What your EPC rating actually means
The letter, the number behind it, and the page most people skip: the recommendations.
Most people look at the coloured letter on their EPC and stop there. The certificate tells you a lot more than that, so here's how to read it.
The letter and the number
Your home gets an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). Behind the letter is a number from 1 to over 100. This is the SAP score, the number behind your rating. A higher score means a home that costs less to heat and run.
- A: 92 and above
- B: 81 to 91
- C: 69 to 80
- D: 55 to 68
- E: 39 to 54
- F: 21 to 38
- G: 1 to 20
A home sitting at 67 is a D, but it's only a couple of points off a C. That's worth knowing if you're thinking about improvements.
Current and potential
The chart shows two figures: where your home is now, and where it could get to if you made the recommended improvements. The gap between them shows how much room there is to improve.
Estimated costs
The certificate includes estimated running costs for heating, hot water and lighting. These are based on a standard pattern of use, not your actual bills, so they're best used to compare homes rather than to predict what you'll pay.
The recommendations
This is the most useful part, and the part most people skip. It lists improvements that suit your house, such as more loft insulation, a better heating control or solar panels, with a rough cost and the effect each one would have on your rating. They're listed in a sensible order, so the first few are usually the best value.
When I do your EPC, I'll point out which recommendations are likely to make the biggest difference for your house, in plain English.
Declan Hughes, Domestic Energy Assessor · Mourneview EPC
Need an EPC?
I cover Strabane, Derry, Omagh and the places in between. Prices from £65, certificate within 48 hours.