Some properties don’t need to have an Energy Performance Certificate. These are: Places of worship Temporary structures which have a planned use of less than 2 years Stand-alone properties with under 50m2 of useable floor space Properties which are due for demolition – with a demolition order in place Low energy demand properties such as agricultural barns We recommend that you check with a specialist if you think that your property is exempt from the EPC requirement to ensure that you are definitely covered.

The amount of time that our energy assessor will be at your commercial property depends on how big it is, and the degree of access that they have to the building. The energy assessor will look at a number of factors in the building, including: The building area size Lighting Cavity wall and loft insulation Hot water and central heating systems Energy efficiency of the windows Ventilation

Our commercial EPC prices vary according to the size of the property, but they start from only £120 . We offer competitive prices and a free, no-obligation quote.

It’s easy to get your commercial EPC at Nexus Energy Solutions. Our energy assessors are all professionally qualified in energy efficiency surveying. We require them to be members of accreditation companies who regularly audit their work and ensure that criminal record checks are up to date. Our team of energy advisors are also on hand to talk you through the results and implications of your commercial EPC if need be. If you are thinking about selling or leasing your commercial property, you will need to have a commercial EPC, so why not get in touch with us today? Free No-Obligation Quote Competitive Pricing Guaranteed Expert & Experienced Surveyors Fast Turnaround & Flexible Survey Appointment Times

Energy Performance Certificate use a scale of A to G. A being the most energy efficient home, with lower fuel bills and G is the least energy efficient with higher energy bills. The same scale is used to define the environmental impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of a home. Most properties in Britain are Band D or E.

Building an energy-efficient home is a smart choice that benefits you and the planet. With rising utility costs and growing concerns about climate change, homeowners are eager to find ways to lower their energy use. This step-by-step guide provides you with practical tips to help you create a comfortable and sustainable living space without feeling overwhelmed. Understanding Energy Efficiency Energy efficiency means using less energy to achieve the same outcomes, like keeping your home warm or powering your appliances. For instance, you can cut energy consumption by 30% or more by updating your home’s insulation and windows. More efficient energy use directly impacts your monthly utility bills and helps reduce your carbon footprint. Homes equipped with solar panels, for instance, can save their owners anywhere from $600 to $1,200 a year in energy costs, depending on usage and local solar incentives. Conduct an Energy Audit Before making any changes, you need to know your home's current energy efficiency status. Conducting an energy audit helps identify where your home wastes energy. You can hire a professional or try a DIY audit. Look for gaps around doors and windows, check insulation levels, and assess appliances for energy usage. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, homeowners can save 5% to 30% on heating and cooling bills by properly air-sealing their homes. Consider checking if your utility company offers free audits. Insulation Matters Effective insulation is crucial for an energy-efficient home. Proper insulation keeps warm air inside during winter and cool air inside during summer, minimizing reliance on heating and cooling systems. Older homes often lack insulation in critical areas. Adding insulation to the attic, walls, and floors can improve your home’s thermal performance. For example, homeowners can improve heating efficiency by up to 20% with spray foam insulation. Choose materials such as fiberglass batts or cellulose for their thermal resistance qualities. Choose Energy-Efficient Windows Windows can contribute significantly to heat loss. By replacing old, single-pane windows with energy-efficient double or triple-pane ones, you can decrease your heating and cooling needs. Look for windows with low U-values (indicating better insulation) and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC) that fit your climate. Additionally, indoor treatments like insulated curtains or shades can further help maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. Research shows that good-quality windows can reduce heat loss by up to 50%. Upgrade to Energy-Star Appliances Swapping out old appliances for Energy Star-rated models can notably reduce your energy use. Energy Star appliances adhere to strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For example, an Energy Star certified refrigerator uses about 15% less energy compared to standard models. Dishwashers can save up to 12 gallons of water per load. Choosing these appliances will lead to noticeable savings on your monthly utility bills. Implement Smart Home Technology Smart home devices can elevate your home's energy efficiency. A smart thermostat learns your heating and cooling patterns and can adjust settings automatically, which may reduce energy bills by 10% to 15%. Invest in smart lighting that turns off when no one is in the room or that can be scheduled to turn on and off based on your routine. Smart technologies not only boost energy efficiency but also add comfort and control to your living space. Optimize Heating and Cooling Systems Your HVAC system has a significant impact on your energy consumption. Regular maintenance like cleaning coils and changing filters ensures that your systems operate at peak efficiency. When considering upgrades, choose energy-efficient models with the Energy Star label. Heat pumps and radiant floor heating systems can also be more efficient options. These choices can reduce heating and cooling costs by as much as 20% compared to traditional systems. Water Heating Solutions Water heating is another area where energy use can skyrocket. Upgrading to an energy-efficient water heater, particularly a tankless model that heats water only when needed, can lead to significant savings. You can also insulate your water heater and its pipes to prevent heat loss. Setting your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and fixing any leaks in taps and pipes could save you around 10% to 20% on water heating costs. Go Solar Installing solar panels is a long-term strategy that can dramatically lower your energy expenses. Using solar energy to power your home means less reliance on non-renewable energy sources. Many homeowners can reduce their electricity bills by 50% to 80% after installing solar panels. Be sure to investigate local incentives or financing options to make the initial investment more manageable. Landscape for Energy Efficiency Thoughtful landscaping can create a more energy-efficient environment around your home. By planting trees and shrubs strategically, you can block wind in the winter, provide shade in the summer, and help maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. Consider utilizing native plants that require less water and maintenance. Proper landscaping can lead to lower energy costs by minimizing heating and cooling demands by as much as 15%. Final Thoughts Transforming your home into an energy-efficient space requires careful planning and investment, but the rewards are worth it. Regular energy audits, careful selection of appliances, and incorporating renewable energy solutions can lead to significant cost savings and a positive impact on the environment. An energy-efficient home is not just more comfortable; it's an investment in a sustainable future. By following the steps outlined here, whether you're building anew or renovating, you can create a space that not only enhances your lifestyle but also contributes to a greener planet. Small changes can lead to significant improvements, so take on the challenge of energy efficiency and reap the benefits for years to come.

