Essex EPC Service

When selling or renting their property, homeowners must provide an EPC. The certificate should be presented and made available to the estate agent who is marketing the property. Many of our clients also request an updated EPC on their property when they have changed the fabric of the building or installed new energy-efficient heating systems, among other things. If you believe your property would benefit from an updated EPC and would like a free impartial discussion about the level of benefit you would gain from an updated EPC, we are always happy to discuss.

EPC stands for Energy Performance Certificate and is an assessment of a property’s energy efficiency. A fully qualified and accredited Domestic Energy Assessor will visit and inspect the property being assessed. The assessment considers three major aspects of the property.

• The property’s ability to generate or use incoming energy.
• How efficient is the property at producing the energy it consumes?
• How effective is the property at retaining the energy it consumes?

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards were recently introduced regulations in an attempt to protect UK tenants from low energy efficient properties. According to the new rules, a rented property must have an EPC with an energy rating of E. This has prompted many landlords to address energy-saving measures at their properties as well as update their EPC  assessments in recent years.

Please keep in mind that our assessors are trained to inspect properties alone, without the presence or assistance of the property’s owner. So, if you are unable to attend the property, don’t worry; we can still deliver your EPC report as long as we have access to the premises. If you are able to attend the inspection, please ensure that the following access requirements are met:

• The assessor has access to all rooms and bedrooms in the house.
• If physically possible, the assessor can gain access to the property’s Loft.
• The assessor can gain access to the back and side of the property to conduct a thorough visual external inspection of the structure.

Following the completion of our clients’ EPC reports, we frequently receive inquiries about the final rating a property received. Our assessors have extensive experience and training in educating and informing our clients about the reasoning behind their property rating. Although we are always happy to discuss each rating on an individual basis, the following factors do have an impact on final EPC ratings:

The detachment position of the property: Is the property terraced or detached? It is important to remember that an increased area of heat loss to a property will naturally hinder its ability to retain heat, especially if additional efficiency measures are not in place, and may have an impact on its rating.

If the property contributes to energy generation: Many of our clients ask why their property has a ‘D’ or a ‘C’ rating rather than a ‘A’ or a ‘B’ rating, and the most common answer is that, while the property has the ability to install energy producing measures such as solar panels, heat pumps, and wind turbines, they are not currently present.

A customer’s expensive energy measure is not the only beneficial measure they can invest in: We frequently have customers who are perplexed about their energy rating because they have recently invested in a good or improved energy measure. However, other measures may still be worthwhile to invest in. An example would be the owners of a rural home who have recently purchased a ground source heat pump and are perplexed as to why their updated EPC rating is still lower than the maximum potential rating. This could be the case because the property could still benefit from the installation of Solar Panels and even a wind turbine, implying that even if the owners are not interested. This could be the case because the property could still benefit from the installation of Solar Panels and even a wind turbine, implying that while the owners had invested in one good energy measure for the property, there may have been others that would have been more prudent to invest in.

An EPC will list ways to improve your rating and give indicative costs. These improvements will help you, your buyer or your tenants save on bills, and lessen the environmental impact of the property. Common recommendations include:

• Insulation for your floor, roof, loft or walls. Better insulation reduces the need for heating, thereby lowering your energy bill. Double glazing: windows keep in significantly more heat when they’re double-glazed, again reducing the need for heating. 
• Solar panels: these produce cheaper, greener energy. See our advice on solar panels for more information.
• Low-energy lighting: a smaller change that involves no structural alteration, using low-energy light bulbs is a cheap, easy way to lower energy bills. The certificate will also include:  the potential cost of undertaking these improvements, and the typical saving over a three-year period; the estimated costs of heating, lighting and hot water after improvements are made; total potential savings, and the energy performance rating you might receive after making improvements to your home.

We cover Chelmsford areas CM1, CM2, CM3 Ingatestone CM4, Ongar CM5, Witham CM8, Maldon CM9, Billericay CM11, CM12, Brentwood CM13, CM14, CM15, Epping CM16, Southend on Sea SS1, Westcliff on Sea SS2, Shoeburyness SS3, Rochford SS4, Hockley SS5, Rayleigh SS6, Benfleet SS7, Canvey Island SS8, Leigh on Sea SS9, Wickford SS11, SS12, Basildon SS13, SS14, SS15,