What is an EPC rating?

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), are essential for buying, renting, and selling homes in the UK. What is an EPC rating? What is an EPC rating?

An EPC rating is simply a review of the energy efficiency of a property. These ratings are primarily used by potential buyers and renters to quickly determine how much their electricity bills will be in their new home or apartment.

EPCs can be done in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland by EPC assessors (or ‘Domestic Energy Assessors’ in Scotland). Before preparing the EPC, the EPC assessor will conduct a short survey of your house. The house is then placed on an A-to-G colour-coded scale, with A being the most efficient and having the lowest fuel bills.

The following factors will affect the EPC rating of your house:

Energy consumed per m2.
The annual carbon dioxide emission level (in tonnes)

The EPC is valid for 10 years after it’s issued. If your EPC has expired, you will need to have a new one issued before you can rent or sell your house.

The EPC register allows anyone to access an EPC of a house online. This is useful for comparing future properties. Prospective buyers should not have to pay any fees if the EPC is provided by the landlord or house seller.

There’s more to it than that. EPCs can also be used by homeowners to increase the efficiency, running costs, and overall comfort of their homes.
A high EPC rating is crucial

Every house must have an EPC, except for listed buildings. Before it can be sold. It makes it easier to compare houses, especially when buyers have to choose between multiple homes. At a glance, most people would choose the green, high-scoring property with an A rating over the red, low-scoring one with a G rating.

Don’t worry if this is the case. The Energy Performance Certificate will explain what steps you can take to improve your EPC rating. You will be able to sell your home if you improve the energy efficiency of it.

After you have made the changes, it is a good idea for a new survey to reflect them.

In order to rent out their properties to new tenants or renews, landlords in England or Wales must have an EPC rating of band E. EPCs are also required to claim government incentives like the Renewable Heat Incentive.
Energy Performance Certificate

We’ll explain what the EPC means once you have found it for your house, current or future. This example shows a 3-bedroom house that is being built from scratch.
Energy costs estimates

The Energy Performance Certificate’s first section explains and highlights how much energy the house will cost. It is broken down into three categories: heating, lighting, and hot water. These figures are based upon energy prices at the time that the EPC was issued. Don’t be surprised to pay more for energy than the EPC estimates. These running costs do not include extra appliances like TVs and computers.

Energy efficiency rating

The EPC rating is then given on an ‘energy efficiency’ scale. This scale is similar to what you see on modern appliances. This scale ranges from A through G. A is the most efficient and G the least efficient. The more efficient the system, the lower the running cost.

A ‘potential rating’ is an additional rating that indicates how efficient the house would be if certain improvements were made.

You can do the following top actions

This section is best suited for homeowners who are looking to make home improvements. The EPC assessor will recommend the best energy efficiency measures, their cost, the savings over three years, and whether or not they are available under the Green Deal initiative. These improvements are often the easiest to implement and most cost-effective, but they can have a significant impact on your EPC rating. The EPC example is for a new building. Most of the energy efficiency measures were implemented during installation to comply with current Building Regulations.

Summary of the features of a house

This section of Energy Performance Certificate describes the different elements of the building such as the walls, windows and heating, and then describes its type.

The EPC assessor will provide an accurate estimate for elements that make it difficult to determine the energy efficiency. This usually depends on the age of your house. This will allow you to identify the location of the house by looking at the description for that particular element.

Cavity insulation is an example of an area where an EPC assessor might be called upon. Without being able to take a hammer to the walls of your home, it’s hard to determine how efficient they are in terms of energy efficiency. EPC assessors base their calculations on the age and requirements of Building Regulations. Keep any documentation of energy efficiency improvements handy during your EPC survey!

Sources of low- and zero-carbon energy

This section of the EPC focuses on energy sources that emit little to no carbon dioxide, as the title suggests. These could include biomass boilers or ground-source heat pumps.

Your home’s heating demand

This table shows how much heating is required in the form space heating or hot water. The table provides an estimate of the heat demand if you have a poorly insulated home (which most people are in the UK).

These numbers are used to calculate the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Recommendations

The Energy Performance Certificate’s section on ‘top actions’ explains more. These recommendations are cumulative. This guide will show you how to improve your home’s EPC rating. The EPC calculates the annual savings and the impact on the overall EPC rating.

Buildings’ environmental impact

The final paragraph provides a troubling estimate of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by your home. It follows a brief section on the EPC assessor as well as the certificate. The reduced estimate is then provided once the improvements have been made.