How to make better EPC Certificate rating of your property Tips for better Energy Performance Certificate Rating. 1. Try and make sure as many of your fixed light fittings as possible have energy saving bulbs, i.e. Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) or Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). 2. If you have a hot water tank, make sure there is plenty of insulation around it. Good insulation can make a significant difference to the rating. 3. Loft insulation. If we cannot see the loft is insulated because either we cannot gain loft access or because the loft is boarded over please have any paperwork available to prove loft insulation is fitted. 4. If you have cavity wall insulation which is not visible due to rendering etc, make sure you have the paperwork available. 5. If your double glazed windows were fitted after 2002 and the date is not visible in the units, please have paperwork available to show the installation date. 6. Boiler information: We will try to establish the exact make and model of the gas or oil heating boiler. Where this is possible, the exact efficiency of the boiler can be established. This is likely to be higher than the software default setting for that type of boiler. Establishing the boilers details from visual inspection can be difficult, so please have any information manuals or service history available. 7. If your property has had major alterations, extensions or a loft conversion, please show the building control sign off certificate to the assessor on the day of the survey. This documentation will have a major impact in producing a superior EPC. 8. Please make sure all parts of the property are unlocked and accessible including basements and loft space.

There are many things you can do around your home to increase energy efficiency and, in effect, reduce your bills. LIGHTING AND ELECTRICITY. Look out for the logo. When purchasing new appliances; always look for the ‘Energy Saving Recommended’ logo. Energy Saving Recommended appliances are the most efficient in their category and could save you up to £34 a year. Also visit www.sust-it.net which lists thousands of appliances and how much they cost to run. Unplug it. If chargers for devices such as mobile phones and mp3 players were unplugged when not in use, the UK could save enough electricity each year to power 115,000 homes. Turning off your mobile phone over night will mean you have to charge it less. Turn your lights off. When you leave a room, turn the light off on your way out. It’s said that UK households spend £1.9bn on electricity every year for lighting. Using fluorescent strip lights in kitchens give long lasting bright light with lower running costs. NIGHT TIME LIGHT. If you have an outside light, replace the bulb with a low energy light bulb. You can also fit a timer or a motion sensor so it’s only used when it’s needed. You can also buy solar garden lights for night time lighting. ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS. In most homes, lighting accounts for 10–15% of the electricity bill. Energy saving light bulbs last up to 10 times longer than normal light bulbs, and each bulb fitted could save around £40 over its lifetime. They come in a range of styles, and often your energy supplier will provide you with some for free. DOING THE LAUNDRY. Wash cooler 85% of the energy that washing machines use goes to heating the water, so switch to a cooler wash. Washing at 30°C uses a third less electricity. Modern washing powders are designed to now be more effective at lower temperatures. Fill it up Put full loads in your washing machine and wait until your dishwasher is full before turning it on. De-scaling these appliances will also help them run more efficiently. Dry your clothes outside This way you’ll save energy normally used by your tumble dryer. In the winter, put your clothes on a clothes horse rather than on the radiator, as covering the radiator will make your boiler work harder than it needs to. IN THE BATHROOM. Take a shower. A five-minute shower uses about a third of the water of a bath and can save 50 litres every time. If you like a bath however, afterwards you can use the water to water your garden. Fix the drip. Dripping hot taps can add to your heating costs. Get them repaired before it all adds up. IN THE KITCHEN. Cooking tips. Chop vegetables into smaller chunks for cooking, they cook more quickly thus using less energy. Put lids on your saucepans to stop the heat escaping and reduce cooking time. Cooking with a steamer means you can cook several types of vegetable on only one ring. Always use the correct size ring for the size of pan you are using. Smaller items are better cooked under the grill than in the oven. Microwave more. Using a microwave is quicker and more energy efficient than using an oven. Use microwave to warm food up. Making toast in a toaster is more efficient than putting it under the grill. The perfect cuppa! When boiling the kettle, only use as much water as you need. Boiling too much uses more energy and wastes water if you refill the kettle each time you use it. Most modern kettles have a gauge so you can work out the exact right amount. Also try