Assessors literally need to inspect all parts of your property. They need to check your boiler, radiators and heating controls such as thermostat or programmer therefore access to all heated rooms should be provided. loft space needs to be inspected for level of present insulation. access to back yard should be provided to inspect external wall insulation, thickness and construction as well as type of glazing. Hot water cylinder and electric heaters in all the rooms will be inspected.
Here are some hints to get a higher EPC rating.
Replace all your halogen bulbs with LED lights.
Though type of lighting has very little effect on overall EPC rating but it still counts. If all your lights are LED, the property will get 1 extra point out of 100.
Improve hot water cylinder insulation
Adding an extra jacket around hot water cylinder as well as installing a thermostat can improve the overall EPC rating. Furthermore dual immersion hot water cylinders are more efficient than single immersion hot water cylinders. however to get most of your dual immersion heater you need to have economy 7 or dual tariff meter.
Using Economy 7 tariff is a great way to improve the EPC rating
Especially when there is no Gas in the property. Having economy 7 or dual rate tariff for electricity meter will significantly improve the EPC rating for properties using electricity as the only source for heating and hot water demand. Most of energy providers in UK install Economy 7 free of charge for their customers.
Increase loft insulation
Most of houses or top floor flats with loft have very limited if not no insulation at all. The average insulation thickness which can be installed easily in loft is the Height of joists which is normally 100 mm. for getting maximum point in this section we recommend improving insulation up to 300mm
Using Heating control features
Having at least one room thermostat to control the heating, using a programmer with a timer to switch the heating on/off automatically, installing TRVs in each radiators are measures which can improve the EPC rating of your property. using each of these units can give you few extra points. To get maximum point regarding your heating controls You need to have Time and Temperature Zone Control (TTZC) that means dividing your house into several heating zones with different thermostat and programmers controlling each zone’s temperature separately.
Adding secondary glazing or draught proofing for single glazed windows
If you can not replace your single glazed windows (conservation area) instead of expensive double glazed windows, you can add an extra layer of glazing internally which is called a secondary glazing furthermore draught proofing for doors and windows also can improve the overall EPC rating for your property.
Using green technologies and renewable energy sources
Having solar home system for providing hot water ( solar thermal) or solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) which produce part of your energy demand will hugely improve the overall EPC rating of your property and possibly results in a Band A rating which is the most efficient category.