HOME ENERGY AUDITS

Russell Surveying Services offer ABBE qualified Jersey Home Energy Audits. Colin Russel is one of three current assessors who have been trained by the British Research Establishment to acheive the ABBE Level 3 Diploma in Domestic Energy Assessment as required by the Government of Jersey. About 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. EPCs can only be generated by a qualified assessor. What a Home Energy Audit involves The qualified assessor will visit you at your home to carry out an audit. This visit takes between 1 to 2 hours depending on the size of the property. The assessor will need access to every room in your home so that they can take measurements, photos and notes on how it’s built. The assessor will ask you questions, such as whether you have your heating on a timer, and if so when it switches on and off, if insulation is present in the roof space or walls etc. After the visit the assessor will use the information collected about your home to generate the EPC. The information is entered into an online tool that has been personalised for Jersey homes. The assessor will send you a copy of the EPC and run through the recommendations with you. Cost of a Home Energy Audit The cost of a Home Energy Audit varies depending on factors such as: age of your home size of your home if your home has had extensions Funding for a Home Energy Audit The Government of Jersey are currently offering £200 to £250 funding per property towards a Home Energy Audit. You can apply for funding if: You own the property The property hasn’t had a Home Energy Audit before Funding will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. You will be told within five working days of applying whether funding is available to you. Your funding must be confirmed before your Home Energy Audit takes place, and must be carried out by a qualified assessor. If your Home Energy Audit costs more than the funding allocated, you are responsible for paying the extra. Funding will be valid for eight weeks from the date it is issued. If the audit is not completed by the agreed date or any other terms and conditions are breached, the full cost of the audit is your responsibility. To apply for Government of Jersey 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. 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.