and de-scale your kettle regularly – lime scale. Keep it closed. Try not to leave your fridge door open. Each minute the door is open takes three minutes of energy to cool down again. Try to keep your fridge and freezer three quarters full and defrost them regularly. You can put bottles of water in your fridge to fill it up if it’s empty. Never put hot food in your fridge or freezer as it makes it work harder than it needs to. HEATING. Turn down the heat. Turning the thermostat down by 1°C can cut more than 10% from the average central heating bill. Set your water cylinder at 60°C to use less energy. Layer up. Instead of turning the heating up, put on another layer of clothing. This will reduce your heating bill. Time it right. Time your heating to go off 30 minutes before you leave the house, and come on again 30 minutes before you come home. Put foil behind your radiators. Putting reflective foil behind your radiators will reflect heat back into the room and increase the efficiency of the radiator. Also make sure there is no furniture in front of your radiators. Close your curtains. This will help stop heat escaping through the windows. Never put your curtains in front of a radiator though – doing so will block the heat. Mind the gap. Keep windows and doors closed. If there are gaps underneath internal doors, roll up a blanket to keep draughts out. TIP: To help find the source of a draught, light a candle and use it to find the source. By moving the candle around the edge of a window or door frame, the flame will flicker where the draught is coming in. Use draught proofing strip around the frame of the door. Cosy up at bedtime. Rather than having your heating on over night in the winter, use a thicker duvet to keep you warm. IF YOU HAVE A LITTLE MORE TIME. Insulate your hot water tank. Buying a jacket for your water tank will only cost £10–£15 but it pays for itself in months with all the heat it traps in. Fit one that is at least 75mm (3″) thick and you could save around £30 a year. If every UK household that could fitted an adequate tank-jacket tomorrow, we’d save over £132 million of energy every year! You can also fit insulation for hot water pipes – this will cost between £5 and £10 and save you around £10 a year, which means you should recover the cost of fitting within a year. Switch to a high-efficiency boiler. If your boiler is over 15 years old, it should be replaced with a new, high-efficiency boiler. By law, new gas boilers in England and Wales must now be of the high-efficiency condensing type, which can help you save up to a third on your heating bills and even more if you upgrade to modern controls as well. Choosing the correct heating system with a condensing boiler and correct heating controls can make a huge difference over time. With energy prices now higher than ever, you’ll certainly feel the difference in your pocket. Speak to a CORGI registered plumber and ask about condensing boilers. They will be able to tell you which one would best suit your home. Fitting a new boilers can save up to £140 a year, and cut your home’s C02 emissions by more than 800kg a year. LOFT AND WALL CAVITY INSULATION. Insulating your loft is another simple way to save energy – you can even do it yourself. If your loft is not insulated, you could be losing as much as 15% of your heating costs through the loft. Cavity wall insulation is a bit more complex, but if your home has unfilled cavity walls, a considerable slice of your energy bills will be spent heating the air outside. It will need to be installed by contractors. The Government, energy suppliers and local authorities all provide grants or offers to help you implement energy saving measures in your home. For more information, contact your energy supplier or local authority. If everyone in the UK installed loft insulation up to 270mm thickness, the equivalent financial savings would pay the energy bills for over 640,000 families a year. Install double-glazing Double glazing creates an insulating barrier by trapping air between two panes of glass. It cuts heat loss through windows by 50% and could cut your heating bill by around £110 a year. Get some double glazing or consider retro-fitting double-glazed panes to standard wooden frames. That way, you keep original features and stay warm in winter. Go to www.uksashwindows.com for information on secondary glazing. It is essential to keep safe and warm in winter and there are some simple things you can do to keep warm and stay healthy. DURING THE NIGHT. Try to keep a temperature of above 18°C (65°F) in your bedroom overnight. If you use a fire or heater in your bedroom during winter, open the window or door a little at night for ventilation. An electric blanket or a hot water bottle will help you keep warm but never use them together as you could electrocute yourself. If you have an electric blanket, check what type it is – some are designed only to warm the bed before you get in and should not to be used throughout the night. If you use an electric blanket make sure it is safe to use by getting it tested every three years. The Fire Brigade, Trading Standards and Age Concern can test your electric blanket for safety.

