SAP / EPC UK Property Ratings

We are regularly contacted by potential Clients for help with improving the energy efficiency of an existing house. Our products can be retro-fitted to help your property achieve a higher SAP/EPC rating and lower running costs. The Clients range from individuals renovating their house, through to large construction companies/Mechanical and electrical contractors.  They all have a common need to improve the energy efficiency of what they are building or renovating.

Our Ecocent hot water unit is ideal for improving energy efficiency – it is easy to install and uses waste heat from the building to produce hot water at up to 60 deg C.  The units range from 100ltr to 300ltrs in various styles. They replace a traditional cylinder and use air source heat pump technology to heat the water incredibly efficiently – for every 1kW of electricity used, it delivers 4.5kW of heat to the water (even at 60 deg C). Because the Ecocents are the hot water cylinder as well, the marginal cost of the unit over a traditional cylinder is low; making the investment decision pretty straight forward (when replacing an existing cylinder or for a new build).

The Ecocent can also be used as a central mechanical extract ventilation unit and is qualified under Building Regs as a Category 3 ventilation unit.  The unit can be used to deliver centralised mechanical ventilation and will use heat from the ventilated air to heat the hot water (thereby recovering heat that would otherwise be completely wasted).  The unit is listed in SAP for both the ventilation and hot water generation duties and the system costs a fraction of what a whole house ventilation and heat recovery (MVHR) system would cost.

There are no other units like the Ecocent listed in SAP and they are a relatively easy and low cost way to improve SAP and EPC ratings.  The unit’s efficiency and effectiveness has also enabled it to win multiple prestigious national awards.

This is a method used within the UK to assess the energy performance of buildings. SAP stands for Standard Assessment Procedure. This was introduced as part of the government’s environmental policy which aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the UK a greener country by reducing carbon emissions.

SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) is a process by which the energy efficiency of a house is calculated. The process takes all energy aspects (uses and generation) of a house/building in to account (heating, hot water, ventilation, lighting, etc) to come up with an overall efficiency rating of a house/building.  This informs the EPC rating of the house and directly impacts amounts payable under the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme and can also directly impact the selling price of a house – the better the performance rating of the house/building, the higher the selling price tends to because the higher the rating, the lower the running costs.

You can find out more about SAP on the government website.