Typically your Assessor will obtain almost all of the information they need by just going around the home. The data entered into the software is based on evidence gathered during the visit.

Your Assessor must take photographic or obtain documentary information which is required for audit reasons. If no proof is gathered then the Assessor has to enter the term “as built” in to the software. In such a case the software will use what the property would have been built with based on it’s age.

If you can provide documentary proof of these sorts of improvements to the property then these can be shown on the EPC and is likely to increase the rating of your EPC.

• Double glazing improvements made to the majority of the property – Fensa certificate, or dated receipt from the installers.

• Any wall insulation External/Cavity/Internal– Any guarantees, or receipts from the installer.

• Solar PV or Solar Thermal – An MCS certificate from contractor.

• Sloping ceiling insulation/ floor insulation – receipt from contractors showing thickness installed.

• Loft conversions year it was built – building control sign off, dated architectural drawings.

The 3 mains things that have the main impact on the energy rating are:

• The levels of insulation in the property.
• The heating system.
• The main source of fuel for heating the property

Main Source of Fuel
UK properties are generally heated by either of these fuel sources: gas, peak rate electric, off peak electric, oil, bulk or bottled LPG. So for example a property or home heated by gas would cost you somewhere in the region of 4.64 pence per kwh and the same property or home heated by bottled LPG 23p per kwh. {*source 2019 Nottingham Energy Partnership.} So using a typically semi using around 12,000 kwh to heat the property, it would cost you £696 to heat by gas compared to £2,760 for bottled LPG.. Therefore running costs impacts the Energy Performance rating rating. Higher costs equates to lower ratings.

Levels Of Insulation
Good levels of insulation ensures that the demand on the heating system is kept down, and it also results in a more comfortable home with lower running costs.

The Heating System
An efficient heating system with good controls such as room thermostat, thermostatic valves and programmer helps to keep energy bills down. This all contributes to a better rating on the EPC.

Double glazing
This will come as a shock, but double glazing does not have as major an impact on the EPC as most people would imagine. Certainly not nearly as much as the heating, the insulation and the type of fuel used in the property as mentioned before. Where it can have a greater impact, is when your property is upgraded from single glazing to double glazing. When you are improving from pre 2002 double glazing, to current double glazing, this would only show as a small increase in the energy rating of the property.

With double glazing the perception is typically noticed by the customer in terms of comfort from a decrease in draughts. Because the EPC doesn’t consider the condition of any particular item, this comfort gain is not measured.

 

Low Energy Lights
Again low energy lights does help the Energy Performance Certificate as they are a low cost improvement that makes a contribution to lower energy costs but nowhere near the same contribution as heating, insulation, and heating controls.