An EPC measures the energy efficiency of a building, which is represented on a scale from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). It contains information about a property’s energy use and typical energy costs, along with recommendations about how you can reduce energy use and save money.

Six ways to improve your property's EPC rating To improve your property's EPC rating, you must make changes to enhance its energy efficiency. Here are six actionable ways to achieve this: 1. Upgrade the lighting to LED light bulbs 2. Insulate the walls and roof 3. Invest in double or triple-glazed windows 4. Upgrade the boiler 5. underfloor Insulation 6. Install Solar System

A domestic EPC (Energy performance Certificate) is a report which shows how energy efficient a domestic building is. A building is officially classified as ‘domestic’ when there is only one family living in it – regardless of whether it is a permanent residency or semi-permanent. All residential buildings must have had an EPC assessment carried out if it is to be rented out or sold. A domestic EPC gives your home an energy efficiency rating of between A and G, with A being the most energy efficient that is possible and G being very poor. Having a good energy efficiency rating can be good for attracting buyers or tenants to your home as it means they will have reduced fuel costs in the future. Domestic EPC Explained Why Do I need Domestic EPC? If you are planning on selling or renting out your residential property, it is a legal requirement to have a domestic EPC carried out. This has been the law since 2008 and it is designed to help potential buyers or tenants make an informed decision about buying or renting the property. The domestic EPC not only gives information about the current state of the property’s energy efficiency, but will also include recommendations about how to improve it. Landlords or sellers must apply for their domestic EPC before they put the property on the market or out to rent. There are also some government grants which can be accessed to get funding towards energy saving measures, including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF). For these grants, home owners will also need to have an EPC. Benefits of having Domestic EPC Whilst it is obligatory for home owners to have a domestic EPC if they are looking to sell or rent their property, there are other benefits as well. Firstly, your domestic EPC will give you (and future occupants) the chance to see how energy efficient your house is now, but also in the future. The recommendations that are given mean that you can make your property more attractive to potential buyers or tenants by making it more energy efficient. A domestic EPC will give you a good understanding of the energy efficiency of your property at a glance, and it is simple and easy to make sense of. Domestic EPC Validity Your domestic EPC will last for 10 years – the same as a commercial EPC. Unless you make significant changes to your property, you will not need another one, and likewise, if you have had an assessment done in the last 10 years and haven’t made any changes to your home, you don’t need a new one. Domestic EPC Exemption Some homes don’t need to have an Energy Performance Certificate according to law. These are: Temporary buildings that will be used for less than 2 years Stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor space of less than 50m2 Industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings that don’t use a lot of energy Some buildings that are due to be demolished Holiday accommodation that is rented out for less than 4 months per year or is let under a licence to occupy Listed buildings – get advice from your local authority conservation officer if energy efficiency work would alter the building’s character Residential buildings which are intended to be used for less than 4 months a year We recommend that if you think that your house is exempt from the EPC requirement, you check with a specialist to ensure that you are covered. Domestic EPC Penalty The law is very clear on its requirement for domestic EPCs. The responsibility is on the current owner to make sure that they have a residential EPC if they are selling or renting out the property. If the property is a dwelling, the fine for not having an EPC is £200. You can legally market your property once that you have booked your EPC, even if you haven’t had it yet. Proof that you have booked your assessment is enough Domestic EPC Cost Our domestic EPC prices vary according to the size of your property, but they start from only £40 . We offer competitive prices to home owners and a free, no obligation quote. Assessor visit procedures for a Domestic EPC The amount of time that our energy assessor will spend at your home depends on its size, and the degree of access that they have to the house. Our energy assessor will look at a number of factors in the house, including: The size of the building Your lighting Cavity wall and loft insulation Hot water and central heating systems The energy efficiency of the windows Ventilation