Personal financeHow Energy Efficient is Your House - Epc
The Energy Performance Certificate is essential by law when a building is constructed, sold or put up for rent. It is said that every home that is marketed for sale must have an EPC Energy Performance Certificate as part of a HIP (Home Information Pack), which details a home’s energy efficiency.
Who offers you an Energy Performance Certificate?
A qualified Domestic Energy Assessor offers you a certificate after certain assessment of your property. In order to issue a certificate it is necessary to conduct a survey of your property, which can be carried out by an Home Inspector too. There are various types of EPC’s offered such as rented property EPC, landlords EPC, Social Housing Epc, Public building DEC, Letting EPC.
A valid EPC, is vital to sell or rent your house. The improvements that Landlords can make through the energy saving allowance; will in most cases have a direct positive impact on the energy efficiency rating of the Energy Performance Certificate. It offers a rating for your home at present and also rates if there’s any energy saving improvements carried out. Rating is done in this way, If it’s a, it is said to be highest level, most efficient and G, which is least efficient. The energy saving measures would need to be put in place prior to the assessment taking place for this to be evidenced on the EPC. It also helps one to save money and at the same time helps the environment too.
Your house is assessed based on certain criteria:
Age of your building
Fixed light efficiency
Adjacent building’s thermal property
Heat loss
Walls and lofts’ insulation level
Method of heating and controls used
Volumetric calculation of all floors
Find easily online, your local Energy performance certificate provider. When the rating is better the energy efficiency of the property becomes higher resulting in low fuel bills. Buyers are interested in buying properties which has decent energy performance ratings.
Remember it is better to instruct a local independent domestic energy assessor, the energy certificate remains your property, as you purchased it, therefore you own it. If you instruct an estate agent to act on your behalf to compile your Home Information Pack, the same rule applies. Instruct an independent Home Pack Provider, this will ensure that all the documentation belongs to you - the home seller. As long as the new homeowner remains in the property before moving again, or in the case of the same property coming back on the market again in the future, the EPC remains valid till then.