by Alan.Bouquet / on September 25, 2018 / in Blog / 8 Comments

Getting an A on your EPC is incredibly difficult, and may even be impossible for some properties. In this blog, we want to give you an idea of what it takes to get an A rating on a domestic property, and what, if anything, you can do to get your home near that level.

The average UK rating

The typical property in the UK is rated at around 60, which comes out to a D rating. A B rating requires a score of 81, whilst an A needs 92. New build properties hitting the market today should be up at the A level or just below at B. Most older properties will be much lower than this.

Improving the rating with documentation

If you have an existing property with a low rating, it is sometimes possible that the existing EPC has used some default values in the calculations. This usually happens when an EPC is carried out quickly and with little communication or disinterest from the client. If model numbers and insulation values can be added to the report, then the rating is likely to go up, in some cases by large margins. To add this information, documentation proving what has been installed needs to be made available to the assessor.

Renewable technology

Whilst insulation and model numbers are likely to get you up to a better rating, in order to get the very best ratings there is very little room for poor performance. The following will need to be in place as a starting point to get to the very highest rating:

  • High thicknesses of insulation throughout the property, in the roof, walls and floor. This is essential, and the levels will need to likely surpass even the most stringent building regulations.
  • High performance heating system – you will need either a modern condensing gas boiler with a good control system, or a renewable heating system if you are off grid.
  • Windows will need to be modern double or triple glazing.

All this is likely to get you up to a B rating, if fully installed and documented throughout the building. To get up to an A, you are likely going to need some renewable energy generation – this means solar or wind energy in practicality. If you live in a rural area then wind might be a good option, but for the majority of people solar is the best way to product your own electricity.

Can your EPC go over 100?

In theory, the EPC scale goes up above 100. In practice, there are probably only a handful of properties in the whole of the UK that achieve this sort of rating. They would require considerable renewable generation, creating more energy than the building itself requires to run

Get a recommendations report

If you are in any doubt as to whether the improvements are going to be enough to get to the required rating, you can always get an energy assessor out to carry out an EPC without lodging the resulting report. The information gathered can then be used to work out exactly what is required to get to the desired rating.