EPC Energy Performance Certificate Shock Surprise

What is floor insulation please? I assume that it refers to solid floors in contact with the ground.

What are we to do with suspended wooded floors? An icy draft below is part of the design.

https://insulation4less.co.uk/blogs/guides-and-news/suspended-timber-floor-insulation

Normally only when the floor is being re-done, it is major works.

To achieve a U value of 0.25, you would need 90mm of rigid foam or 150mm of mineral wool. You are better off using A semi-rigid material as it can be cut oversized and squeezed between the floor joists, this ensures there are gaps. The insulation needs to be pushed tight to the underside of the floorboards. At least 25mm of the joist must be left exposed to ensure air circulation. This is to prevent the joist from becoming damp and encouraging dry rot. For the same reason, the flow from any airbricks must be left clear to ensure good air circulation.

more on that ‘change of target by 2030’ thing

Mike.

I wouldn't worry too much, a lot of this green nonsense, the ban on gas boilers, compulsory heat pumps and electric cars etc will never happen, simply because we don't, and will not have enough generating capacity by the due dates. I reckon Boris is just blustering this nonsense in order to placate Carrie, the new Green Queen of No 10, in pursuit of marital harmony.

They can hardly evict folk out of their houses simply on the strength of a poor energy performance rating.

The EPC rating is based purely on the cost of heating, lighting and water heating, it has nothing to do with saving the world.

I told the landlords of a flat not to remove the storage radiators, they ignored me and got another guy to remove the storage heaters and install electric panel heaters, as you have probably guessed it failed to achieve the required EPC rating when the new requirements came in, so then I had the job of removing the electric panel heaters and installing new Quantum storage heaters, LED lighting and a time controlled on the immersion heater, overall this cost more than £2k.

However I then had to fit the panel heaters I had removed in the hallway outside the flat in the communal area to create a heated shelter corridor, basically so long as the landlords pay to heat the corridor there isn’t any heat loss from the flat into the corridor so the flat achieved the minimum standards.

What it really needs is insulation, rather than electric heaters in a corridor that could run 365/24/7 as the tenants leave windows open and turn the heaters up high.

What I love on these EPCs is the “spend this much to save X" where the capital costs, average lifetime of the improvement and annual saving mean it actually costs more than if the work wasn't done. Maybe good for the environment and tenant, but not the owner!

The EPC requirements for tenanted homes aren’t for the benefit of the landlords or to save the world, they are purely based on reducing the cost of heating and lighting for the tenants.

Therefore in the example I gave above it is acceptable for the landlords to potentially pay £2,800 per year to cover the cost of a 2 kW electric heater running 24/7/365 because it has been turned up high and left on whilst the windows are open to create a heated sheltered corridor.

Last Sunday afternoon I was in a block of Housing Association flats in a converted factory in the centre of Birmingham, it is July and most of the windows were open and quite a few doors as well, I was dropping off a fridge and freezer along with other furniture, so I parked in an internal courtyard and wedged doors open whilst I manoeuvred the stuff in on a sack truck. The electric panel heaters in the corridors were turned on and hot, I noticed this immediately as being July I was wearing shorts and I felt the heat from the heaters on my legs, I turned several off as I went past but I am sure there probably over fifty of these heaters still running in that building. throughout the building the waste and the cost of running these heaters is tremendous over the year.

Until people start acting responsibly and turn the heaters off outside their flats when they are not serving any useful purpose this ridiculous waste will continue. If you talked to the tenants I am sure you would find lots of “environmentalists” unfortunately though people talk but don’t act.

Personally I would rip all the heaters in the corridors out.

The logical answer is to reduce the rent on properties where the power bill is too high.  The it would be up to the landlord to decide whether or not the cost of improvements was worthwhile.

dcbwhaley: 
 

The logical answer is to reduce the rent on properties where the power bill is too high.  The it would be up to the landlord to decide whether or not the cost of improvements was worthwhile.

 

In the real world that is what is demanded, the tenant moves and finds the heating bill is ridiculously high over the winter and demands a rent reduction to offset the heating bill.

Then the arguments start.

dcbwhaley: 
 

The logical answer is to reduce the rent on properties where the power bill is too high.  The it would be up to the landlord to decide whether or not the cost of improvements was worthwhile.

 

How would you set the rent, before discount?

If a landlord wanted to let out a flat that was impossible to keep warm in the winter, and they wanted £1000 a month for it, they could say that the flat is £1200 a month, but with a £200 a month discount.

The tenant pays the same price as before, and still struggles to keep the place warm.

It will be very interesting when the Parliament building comes to be refurbished. I would assume that it should reach an EPC of at least B if not A. Its basic Gothic design makes this impossible without rebuilding, yet it is listed so cannot be demolished. I wait to see the stupidity this causes! It will be ridiculous. Imagine how many solar panels will be needed, there will never be enough roof area, and they will have to be hidden from sight! The commons chamber (which has a partial glass roof) could be interesting too, after insulation there will only be 50 seat spaces left. What fun. The £6 billion cost estimate will seem like peanuts in a flash of green.