Green Tech and your EPC Rating
What Is an EPC Rating and Why It Matters
EPC stands for ‘Energy Performance Certificate’.
It’s an official document that informs a buyer or renter how ecological your home is.
It isn’t some airy-fairy Eco warrior thing, it’s designed to ensure homes are correctly insulated, with adequate heating and the correct kind of windows – which obviously saves you money.
Why do we have to have EPC’s?
Your EPC proves your home complies to the Part L of The Building Regulations. It is illegal to sell, or rent a property, without an up-to-date EPC.
What is covered by the EPC?
Checking if your Dwelling Emissions Rate (DER) or Building Emissions Rate (BER) is lower than the Target Emissions Rate (TER) specified by your SAP calculations.
Updates any building fabric, heating, cooling or ventilation systems.
Residential properties will be given a rating from A to G - A being the most energy efficient and G being the least.
How Green Technology Can Improve Your EPC Score
So, what advantage does fitting green tech have then?
Well, a solar system is a pretty good start, as switching to a greener power supply could add 15 EPC points to your rating.
That could easily move you from a ‘D’ to ‘C’.
Air source heat pumps can be a little trickier, as they use a similar amount of power as a gas boiler, although they do it much more efficiently.
Fitting an ASHP in your home can add around 5 to 10 EPC points.
The Most Effective Eco-Upgrades for UK Homes
Apart from solar and heat pumps, which are generally considered to modern improvements, there are still lots of ‘old school’ ways to improve the EPC rating of your home.
Replacing the windows is always a good one, though it can get quite pricey.
If you already have double glazing but it was fitted more than 20 years ago, you may need to look at replacing it as the integrity starts to degrade over time.
Cavity wall insulation is another easy way to trap the heat in your house, and that’s basically what you need to be doing.
Cavity wall techniques have improved so much over the last decade that it’s a doddle getting it re-done.
In fact, that’s how the EPC rating can be seen – the warmer and easier to heat it is, the higher the EPC Rating is.
Heat Pumps: Are They Worth the Investment?
Yes, but then we would say that wouldn’t we?
Heat pumps are super-efficient, for instance air source heat pumps are between 300 and 400%.
But they aren’t instant like gas boilers, so they take a little while to get going.
Because they are so efficient, and they keep you house at a constant heat, they do save you money over time.
But, your home does need to be suitable – so it’ll need things like cavity wall insulation and double glazing.
Smart Home Tech That Boosts Energy Efficiency
There is no better way to increase the efficiency of you home than having the heating come on when it’s needed.
While most houses have a thermostat that can regulate the heating, a smart heating system will analysis the rooms and tweak the heating accordingly.
This means you’re not heating rooms you’re not in, you’re not wasting heat when the room is already at the temperature you need and you will be using less energy.
On top of that you can use smart lighting with sensors that only come on when there is movement in the room and turn off after a specific time.
Anyone with kids the house knows the feeling of wandering around turning lights off, so why not automate that process.
Smart meters will help you keep an eye on the energy you are using, and may even flag your faulty appliances that drain energy when they aren’t even being used.
You can also get smart appliances that will automatically shut down when they are not being used.
This will reduce something called Vampire Draw, which is when an appliance is in Stand By but still drawing a small amount of power from the grid.
Finally, smart tariffs.
Speak to your energy supplier to find out what the bast tariff for you is.
This varies whether you have an EV, or whether you want you use batteries to store energy or even if you just work from home.
Pick something that offers the best prices for the energy you need to use.
Funding and Government Grants for Green Tech Installations
The 2 big ones in the UK are BUS and ECO4.
BUS is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and is available to homeowners in England and Wales, regardless of financial circumstances.
All you need to do to be eligible for the fairly substantial amount of £7500 is replace your old fossil fuel boiler with a heat pump of nay kind – air source, water or ground.
The ECO4 grant will be ceasing in 2016, so you’d need to apply for it pretty soon.
the ECO4 grant can be used towards any kind of green tech, but it is means tested and can vary from council.
