If you are selling or renting a property, then you must by law give the new resident a valid EPC or Energy performance certificate.

The epc certificate is then registered on a Government website and is valid for 10 years.

Epc rating explained 

The purpose of the epc is to provide the new resident with easy to understand information about the property that shows the amount of energy it needs to run the property along with improvements that can be made to lowest the running costs and reduce the energy bills.

Lower energy bills also mean lower carbon emissions which contributes to a cleaner and more sustainable environment.

At EPC Bedford, the main information that makes up the EPC, is gathered from information at the property about the:

• Heating system and controls
• The levels of insulation in the property
• The amount of low energy lighting in the home
• The type of glazing present in the property
• The amount of heat loss areas from the walls, roofs and floors

The EPC is not a condition report and does not take into account the condition of any particular item. Below are the rating bands of the EPC.

Home EPC Rating Bands

What is a good EPC rating ?

An average UK property has an EPC rating of a D60. So anything above this could be seen as a good rating. This rating is comparing all properties across the board.

The EPC also shows the maximum potential rating of the particular property against its actual rating. So the nearer a property can get to it’s maximum rating can also be seen as good for that specific property.

Property example showing low rating & potential.

If your property has a low epc rating – here’s what to do.

Generally properties rated F or G would be defined as poor. Check out our other blogs on EPC rating G or EPC rating F which gives more specific advice on what to do if you have a low rating property.

The 3 main things that you can to to increase the energy rating in a significant way are:

• Improve the insulation
• Upgrade the heating system and controls
• Use a cheap source of fuel – avoid using peak rate electricity, or LPG.

 It’s advisable to contact a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor who will be able to give you specific advice on your property.

How To Generally Improve The EPC rating

The only legal reason you are required to improve the rating of the EPC, is if the property is for rental and the rating is an F or G. These properties cannot legally be let and the Landlord has to bring the rating up to at least an E39.

You can follow the recommendations on the EPC if they are straight forward to implement. However I would also recommended getting specific information from a qualified energy assessor.

You will probably have to pay for a specific report on your property and the Assessor can give you many different scenarios and will save you money in the long run.

These things will lower the energy rating of the property by being there.

In general, improving the property epc rating is normally achieved by either adding things that are not there, or improving things that are there.

But did you know there are 2 things that may already be there that will be lowering your energy rating. They are:

1. Open chimneys

Having an open chimney is equivalent to a hole in the house that is permanently losing heat. These really trash the rating and reduce the house epc rating by as much as 8 points.              

If you intend to have the chimney purely as a feature, then the chimney flue will need to have a chimney balloon fitted, or the chimney needs to be capped. You must be able to provide documentary proof to an Assessor that either of these has been done.

2. Electric room heaters as secondary heating

These appliances can look good in a living room but they are expensive to run and will lower your EPC rating by around 4 points.