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Domestic EPCs

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is now a requirement by law on all homes in England and Wales that are marketed for sale or for rental purposes. These must be provided to any potential homebuyer or tenant free of charge.

The Energy Performance Certificate provides an estimate of the current energy performance of a property and assigns a rating to the property. It will also provided indications of practical measures to help reduce their fuel bills and carbon dioxide emissions in the short term and there will also be information longer term measures. This is done by calculating heat losses from within the building structure and also takes account of the types of heating systems, boiler, heating controls and insulation values, double glazing etc to calculate the overall efficiency of the property.

Your home will be rated on a scale from A to G. A is the highest level of energy efficiency, H is the lowest energy efficiency level. The current average rating is D.

The EPC will also include recommendations on what the home owner could do to improve the energy efficiency of the home. Common recommendations include:

  • Installation of cavity wall and roof insulation.
  • Fitting of draught excluders to windows and doors.
  • Replacing old or single glazed windows with double glazed windows.
  • The use of energy saving light fittings

Energy Performance Certificates are provided by Domestic Energy assessors or Home Inspectors. These are trained professionals and members of accredited schemes run by the government using approved standard assessment procedure (SAP), this ensures that all homes in England and Wales are assessed using exactly the same set of rules.

Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) is responsible for providing an Energy Performance Certificate for a residential property. Under recently changed regulations anyone who is about to market their home for sale or let the property must have a certificate available within 30 days of putting their property on the market.

All EPC's are stored on a central register.