Posts Tagged ‘Fuel Bills’

What is an EPC?

The Energy Performance Certificate is broadly similar to the certificates found on many domestic appliances they tell you how energy efficient a home is on a scale of A-G. The most efficient homes – which should have the lowest fuel bills – are in band A.

The Certificate also tells you, on a scale of A-G, about the impact the home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The average property in the UK is in bands D or E. The Certificate includes recommendations on ways to improve the home’s energy efficiency to save you money and help the environment.

Unlike many Countries, Homes in England are highly varied and sometimes only the most Specialist Consultants will be needed to ensure your best interests are met

How much?

The Government state that “The cost to sellers of Home Information Packs will be set by the market.”. PROinspect feel that pack prices will probably be hidden in extra commission charges. However the advantages of this will be heavily offset by paying far over the actual cost of the pack and being tied to an Estate Agent.

Using a network of Surveyors and Inspectors our target is to be the most cost efficient supplier of EPC’s, HCR’s and HIP’s to the private purchaser. Offering an industry leading service utilising the skills and expertise of Chartered Surveyors.

Examples

(By the way – these two graphs must form part of Estate Agents Details in future – we can provide them, even to those of you that may be selling your own home privately).

An example of an Energy Performance Certificate can be downloaded here (directly from the government website):

ARCHIVE ARTICLE – Mid 2009

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Saving Energy

Eighty per cent of energy used in homes is for space and water heating. Turning down your thermostat, installing good insulation and getting a more efficient boiler can help cut your fuel bills and your carbon emissions.  The wider issue is that energy used in the home is responsible for more than a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions.

Insulating your home

Most UK homes don’t have the recommended amount of insulation. By properly insulating your home you could save £180 a year on your heating bills. Filled wall cavities, 300mm quilting in the loft, pre-2002 double glazing, etc…

Energy Saving Light Bulbs

An energy efficient bulb produces less CO2 and can save up to £60 in electricity over its lifetime.

Energy saving bulbs work in standard fittings and lamps, and are widely available at low prices. You can buy ones that look similar to old-style bulbs and give out the same coloured light, and some are even available for use with dimmer switches.

Take control of your heating

You can avoid heating an empty house by using the timer so your central heating is switched off when nobody’s home. If you have radiator valves, you can also turn off radiators in rooms that aren’t being used. If you’d like to cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent, just turn your central heating down by one degree.

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Condensing Boilers

Condensing boilers are the most energy efficient boilers available. If you need a new boiler then legally unless under exceptional circumstances, all new boilers installed must be condensing types. The most common type of condensing boiler is the Combination Boiler.

A condensing boiler uses some of the heat from these waste gases to heat water returning from your central heating system, so it requires less heat from the burner. This makes your condensing boiler more efficient.

The efficiency of a boiler is normally expressed as a percentage – some new condensing boilers can be up to 92% efficient compared to new non-condensing ones that are around 78% efficient and older boilers that are only 55 to 65% efficient.

Make sure that all efficiency measures such as insulation and double-glazing are in place, then size the boiler to meet the remaining space heating demand (you can work this out yourself using the calculators at the Sedbuk or Energy Savings Trust websites, and fit good heating controls.

A basic room thermostat and fixed boiler temperature isn’t flexible enough because the set temperature doesn’t take account of how much heat is actually needed. Best is an outdoor weather sensor (known as ‘weather compensation’), which enables the boiler to run the central heating only as hot as is necessary, and to be in condensing mode for most of the time it is operating.

Having larger radiators will increase the efficiency of most heating systems by a small amount, because the circulating water loses more heat moving through your system and returns at the right temperature for condensing.

Deliberately choosing larger radiators than you need means that you can operate the whole heating system at lower temperatures (again encouraging condensing) but still get the right amount of heating for your room.

But it will often be neither cost-effective nor practical to change your radiators just to achieve this small gain. If you’ve had double-glazing installed since your radiators were fitted they are likely oversized anyway.

• They produce a visible plume of vapour when they are operating so the flue terminal needs to be sited carefully to avoid the steam creating a nuisance.
• They produce an acidic liquid that must be plumbed into a suitable drain.
• Early condensing boilers had durability problems caused by the acidic condensate but modern heat exchangers use non-ferrous metal to reduce rusting.