Last Updated on 13 October 2025
Have your energy bills ever seemed too high? Have you thought about selling or renting your property? Both of these scenarios make your home’s energy performance, as reflected in its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), very relevant.
Your home’s EPC impacts energy costs and also market value. The higher your EPC rating, the lower your energy costs. The higher your EPC rating, the more appealing your property is to buyers and renters on the low-carbon part of the low-carbon to high-carbon spectrum.
A good EPC rating (such as C or above) is attractive to potential buyers and is considered above average in the property industry. The average EPC rating in the UK is D, so property owners should aim for a good EPC rating to stand out.
The responsibilities of the property owner and the property industry include taking steps to improve EPC ratings and support higher energy efficiency standards.
So what’s your home’s EPC rating? And how can you improve it?
Upgrade Your Home with Renewable Energy Solutions
Improving your property’s Energy Performance Certificate rating can feel a bit overwhelming, but it is not as complicated as it seems. There are several options available to property owners. Most are what we call ‘renewable energy’ choices, like solar panels or air-source heat pumps. Others are more like traditional retrofits, in which we apply modern materials and techniques to improve the structures of older homes.
Energy saving improvements, such as insulation, boiler upgrades, and other efficiency measures, can be applied to both older and newer buildings to boost their energy performance and EPC rating. These enhancements deliver excellent results in terms of increased energy efficiency. Best of all, they save owners money on utility bills while making their homes comfortable. And that’s what we’re all about: not promising the impossible but offering up some real-life solutions that, when applied, help solve many energy problems.
Understanding Your EPC Rating
What Is an Energy Performance Certificate?
Like a report card, the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) evaluates the home for energy efficiency. It gives a property a letter grade from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). The home’s energy performance score reflects how well the residence keeps out the cold and retains heat, as well as how effective (or ineffective) its cooling and heating systems are. A better score means the house uses less energy to maintain a comfortable atmosphere within its walls, making it better for both the planet and the people who live there.
The Importance of Your EPC Rating
One of the key benefits is that it helps reduce energy costs because an energy-efficient home uses less energy. As a result, it consumes less electricity and other types of power, leading to significant savings.
- Greater Market Value: Enhancing your EPC rating can boost your property’s market value. It makes your property more competitive and attractive to likely buyers. Achieving a higher rating can make a rental property more appealing to tenants and landlords, leading to savings in the long run.
- Compliance with Regulations: To lawfully rent out properties, landlords must comply with minimum Energy Performance Certificate ratings. Landlords must meet the minimum EPC rating as set by the minimum energy efficiency standard and MEES regulations to rent out a property to tenants legally.
- Environmental Benefits: Reducing your energy usage decreases the carbon your activities release into the environment, helping to lower carbon emissions, which benefits the Earth.
Top Suggestions for Improving EPC Ratings
Do you want ideas to improve or raise your home’s EPC rating? Here are some practical strategies to help you achieve a higher EPC rating:
Improve Your Insulation
- Wall Insulation: Were you aware that as much as 35% of a home’s warmth can escape through inadequately insulated walls? Depending on the design of your home, you may have cavity walls or solid walls. Cavity walls are typically constructed with two layers of brick or blockwork, and houses built after 1920 are more likely to have this feature.
- Cavity Wall Insulation: Insulating the spaces between your walls can drastically cut down on heat loss. Filling the cavity between these two layers with insulation can significantly enhance your home’s thermal performance and improve your EPC rating.
- Solid Wall Insulation: Whether the insulation is placed inside or outside, it keeps heat from escaping through the thick walls.
- Loft Insulation: Warm air rises, and without adequate insulation in your loft, you could lose as much as 25% of your home’s heat through the top. Roof insulation is essential because a significant amount of heat can escape through an uninsulated roof, making it a key factor in improving energy efficiency and EPC ratings. Upgrading this space’s insulation is a smart way to make your property more energy-efficient. It is a good starting point at a low cost on the journey toward making your home a net-zero energy consumer.
- Floor Insulation: If you insulate your floors, you can keep out drafts and increase comfort, especially in older, detached homes with timber floors suspended over space.
Upgrade Windows and Doors
- Double Glazing: Replacing single-pane windows with double-glazed ones keeps heat in, quiets the outside world, and increases the energy-performance rating of your home.
- Triple Glazing: If you want the maximum in insulation, look to triple-glazed windows. This window style gives a stronger defence against not just temperature dips but also sound transmission, offering even greater insulation benefits than double glazing.
