When you’re looking to move home, there’s a lot of information about properties that you can feel bombarded with. One important area to consider is the property’s energy efficiency. That is when an EPC comes into play, or the Energy Performance Certificate. You’ll recognise an EPC as it’s a small coloured chart that shows ratings for how energy efficient a home is. The ideal rating is dark green with an ‘A’ and the least energy efficient is shown in red and with a ‘G’.
It’s important to always see the EPC for the property yourself and don’t take the owner’s or landlord’s word for it. If they say they don’t have one? Walk away as that is simply not good enough. All properties are required to have an EPC when built, sold or rented. It acts as solid evidence of exactly how much it costs to heat, light and provide water to the home through the boiler, column radiators that you can source from apolloradiators and the water sources. The higher the efficiency rating, the lower you can expect fuel bills to be.
The average rating in the UK is a ‘D’ score marked as yellow on the chart.
You might be surprised to learn that the average property in the UK creates 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Also found on the EPC is information regarding how environmentally-friendly the property is in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. The average score in the 50s range.
There are some costs that are not represented on the EPC. This includes the cost of any electricity used for appliances like televisions and computers, plus any electricity or gas used for a fridge or cooker.
If your home doesn’t have a current EPC, it is possible to arrange for an assessor to come out and complete one.
If you’re still concerned about the amount of fuel bills for a property, consider the following ways to further reduce the amount you spend on gas and electricity:
Don’t leave appliances on standby but turn them off at the wall.
Fill your kettle with only the water you need.
Install draught excluders on doors.
Would you believe that these simple actions could save approx. £120 per year? Turning your thermostat down by a mere one degree can also save roughly £90 a year!
The EPC will provide a good indication of annual fuel costs for a property. Be sure to multiply those figures by a few years to give you an idea of what your expenditure is likely to be in the near future. That way, you shouldn’t get any nasty surprises when your bill arrives. Even making small, simple adjustments can save you more than £100 per year.
