost of electricity is constantly changing. These running expenses don’t account for extra appliances, such as televisions.
Energy efficiency rating
Next, you will see the EPC rating for the house on the “energy efficiency” scale. It is the same scale that you see on modern appliances. This scale runs from A to A, with A representing the most efficient and G representing the worst. The greater the efficiency, lower the running expenses.
There is also a potential rating, which shows how efficient the house might be if the improvements are made.
Here are the top actions that you can take
This section is most suitable for homeowners who want to make improvements to their homes. Here, the EPC assessor recommends energy efficiency measures. He also gives estimates on the cost of installing them, as well as the potential savings over 3 year. Finally, he will let you know if they are eligible for the Green Deal. The easiest and fastest improvements can make a huge difference to your EPC rating. Because the EPC for an example is of a newly built building, many of its energy efficiency measures have been covered during installation in accordance with modern Building Regulations.
Summary of all the features in a house
This section of Energy Performance Certificate explains the various elements of the building. For example, the walls and windows. It also describes its type, energy efficiency rating, and the heating system.
EPC assessors can provide detailed estimates for elements that are hard to calculate the energy efficiency. This is typically based on the age and condition of the house. You will be able to see the “(assumed”)” in the element’s description.
A cavity insulation is one example of where an EPC inspector will perform this assessment. It is not possible to measure how energy efficient your walls are without going through them one by one. EPC assessors would base their calculations upon the age of your house and the requirements of Building Regulations at that time. Keep any documentation regarding energy efficiency upgrades handy for the EPC survey!
Sources of low and zero carbon energy
As the title implies, this section of EPC deals with energy sources that produce little or no carbon emission. These could be biomass boilers, ground or air-source heat pumps.
Your home’s heating demand
The table gives an estimate of how much heating will need (kWh per annum) to heat the house using space heating and hotwater. The table shows how much heating you will need to reduce heat demand in poorly insulated houses (as it is in most of the UK).
These figures are also used to calculate the Renewable Heat Incentive.
Recommendations
This section of Energy Performance Certificate goes into greater detail about the ‘top steps you can take’. The recommendations given in this section are cumulative. This serves as a guideline to help you improve your home’s EPC rating. EPC calculates how much money could be saved annually and the effect this measure would have upon the overall EPC rating.
The environmental impact buildings have
Finally, the last paragraph contains a disturbing estimate of how much carbon dioxide you home has produced. Following this is the lower estimate after the aforementioned improvements have been made.
