Historical domestic gas and electricity emissions

This chart shows the annual emissions from this postcode of gas and domestic buildings' electricity consumption. Use the drop down menu to select either total, median, or mean emissions. Note that some areas are off the gas grid, so no emissions are reported. In these places, heating may be provided by some other fuel type, such as coal, wood, or oil. Emissions have been calculated by Carbon & Place by multiplying energy consumption by annual emissions factors for the UK. For electricity consumption, emissions per kWh have declined in recent years, resulting in falling emissions even if electricity consumption has remained constant.

Chart type: Median Mean Total

Historical gas consumption

This chart shows domestic buildings' annual gas consumption in kilowatt hours in this postcode. Use the drop down menu to select either total, median, or mean emissions. Note that some areas are off the gas grid, so no emissions are reported. In these places, heating may be provided by some other fuel type, such as coal, wood, or oil.

Chart type: Median Mean Total

Historical electricity consumption

This chart shows the annual electricity consumption in kilowatt hours by domestic buildings in this postcode. Use the drop down menu to select either total, median, or mean emissions. Consumption estimates are provided for different meter types (all, standard, and economy 7). However, data is not always available for all meter types.

Chart type: Median Mean Total

Historical gas and electricity meters

This chart shows this postcode's total number of domestic gas and electricity meters. Electricity meters are also broken down into standard and economy 7 metres. In theory, the total number of all electricity meters should match the total of standard and economy 7 meters. However, there can be slight differences or even missing data due to how the data is reported. Therefore, two columns are shown for electricity meters to show the different counts.

Changes in the number of meters may indicate house building/demolition and the difference between gas and electricity meters can indicate the presence of off-gas grid homes.

EPC ratings

The EPC score is the headline result rating homes on a scale from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). To meet the climate targets, we need all homes to be A or B graded as soon as possible.

Building type

A summary of the types of domestic buildings.

Tenure

A summary of type of tenure as recorded on the EPC. Not that is may have changed after the EPC was issued. Also as EPCs are required for rental properties but only required for owner-occupied properties at the time of sale, rental property may be over-represented in the EPC data.

Building Age

A summary of the estimated construction date of dwellings.

Walls rating

About 35% of heat is lost through a house's walls, so insulating the walls is an excellent way to reduce energy use. Most homes built after the 1920s have cavity walls that are easy and cheap to insulate with blown glass fibre wool. However, care must be taken to install the insulation correctly to prevent damp crossing the cavity, particularly in places that get driving rain or have stone cavity walls. In these properties, expanding foam of polystyrene bead insulation can be more expensive but reduce the risk of damp and mould growth. Older homes with solid walls require either external or internal insulation. These options are more expensive than cavity wall insulation, and internal insulation requires redecoration of the rooms.

Walls description

A description of the construction of the external walls. The most common type of wall are brick or block cavity walls, which are cheap and easy to insulate with cavity wall insulation. Other types of wall require more expensive internal or external insulation.

Roof rating

About 25% of heat is lost through the roof of the property. For homes with pitched roofs, loft insulation is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of insulation. The uptake of loft insulation has been reasonably high due to low cost and government incentives. However, many homes have less than the recommended minimum of 300mm of insulation, and flat roofs remain challenging to insulate. Dwellings with another dwelling above, such as flats are consider to not have a roof and a recorded as "Dwelling Above" only the top floor flat would have a roof rating.

Roof Description

The type of roof affects how the building can be insulated. Pitched roofs are the easiest to insulate, while flat roofs are harder to insulate.

Floor rating

About 15% of heat is lost through the floors of homes. EPCs are especially bad at recording the floor construction, so there is often a lot of missing data. Many homes built before the 1950s have suspended timber floors, which are relatively simple to insulate either by accessing the crawl space under the floor and attaching insulation to the underside or by lifting the floorboards. Homes built after the 1960s are more likely to have solid concrete floors. These are difficult to insulate as you either have to dig into the concrete slab or insulate on top of the slap, raising the floor level. Not this classification only applies to ground floor properties, so flats often are classified as "Dwelling Below".

Floor Description

Ground floors of homes typically come in two types. Suspended floors are raised slightly above ground level and outside air can circulate in the void beneath the floor to prevent mould and damp. This was common for homes built before the 1940s. Conversely solid floors are built directly on the ground usually of concrete and are more common in post-1940s homes. Both floor types can result in heat loss if not insulated, but the way the floors are insulated is different. This chart shows the distribution of different floor types.

Windows rating

Around 10% of heat is lost through windows and doors. Most houses now have double-glazing, although many have the less efficient early forms of double-glazing. New double or triple glazing is an expensive option for energy saving. However, it is often installed as it is perceived to add value to the property.

Glazing type

A summary of the type of glazing used.

Main heating system rating

This chart shows the efficiency rating of heating systems. An efficient heating system uses less energy than an inefficient system to provide the same amount of heating. Note that a very efficient heating system may not be low carbon. For example a modern condensing gas boiler has an efficiency of over 90% yet is it still a high carbon heating source as it is fuelled by gas. For more details see the heating descriptions below.

Main heating system description

Most homes in England have gas central heating, often with a condensing boiler. If properly installed and maintained, these have high efficiencies (above 90%). As gas is a fossil fuel, we need to replace all gas boilers with low carbon heating systems such as heat pumps as soon as possible. While heat pumps are even more efficient than gas boilers, they are significantly more expensive to install (around £10,000 for a new heat pump vs £2,000 for a new gas boiler). It is more common to find homes heated with oil boilers, storage heaters, or even coal fires off the gas grid. These heating types are both high carbon and expensive to operate, so heat pumps can be more financially attractive.

Main fuel description

Description of the main type of heating fuel used in the home.

Heating Control Rating

Heating controls help save energy by turning off the heating when it is not needed. Common types of heating control include thermostats, timers, and Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs). Upgrading heating controls can be a low-cost way to get a small reduction in energy use.

Heating Control Description

Heating controls can come in lots of different combinations, but some of the most common combinations are shown in this charts. A good heating system should have a programmer to allow you to decide when in the day you want heating; ad thermostat so that the heating system turns off once the house is warm, and Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) to enable room-to-room adjustments. More complex heating systems have heating zones enabling different settings for different parts of the home.

Hot water system rating

The energy efficiency of the hot water system is rated from Very Good to Very Poor.

Hot water system description

A description of how hot water is provided. The most common approach is for hot water to be provided by the main heating system. However some homes have separate space and water heating systems.

Lights Rating

Lights are one of the easiest energy efficiency measures to adopt. Modern LED bulbs are highly efficient and affordable. Since the ban on inefficient light bulbs in 2016 and 2019 a gradual phase out of inefficient lighting is expected. This may not yet be reflected in EPC data as EPC can be several year out of date.

Solar Photovoltaics

Solar PV panels generate electricity from sunlight. While the cost of PV panels has dropped significantly in recent years the cost of installing them on the roof of a building can still be high. Homes with solar panels can use the electricity or sell it to the grid.

Solar Thermal

Solar Thermal panels provide hot water from sunlight. Often in the UK they are pre-heating the water and some other technology (such as immersion heater) is needed to bring the water up to full temperature. However, they can be a cost effective way to reduce energy demand for hot water even on cloudy days.