- Secondary Glazing: For period or listed properties where replacing original windows isn’t possible, secondary glazing is a practical, non-intrusive solution to improve thermal insulation and energy efficiency.
- Draught-Proofing: Simpler tasks like applying builders’ caulk to the small spaces around your windows and doors have a clear and direct payoff in how comfortable and energy-efficient your house is.
Modernise Your Heating System
- Efficient Boilers: Replacing an old boiler with a new energy-efficient boiler or a new boiler can significantly lower your heating costs and enhance your energy performance. Installing an A-rated condensing boiler can dramatically lower your heating costs and improve your EPC rating.
- Heating Controls: If you fit your home with thermostatic radiator valves and smart thermostats, you can control your heating with much greater precision. That means your system will run only when and where it is needed, saving energy and money.
Embrace Renewable Energy Sources
- Solar Panels: The installation of photovoltaic solar panels allows for the generation of electrical energy that can be used to supplant the use of the electric grid. This most certainly lowers one’s electric costs and has been shown to significantly impact one’s Energy Performance Certificate score, usually in a very positive direction.
- Ground Source Heat Pumps: These systems draw warmth from the earth to heat your home, providing an efficient alternative to conventional gas-fired central heating.
- Solar Water Heating: Solar water heating technology captures solar energy to heat water for use in homes and businesses. In doing so, it clearly reduces reliance on conventional water heaters.
- Switch to Energy-Efficient Lighting: Replace incandescent light bulbs with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to significantly improve energy efficiency and reduce lighting energy consumption by as much as 90%. Upgrading from traditional incandescent light bulbs to LEDs is a key step in improving your EPC rating.
- Install a Smart Meter: A smart meter gives you data in real time about your energy consumption. This allows you to see, right down to the individual appliance level, where and when you’re using the most energy. Knowing this can help you identify and implement changes that will reduce your consumption and affect your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating if and when you have to get it reissued.
The Retrofit Advantage
Customised Energy Efficiency Solutions
No two houses are alike, and neither are their energy requirements. That’s why we furnish bespoke energy efficiency solutions for properties. We start with the basic inspection and finish with the implementation of the measures we recommend. Our primary goal is to enhance your home’s EPC.
- Solar Panels Installation: We focus on installing top-quality solar panels and know how to maximise their energy generation. We do everything: assess your property’s suitability, draw up plans, and obtain permits.
- Ground Source Heat Pumps Setup: We offer professional installation of heat pumps, providing your home with an environmentally sustainable and efficient heating solution.
- Ongoing Support and Maintenance: After the installation is finished, our collaboration continues. We ensure that your systems are reliable and efficient, providing support and maintenance to that end. Our relationship doesn’t end when the job is done; we want to see your energy revolution succeed. Ready to reap the benefits?
Improving the EPC rating of your property is not merely about obeying rules or boosting the value of your home. It is principally about making your place comfortable and sustainable. It is about making it “work” and cutting the household’s utility payments. At Aspect, we aim to assist the homeowner throughout the process to ensure the optimal, most comfortable, and lowest utility cost outcome is achieved. Do you want to improve your property’s EPC rating?
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to improve my EPC rating?
Improvement costs vary. Straightforward solutions like sealing draughts and replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs can cost less than £100. But we have to think bigger if we’re going to make a serious dent in our energy use. Bigger solutions like putting solar panels on our roofs or digging deep for ground source heat pumps can run anywhere from £5,000 to £15,000. These are not costs; they’re investments that pay off in significantly reduced energy bills and increased property value.
Do any grants exist for improving energy efficiency?
Yes, indeed! There are a variety of government incentives available for the installation of renewable energy sources and for improvements to home insulation. We can work with you to find the grants that apply to your situation.
Will my EPC rating benefit from having a smart meter?
Not directly, but it could, in a roundabout sort of way. A smart meter doesn’t affect the EPC score itself, but it does empower you to take actions that can ripple through to your next EPC result.
How quickly can I see a return on investment?
The payoff from upgrades like loft insulation and LED lighting comes quickly, often within a year or two. Even substantial measures, like solar panels, take longer to recoup their costs but can provide savings. The kinds of savings I talk about might mean 10+ years to recoup for some measures and pay back in 5–10 years for others.
Can I improve my EPC rating if I live in a listed building?
Certainly, but some upgrades may be limited, such as external wall insulation and window replacements. We can assist you in selecting the right enhancements that conform to relevant standards.
