What is an Energy Performance Certificate?
Energy Performance Certificates are also commonly known as EPC. An EPC is a report that rates a home’s performance in terms of energy use per square metre.
The report allows potential buyers or tenants of a property to see how energy efficient a home is. It details the cost of running the home and also details recommendations on how the energy efficiency of the house could be improved.
Anyone who is building or selling a home or renting a self-contained property to a tenant needs to have an EPC so that the property can be marketed. The potential buyer or tenant can then have the opportunity to review how energy-efficient the home is.
An EPC must be completed by an Accredited Domestic Energy Assessor. This may be someone who is self-employed or someone who works for a company such as an estate agent.
The assessor will visit the property to collate the required information including; roof insulation, whether the property has cavity wall insulation or not, the type of windows the property has and the type of heating system etc.
An EPC rates a property on;
- The homes performance in terms of energy use per square metre of floor area
- Energy efficiency based on fuel costs
- Environmental impact based on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
The information is then used to provide the home’s Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact (CO2) ratings.
There are seven bands for an EPC, A-G; ‘A’ being the most energy-efficient and ‘G’ being the least efficient. The bands are also colour-coded from green to red so that this stands out more on the report. There is also a numerical rating from 1-100. The higher the number the more energy-efficient the house is and the cheaper the energy bills will be.
The environmental impact rating is also colour-coded from blue to grey. Blue is very environmentally friendly due to lower CO2 emissions, and Grey shows high CO2 emissions and therefore is not environmentally friendly.
Again, there is a numerical rating, from 1 – 100, and the larger the number, the less of an impact the house has on the environment.
You may have seen something similar to this when purchasing a new fridge or washing machine as these have a similar colour-coded energy efficiency rating.
The report will also provide recommendations for improvements that could be made to the property to increase its energy efficiency or lower the CO2 emissions. It will suggest an improvement and also give details as to how much savings could be made on energy costs if the changes were implemented.
How long does an EPC last?
Once completed, the EPC report then lasts for 10 years. The Government brought in the requirement for EPCs on 1st October 2008.
If you had an EPC completed a while ago and are considering selling or re-letting a property you may to check that your EPC is still in date come 2018.
We can arrange your EPC quickly anywhere in the Greater Manchester area, so please get in touch to arrange your EPC now.
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