BTL EPC and requirements going forward; how to go from D to C?

macman

A lot of EPC's are little more than drive-by's. I commissioned one for my late MIL's property, and was there when he arrived. 
He asked me if the loft was insulated, and i answered yes (it was).  He took my word for it and made no attempt to actually check.
He generated the EPC there and then on his laptop in a few minutes. The whole exercise, including the minimal inspection, was done in under twenty minutes.

ThisIsWeird

When it comes to LED lighting, Fivesmaster, if the lamps are normal GLS or 'candle' type, then you won't go far wrong with Philips' 'Warmtone' or 'Dimtone' (something like that) dimmable bulbs (even if they don't need to dim).

They can usually be picked up for around £4 a pop on eBay (gulp - or used to be...), are very reliable, and give a very close-to-incandescent output even with dimming; they 'warm' more as the light level is reduced. Your tenant should be happy with the change - probably not even notice (except hopefully to their pocket).

ComicGeek

anselld said:

As FB has mentioned the devil is in the detail, though you would think one cavity filled wall is much the same as another!

Cavity filled walls can vary massively, both in terms of thickness of cavity and the performance of any insulation fitted, could realistically be anyway between 0.15 and 1.00 U-values so up to 6x the heat loss.

The assessor can't easily look inside the cavity, or know whether any visible areas are representative of the whole house, so the assumption is made against building regs standards at the time of original build.

So the biggest error margin on the EPC could be the build date of the house. A filled cavity for the EPC (rather than as built cavity) should be retrofitted cavity wall insulation. A 1995 house would have a default U-value of 0.35, but an anomaly in the ref tables means that a 1996 house would have a default U-value of 0.45.

The build date defaults apply to floors, walls, roof insulation as well as window performance. 

anselld

ComicGeek said:

anselld said:

As FB has mentioned the devil is in the detail, though you would think one cavity filled wall is much the same as another!

Cavity filled walls can vary massively, both in terms of thickness of cavity and the performance of any insulation fitted, could realistically be anyway between 0.15 and 1.00 U-values so up to 6x the heat loss.

The assessor can't easily look inside the cavity, or know whether any visible areas are representative of the whole house, so the assumption is made against building regs standards at the time of original build.

So the biggest error margin on the EPC could be the build date of the house. A filled cavity for the EPC (rather than as built cavity) should be retrofitted cavity wall insulation. A 1995 house would have a default U-value of 0.35, but an anomaly in the ref tables means that a 1996 house would have a default U-value of 0.45.

The build date defaults apply to floors, walls, roof insulation as well as window performance. 

Fair enough, but we were comparing EPCs from two neighbouring properties, both with filled cavities.   I still think the biggest error margin is the actual assessor on the day.  It is not an accurately repeatable process.

fivesmaster

ThisIsWeird said:

When it comes to LED lighting, Fivesmaster, if the lamps are normal GLS or 'candle' type, then you won't go far wrong with Philips' 'Warmtone' or 'Dimtone' (something like that) dimmable bulbs (even if they don't need to dim).

They can usually be picked up for around £4 a pop on eBay (gulp - or used to be...), are very reliable, and give a very close-to-incandescent output even with dimming; they 'warm' more as the light level is reduced. Your tenant should be happy with the change - probably not even notice (except hopefully to their pocket).

Thank you for this advice. Ones like this: Philips LED E27 Edison Screw Light Bulb Frosted 13W (100 W) Warm White Lighting | eBay
?
How much difference on an EPC will having bulbs like this make?

ThisIsWeird

fivesmaster said:

ThisIsWeird said:

When it comes to LED lighting, Fivesmaster, if the lamps are normal GLS or 'candle' type, then you won't go far wrong with Philips' 'Warmtone' or 'Dimtone' (something like that) dimmable bulbs (even if they don't need to dim).

They can usually be picked up for around £4 a pop on eBay (gulp - or used to be...), are very reliable, and give a very close-to-incandescent output even with dimming; they 'warm' more as the light level is reduced. Your tenant should be happy with the change - probably not even notice (except hopefully to their pocket).

Thank you for this advice. Ones like this: Philips LED E27 Edison Screw Light Bulb Frosted 13W (100 W) Warm White Lighting | eBay
?
How much difference on an EPC will having bulbs like this make?

Sort of - but I was really looking for the dimmable type, just in case they house had dimmers. But these should do if not.

Cheaper too: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144868357122?

What difference will it make? Not sure, but your detailed EPC report should say.

Like 'draughtproofing' and loft insulation, fitting LED lamps should really just be done as a matter of course - the cheapest bang-for-buck in energy savings, and EPC upgrades.

I've just had a look at an EPC report from 2017 - it lists all their recommendations, along with estimates for the cost and the likely annual savings. It also suggested the EPC group and actual figure that would be achieved for each. Some are nuts - floor insulation costing £6-9k and saving ~£150 pa - but 'draughtproofing' for £160 (I guess they meant the old front doors?) was so cheap it would cover itself in one year. Loft insulation is also a goody, but so is LED lighting.

anselld

£2 each ...

BC - https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-bc-a60-led-light-bulb-806lm-7-3w-5-pack/310pp

ES - https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-es-a60-led-light-bulb-806lm-7-3w-5-pack/538pp

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

fivesmaster said:

ThisIsWeird said:

When it comes to LED lighting, Fivesmaster, if the lamps are normal GLS or 'candle' type, then you won't go far wrong with Philips' 'Warmtone' or 'Dimtone' (something like that) dimmable bulbs (even if they don't need to dim).

They can usually be picked up for around £4 a pop on eBay (gulp - or used to be...), are very reliable, and give a very close-to-incandescent output even with dimming; they 'warm' more as the light level is reduced. Your tenant should be happy with the change - probably not even notice (except hopefully to their pocket).

Thank you for this advice. Ones like this: Philips LED E27 Edison Screw Light Bulb Frosted 13W (100 W) Warm White Lighting | eBay
?
How much difference on an EPC will having bulbs like this make?

Sort of - but I was really looking for the dimmable type, just in case they house had dimmers. But these should do if not.

Cheaper too: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144868357122?

What difference will it make? Not sure, but your detailed EPC report should say.

Typically, fitting LED lamps in all light fittings is worth one point. In conjunction with a couple more low cost measures (e.g. TRVs on all radiators), it might be enough to move a borderline D high enough to get a C rating.

Certainly, switching to LED lighting will reduce electricity consumption - Have LEDs throughout the house here, and have used 65KWh of electricity in the last year running them (or about £22 at current rates).

fivesmaster

Well, this discussion is now defunkt!! I'm relieved the government have backtracked, but equally shocked that they have left it so long to do so.

jj_43

Active management of the epc assesor is needed. Pointing out all the improvements.