EPC Register

oldwiring

I know from another thread that estate agents will often arrange an assessment, but am considering getting my own.

Local to me are several, but their accreditations have a variety of prefixes before the numbers; ECMK, EES, STRO. Does anyone know the significance; accreditation board maybe? Are some less suitable for domestic assessments, or are all equal?

What the assessments are really worth, I am not sure. Reason?
I have been looking at a number in a 2004 built block of retirement flats, and the differences is assessors' judgment of energy requirements, and stars awarded for items is not un-noticeable.
I can't see retirement lessees making grand changes to their homes!

G_M

They are not worth much. Just get the cheapest you can from someone on the register (here).


Sone agencieswill offer it 'free'but beware the small print. Chances are if you withdraw your property from the market, or don't like the agent and switch to another, a fee suddenly gets charged....

oldwiring

Thanks, but obviously I must be aware of the link to post about accreditation records.

ComicGeek

Yes, they are all different accreditation scheme. They all have the same qualification/training requirements, but each have their own software, technical backup, fees etc which mean that assessors choose whoever is the best fit for them.

ECMK, Elmhurst, Stroma, CIBSE to name but a few. All are equal, it's really just the assessor's preference about software and fees - some offer better fees for those who do only a few, others for large numbers, others include insurances if assessors don't have them for other work. There are sometimes some bugs in software that cause difference in results, but ultimately it's down to the assessors' poor or good judgement.

Given that the typical fee for an existing dwelling EPC very quickly dropped to £40-£50, those of us who had the qualifications and experience to do them properly soon stopped! By the time that lodgement fees, accreditation fees, equipment and travel were all taken into account I had the option to do EPCs at minimum wage or make over £100/hr doing proper work!

So in summary, don't rely on them and don't bother unless you need one for selling purposes. In which case pick a local assessor based on cost, and don't worry about the accuracy.

oldwiring

So another government joke to make one cry!

Glover1862

I use them for looking at the floor space, not sure how accurate they are?
Looked at two property and one was 6sqm smaller according to the EPC but I’m sure it was a larger property.

badmemory

& doon't include an integral garage & other things too. A stitch up bascially but one you are stuck with because you have to have one.

oldwiring

Glover1862 I suppose use is made of modern tech rather than a tape. Modern tech caused my house to shrink. Rooms are oddly shaped too.

Any way the 6 sq m over two floors is 4 ft by 4 ft on each level.

oldwiring

Mine's now been done, worthless as it may be. I have looked at certain factors in it.

1. Total floor area: 85 m2

2. Current primary energy use per sq m floor area: 222 kWh/ m2 per year

3. Home’s heat demand: space heating 9076; water heating 1910 kWh per year.

Line 1 & 2 multiplied come to 18887 kWh, but line 3 amounts to 10989 kWh per year.

I’d have though the figures should be comparable. Could I be missing something?

davidmcn

oldwiring said:
Could I be missing something?

The fact that "energy use" is more than just space and water heating?

trex227

The other day I looked at the EPC to our house from when we bought 7 years ago. We’ve not made any changes that would change the rating if we got a new EPC done. It thinks current energy costs for this house are £2500 and the best it could be with solar panel, floor insulation and wall insulation is £1500. In the 7 years we have been here we have never spent more than £800 a year on energy!!! And we aren’t that conservative with energy use and both work from home!