1970s Ground Floor Flat - 46E seeking a C for MEES

At the time of writing, the current methodology for EPC assessments of existing dwellings is RDSAP 10. The EPC for this property was conducted under the previous methodology RDSAP 9.94. In the future, the Home Energy model will replace RDSAP and government consultations indicate their desire to change EPC meaurement metrics. This will therefore change approaches to EPC rating improvement in the future.

This is a 1970s Ground Floor Flat. The rating on the last EPC was 46E and that certificate expired in 2019.

We want to improve this rating to a C band in order to comply with MEES requirements which the government have indicated they want to strenghten for 2028/2030.

The plan is to try and increase the EPC rating to a C now as cheaply and as reasonably as we can, so that we then have an EPC that we can rely on for the next 10 years.

This will give us plenty of time to work out whether the property will pass the future MEES requirements suggested for 2028/2030 using the revised EPC metrics that the government indicate they want to introduce, or whether further improvements might be required thereafter.

Let's take a look at the Features table from the expired EPC:

We notice there are two wall types declared.

The main heating is provided by 'Modern Slimline' Electric Storage Heaters.

There is also an entry for Secondary Heating where it says: Room heaters, electric. This is because there are two fixed electric towel rail radiators in the property - one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom.

The hot water is provided by electric immersion heater in a 'Fortic' style hot water cylinder.

Here are the Recommendations listed on the EPC certificate:

With all three of these recommendations applied, the EPC rating would be 65D. This would leave us just 4 points from a C rating.

The expired EPC was carried out in January 2009, and the floor areas was recorded as 38m2.

2009 was fairly early in the history of EPCs.

EPCs were first introduced in 2007 and there have been some changes in the methodology over the years although I don't expect the rating to be much different now if the property were to be re-assessed today in the condition it was in back in 2007.

The modern recommendation for storage heaters would be for High Heat Retention Storage Heaters and these result in a higher EPC rating compared to the slightly older Fan assisted type.

Looking now at work that has been carried out on the property since 2007, cavity wall insulation has actually been installed in the external walls and the hot water cylinder has been replaced completely. The replacement cylinder has factory fitted foam insulation rather than the old mineral wool jacket of the original.

We need to gain access to the property, and conduct a new EPC to see what the rating is now.

Options that might be available:

• Remove all storage heaters, fit one High Heat Retention Storage Heater to the living room and an electric panel heater in the bedroom.. or
• Fit a gas combi boiler with radiators.. or
• Fit a heat pump with radiators and a new hot water cylinder

A gas meter is actually available alongside the property, but it is not connected to either the ground floor flat or the first floor flat and it's 'ownership' is unknown.

Our preferred option is likely to be the installation of one High Heat Retention Storage Heater (HHRSH) to replace an existing 'modern slimline' storage heater. We would remove any other storage heaters in the flat and fit an electric panel heater in the bedroom. This is likely to be the most cost effective option.

The way HHRSHs work in the EPC rating calculation is interesting. You only need one so long as there are no other types of storage heater present. Adding additional HHRSHs does not result in a better rating.

Also, the declaration of Secondary Heating sources such as electric panel heaters does not seem to result in a reduction of EPC rating like it would if the main heating system was a gas boiler. The same also appears to be true of un-heated habitable rooms in the property.

You need to provide sufficient heat generation capability though within the property to match the potential heat loss through the building fabric.

For more information, see our pages on Heating Systems and
High Heat Retention Storage Heaters.

Once we get access to the property (a tenant in significant rent arrears is currently being evicted), we'll run an EPC assessment and model what rating we would achieve via this preferred approach.