How Does A Conservatory Affect The Energy Performance (EPC) Rating Of A Property?

Steffy Alen — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 08:39:54 +0000

EPC became more significant since 2018 when the local government in Northern Ireland announced that rented properties must to achieve a rating of ‘E’ or higher. However, there are several questions about the EPC survey. One of them is the impact of conservatory to the EPC and how does it affect the efficiency of a house.

Epc4less, Belfast epc providers, have the answer to this question.

How Separated Conservatories Affect Your EPC Rating

First of all we need to mention that conservatory is defined as having at least 50% of the wall and 75% of the roof glazed. Separated conservatories, whether are heated or not, are not part of the main dwelling and they are not being taken into account during the EPC calculation process. When conservatory is separated heat losses or gains between the main building and the conservatory are negligible. Although, the Domestic Energy Assessor should mention the presence of the separated conservation to his report.

How Integrated Conservatories Affect Your EPC Rating?

In the case of integrated conservatories, there is no separation from the main building through a wall or external door. Instead, they extend the living space and they are directly connected with the main dwelling. Conservatories that are integrated to the main building tent to increase the heat and daylight transfer into the house and affect the EPC results. The Domestic Energy Assessor should measure and examine the inner area and characteristics of the conservatory and include it into the energy performance calculations.

It is important to mention that depending the size and type of the integrated conservatory the EPC results may change. However, the general conclusion is that conservatories have fairly small affect in EPC results.

Do You Need To Have Paperwork From The Manufacturer?

During the site visiting of a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA), only the main building is been inspected. In case of conservatories, mechanically heated or not, the DEA only needs to take some pictures and specify the glazing data during simulation process. No more investigation needed and no manufacturer papers.

Should You Upgrade Your Conservatory For Your EPC Rating?

Recommendations for upgrading a low energy saving house to energy efficient always referred to the main dwelling. Generally, conservatories have low impact to EPC and spending money for upgrading them is not a priority. Only integrated conservatories with single glazing may be upgraded and only by changing the single glazing to double. And again, the EPC rating will be increased just for a few points.

However, if you need to examine the effect of the conservatory to your property, an energy assessment should be requested from the Assessor where the results will not be published in the NI EPC Register. During the energy assessment, the effect of the conservatory to the main building will be calculated and the impact to the EPC rating will be estimated.

EPC Providers Belfast

To find a company that supplies EPCs in Belfast just search online for Energy Performance Certificate providers, or just look for “EPC Belfast”.