When selling or letting out your home, you have certain obligations to ensure that it meets Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. The new occupants need to be made aware of the measures you’ve put in place to make the property energy-efficient so they can enjoy lower energy bills, and a reduced environmental footprint while living in the property.
As our friends at Switch Plan will tell you, finding the right energy supplier is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to making energy savings. The steps that you take to improve energy efficiency in your home today could make the property much more marketable, and save the new occupants money in the future.
## Make sure you have an EPC
An Energy Performance Certificate is a standardised certificate that assesses the energy efficiency of your home or investment property. These certificates were introduced in 2007 as a way to uniformly assess the energy efficiency of homes and businesses in the UK. While a property doesn’t need to have an EPC at all times, it is a legal requirement to have one when selling or letting a property.
There are many factors that go into an EPC’s score and grading (from A-G). Broadly speaking, however, calculations are based on:
* The amount of energy used per square meter.
* The level of carbon dioxide emissions (in tonnes per year)
A flattering EPC can make the property much more appealing, as well as highlighting potential work that can be carried out to improve energy efficiency even further.
## Carry out an energy consultation
As useful (and essential) as an EPC is, it only provides a rough overview of what could be done to further improve energy efficiency in your home. That’s why we offer energy consultation solutions to ensure that your home is as energy efficient as possible. So future occupants can relax safe in the knowledge that they’re not spending over the odds on their energy bills.
## Invest in all the right places
Between an EPC and an energy consultation, you should have all the information and certification you need to ascertain the energy efficiency of your home. Common areas in which you can invest to further improve energy efficiency include:
* Installing or improving double glazed windows (not all double glazed windows are created equal).
* Replacing incandescent bulbs with low-energy LED or CFL bulbs.
* Adding or improving the insulation in the flooring, loft or wall cavities.
* Installing clean off-grid energy solutions like PV solar panels, solar thermal panels, wind turbines or ground source heat pumps. The cost of some of these green renovations can be offset by the Green Homes Grant.
## Want to know more? Get in touch today!
At Energy Performance Direct, we’ve been helping homeowners, landlords and businesses in Devon and across the UK to improve their energy efficiency since 2009. We can provide EPC certificates, lease and floor plans, SAP certificates and energy efficiency consultations to help you to take the energy efficiency of your home to the next level.
[Get in touch today] to find out more!