Bulb rental?

sooz

TJ27 wrote: »

So borrowing bulbs to get a better EPC is just one of the stupid things that some landlords really would consider.

It is being ADVISED by the people doing the EPC :mad:

TJ27

sooz wrote: »

It is being ADVISED by the people doing the EPC :mad:

Then they are just as daft as some landlords.

sooz

TJ27 wrote: »

Then they are just as daft ......

Quite agree. I think the EPC is a total waste of time, but if everyone else is changing their bulbs before getting them done, & they are advising people to do so, of course I want to too. I want to get the prettiest colour possible on my certificate

jimc_2

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

here was a thread on here a few months ago where a LL said a similar thing and how they would remove the bulbs after the EPC had been done ...ha ha. Someone replied something along the lines that the answer to that was nearly as funny, as the EPC was on the light socket and not the bulbs (because they can be removed). Not sure how true that was as I never checked it.

That was me! I was quoting from an article in the Times or Guardian or something. I'll try to re-locate it and post the link later. The argument at the time was that the rating was only given to low-energy FITTINGS. low-energy BULBS in standard sockets were removable and didn't count!

Chriserenity is a qualified Energy Inspector and could comment on the latest ruling but I haven't seen him posting recently. I'll try to PM him. Manana! I'm going home now.

ps. Low-energy bulbs were on a BOGOF at Tesco's when I last looked and were just over a quid each.

TJ27

sooz wrote: »

Quite agree. I think the EPC is a total waste of time, but if everyone else is changing their bulbs before getting them done, & they are advising people to do so, of course I want to too. I want to get the prettiest colour possible on my certificate

Well I'm not sure about the EPC. On balance I think I might be in favour of it but I need to give it some more thought.

I'm sure that there must be several ways of fiddling it if you really wanted to. I think most people are probably able to work out the light bulb thing all by themselves if they think about it, without being told by the EPC person.

It seems to me that most landlords on here are saying that the EPC will make not a bit of difference to either them or their tenants. So why bother trying to make it look as pretty as possible?

Alybea

I thought as a tenant lightbulbs were my responsibility?

You can get free energy saving lightbulbs from british gas etc - or they posted me a box of 4 for no real reason a while back (they are being put to good use thought)

EPCs are pointless - but not quite as pointless as a DEC (the ones for public buildings), a council etc must have them done - with recommendations...but never has to act on any of the recommendations. :rolleyes:

TJ27

Alybea wrote: »

EPCs are pointless - but not quite as pointless as a DEC (the ones for public buildings), a council etc must have them done - with recommendations...but never has to act on any of the recommendations. :rolleyes:

Yes but if landlords/landladies/councils are trying to get as good an EPC/DEC as they possibly can, as at least some seem to be doing, then the legislation is doing exactly as it was intended to do. Saving energy.

I'm sure that the men in grey suits who thought it up would be delighted to hear that people are striving to make their EPCs look pretty. That's the point isn't it?

I think the certs say something like, "your house is now in band E, but potentially it could be in band C". It's only a small step for them to say, "you must now achieve band C within six months." Perhaps they're taking it one step at a time. Acting on the recommendations could be in the pipeline. Who knows?

PayDay

Akeap wrote: »

Y

But maybe in a year or two's time (if hips still exist then) when there is a glutt of houses back on the market as the mortgages start to come back from banks then I suppose if there are two equally nice houses your interested in and one is MUCH high on the scale then it might sway you :rotfl:

There's a glut of houses on the market now.

tbs624

It would make more sense if it was the actual fittings that were part of the Assessment, ie those fittings that only allow you to use LEL.

The more I read about EPCs the more useless they appear to be.

I've posted on some of the flaws of the software in other threads but there do seem to be quite a few: in the Estimated Energy use it will throw up the same figures for two identical types of property that may be respectively be in the colder north east of the country and the other in the warmer south coast, and none of it can take into account the individual occupant's lifestyle.

If you have a property where the mains gas supply has been disconnected, the DEAs have to mark that down as "mains gas not available" which has a marked effect on any rating - unless there has been a change to EPC software within the last 6-8 weeks there is no box to mark that the gas merely needs to be reconnected.

And don't you just love that VAT is charged at the full 17.5% but other energy efficient measures attract a levy of only 5%?

Apparently the data/photos etc will be retained for 15 years, not only by the DEA but by the Govt's central register too ( there's another database for them to lose a copy of..)

There have even been suggestions that to raise the profile and public acceptance of EPCs there should be some kind of link to stamp duty and/or council tax...............

Nope, EPCs are an utter waste of time and money IMO.

jimc_2

If anyone is still interested, the original Telegraph article is here. Note, though, that it was published in May 2007 and I have not been able to get a straight answer to the attitude nowadays towards the 'bulbs versus fittings' debate. Perhaps a current Energy Assessor could advise us?