SURVEYING & INSPECTION SERVICES

HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCIES

What Energy Efficiency means and how Russell Surveying Services can help you acheive Energy Efficient goals. The energy efficiency of a building depends upon how well it is insulated and how well the heating is controlled, as well as the efficiency with which its heating and hot water systems can convert fuel to heat. Home owners in Jersey can now have Home Energy Audits. A Home Energy Audit is a survey to tell you how energy efficient your home is. The more energy efficient your home, the more money you will save on your energy bills. Having a Home Energy Audit done on your home tells you: how much energy you’re currently using recommendations of home improvements to make your home more energy efficient behaviours you can change to cut your energy bills, such as turning down your room thermostat by 1°C to save up to 10% on your heating bill An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is awarded to a home as part of a Home Energy Audit. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) An EPC tells you how efficient your home is and gives it a rating from A (very efficient) to G (inefficient). Information about how your home is built and how it is heated is used to generate an EPC. It gives you a personalised list of home improvements that can increase your home’s EPC rating. The home improvements are listed in priority order so that you know where best to start. It also estimates how much energy your household currently uses. It then shows you how much energy you can save by making each of the home improvements. EPC ratings give you a standardised way to compare your home with others. For more information about Home Energy Audits and susidised funding please click here The fabric of a building has an important influence on the amount of energy required to keep it comfortable. If the building is badly insulated, even the most efficient heating system will require a great deal of energy to keep it warm. Overall, an energy efficient building is one that is well insulated, has an efficient boiler and good heating controls. Although it may not always be possible to improve the building fabric insulation, Russell Surveying Services are aware of opportunities for improved insulation and will bring them to the client's attention for them to consider. Hot water systems should be insulated to minimise heat loss from storage cylinders and primary circuits; heat output from them may contribute to space heating requirements in the colder months but in summer it is wasted and may make the house uncomfortably warm. Energy efficiency produces benefits for individual householders and the environment. Many homes are costly to operate because they were never "fine-tuned" by the original builders. A great majority of homes were built when energy costs were very cheap and the equipment used in them reflected that fact. There are many products on today's market that can make your home run extremely efficient and recover their cost quickly. Proper equipment setting adjustments are another example of energy waste control. We offer complete energy conservation consulting including written/oral reports after surveying your property. For households, the benefits are lower fuel bills and more comfortable conditions. A well insulated house needs less heat to bring it up to a comfortable temperature and cools down more slowly when the heating system is turned off. An efficient, well controlled heating system uses less fuel to produce a given amount of heat. Both combine to reduce the total amount of fuel needed and hence the cost. Energy efficiency contributes to reduced environmental impact through the use of less fuel.