Home efficiency
EPC recommendations: what they mean
An EPC rates a home from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient) and suggests improvements. It is a useful starting point, but its costs can be years out of date and its savings are for a standard pattern of use.
Updated 3 October 2026 · energy.org.uk editorial team
What an EPC shows
- Current and potential ratings. The potential rating is what the assessor's model expects if you made all the recommended improvements.
- A description of the home: walls, roof, floor, windows, heating, hot water and lighting, each with a rating.
- Recommended improvements, in the assessor's order, with an indicative cost and the rating after each step.
- Estimated energy costs, based on standard heating patterns and the prices used when the certificate was produced.
An EPC is valid for 10 years. Only an accredited domestic energy assessor can produce one.
How to use the recommendations
- Check the date. Costs and savings reflect prices when the EPC was produced, which may be very different now.
- Check the description is still right. If you have added loft insulation or a new boiler since, the certificate won't show it.
- Treat the rating changes as estimates. The new rating after an improvement is what the model predicts, not a promise.
- Follow a sensible order rather than the list alone: damp and draughts first, then insulation, then heating. See what to improve first.
Worked example: reading a certificate
An example certificate lodged in March 2015 rates a house D (60), with a potential of B (84). It describes:
- Walls: Cavity wall, as built, no insulation (assumed)
- Roof: Pitched, 100 mm loft insulation
- Floor: Suspended, no insulation (assumed)
- Heating: Boiler and radiators, mains gas
What this tells you: the walls are an empty cavity, the loft has some insulation (under 270mm), the house has a timber floor with a space below, and it is heated by a gas boiler. "Assumed" means the assessor could not see it, so check it yourself: a cavity may have been filled since 2015.
Its recommendations might list cavity wall insulation at "£500 - £1,500". That is the cost range when the certificate was lodged, more than ten years ago, so get a current quote. The potential B is the model's estimate if every recommendation were done, not a promise.
Check
What to check first
- Find your certificate. In England and Wales, the home improvement shortlist looks it up from your postcode and address. Otherwise use the official register for England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland has its own register.
- Look at each element's rating: a "very poor" roof or walls show where the biggest heat losses are.
- Whether a grant depends on your rating. Several schemes are for homes rated D to G.
Do
Practical next steps
- In the home improvement shortlist, enter your postcode and choose your address. It reads your EPC, fills in what it says about your walls, loft, floor and heating, and lists its recommendations. Check the answers it fills in.
- If it can't find your certificate, or you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, look it up on the official register and answer the questions yourself.
- Get up-to-date quotes rather than relying on the certificate's costs.
- If you rent privately in England or Wales, the home must normally be rated E or better; see energy saving for renters.
Take care
Important limitations
- The EPC's energy costs assume standard use, not how your household actually heats the home.
- Our lookup covers England and Wales only and reads the certificate as lodged; it can't tell what has changed since, or predict a new rating.
- A new EPC is the only way to show a changed rating.
Related tools and guides
Sources
- GOV.UK: find an energy certificate
- GOV.UK: Energy Performance Certificates when buying or selling
- Energy Saving Trust: EPCs explained
- Scottish EPC Register
Official sources checked 3 October 2026.