Energy Rating C/D on 20 year old property

[Andrew89]

I saw a house i liked, but the main thing that bothers me is that it is one point away from a D rating for the EPC energy assessment. I was really after something more energy efficient so i wouldn't worry so much when putting the heating on.. would this put you off buying a house? I looked at the individual ratings and they were mostly 'good' as opposed to 'very good' and the potential was also a maximum of a high C but only if you put solar hot water or something on the roof, which is 3-5k. Really not sure what to do?

I'd be grateful, as mine is an F, which stands for "fucking freezing".

Haha that made me laugh!

It wouldn’t put me off, unless it was a show home finish and you’d have to trash it to improve the efficiency.
I’ve just bought an ‘E’ house and it’s probably a D already. Loft insulation and a heating flush are cheap compared to some of the shite people spend money on.

That's great - doesn't the EPC tell you what you can do to improve the efficiency? I didn't think about the loft but assuming they'd have put that on there? The double glazing seemed pretty solid to me, but even that was only rated as 'good'. One thing that stood out was the conservatory was part of the kitchen, instead of being separated, and i think you'd lose a lot of heat through all that glass. I think it could be separated fairly easily but not sure of the cost

for The conservatory, you just need to make sure the door to it is really good and seals well.
My house had a draughty cold extension room. What we are doing for now, is keep the door shut, and use it for hanging out washing. What it loses in heat it more than makes up in not using the tumble dryer. Can use it as part of the house in summer.

Haha 😂

TBH, the EPCs are often not worth the paper they are written on. In many cases, many assumptions are made about things they can't see/don't know that may or may not be correct. I wouldn't sweat it too much, and instead maybe look up any recommendations made.

It's very unusual for a 20 yo house to be so close to a D, so I would assume it is wrong. They very, very often are. I certainly wouldn't expect it when everything is rated good (which, btw, just means everything is 20 years old - windows, boiler etc).

I would look at other EPCs on the street.

What is the kWh stated per annum for heating and hot water and how many square meters are on the certificate? Do you think the sq m look accurate?

If you scroll down to the bottom, you should find a link to the original certificate. Compare the ratings, the sq m, the kWh pa, and see if they don't match. It's normal for a new build to go from a mid B to a mid C between such a time because for the first one, they get all the paperwork from the developer, but for the second one, they have to make assumptions.