What constitutes "low energy lighting" on an EPC?

[Ericthelobster]

I need to get a new EPC done on a property which will soon be coming vacant, as it's been over 10 years since the last one. Looking at my old certificate, points were 'deducted' because I didn't have low energy lighting in all the fixed outlets. I'm not sure what was there at the time; probably a mixture of incandescent and CFL bulbs.

Anyway, for what it's worth, next time I'd like to max out the score and want to make sure the correct bulbs are in place when the assessor comes round. Does anyone know what type are expected now? Are CFLs still OK? Or are you expected to have LED bulbs these days?

[Jon66]

Led are the lowest consumption. Having googled it 'higher points' are given but only one or two, so if borderline enough to go up into the next band.

[Jon66]

Of course the cynic in me is thinking, I wonder if people put leds in for the assessment then take them out once completed to put into the next property for assessment 🤔

[Kape65]

The cynic in me is wondering if there are any EPC assessors that could tell the difference between different bulbs!

[Section20z]

Of course the cynic in me is thinking, I wonder if people put leds in for the assessment then take them out once completed to put into the next property for assessment 🤔

Only someone with too much time, not enough sense and a complete disregard for environmental impact.
LEDs not only save the tenant money but also the landlord in replacement costs

[AndrewDod]

No bulbs at all is most efficient.

You could also install one of these (power from food)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAz5575VqYo

[nukecad]

Six months ago I bought 12x 6 Watt LED bulbs on Amazon for £24.50 free delivery.
(Won't mention the brand but a good supplier).

Changed every bulb in the house.

They are as bright as old 150 Watt bulbs.

They are in a plastic globe so look the same, but I do wonder if anassesor would see the difference or just assume that they are old 150 Watt jobs?

[Jon66]

Perhaps keeping the packaging to show the assessor is a good idea. Or a photo of the packaging? Changed my boat to LEDs a couple of years ago, makes quite a difference. I'm not keen on the cool white ones but the warm white are good.

[flyingfreehold]

what is so ridiculous is that some assessors are harder markers than others. Yes they are trained to spot LED bulbs. I have thrown away literally dozens of florescent 600 x 600 ceiling panel boxes and replaced with LED ones ro get a few more points on commercial EPCs. The light is superior and no flicker either. Tenants like them and they are dimmable. Quite a pricey upgrade though

[AndrewDod]

Yup -- that's terribly environmentally unfriendly -- it takes decades of use of LED vs fluorescent to make up for the environmental cost of throwing away perfectly good fluorescent bulbs and fittings.

[flyingfreehold]

True but I needed to up the spec and EPC rating of these offices. Regrettably there are going to be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of florescent lights binned as on any reletting commercial EPC improvement is likely to be required.

[AndrewDod]

I'd imagine that the use of EPC as a tool for environmental change has led to massive environmental damage instead of improvement. That's certainly been my experience - with 50 mild round trip drives for EPC assessors, chucking stuff out, or abandoning whole buildings. If the Gretas of this worlds actually cared about the environment they would address these problems they have created.

If you have to replace actual fittings, you will definitely be dead before you break even for a fluorescent to LED switch.

[jpucng62]

Don't blame Greta - she's just calling out Govts worldwide who pay lip service to environmental issues when it can score them votes

Anyone else notice how environmental concerns have just been ditched in the face of covid-19? Plastic waste everywhere, outside heaters being purchased etc

[AndrewDod]

Don't blame Greta

Yes, she is rightly criticising people, but what is needed are actual feasible solutions. Things like EPCs have caused environmental damage and folk like Greta should be dealing with sham environmental protections that damage the environment. They should also be calling out other terrible examples (like Extinction rebellion thugs sticking themselves to trains and turning an energy effective transport system into chaos, or sticking vast numbers of stickers onto public buildings which required vast energy and damaging solvents to remove).

But they don't - so to blame her and people like her is quite fair.

[nukecad]

Of course if she was shouting about different issues then there would be cries about 'indoctorination' by her parents and others.

You used to see the same indoctorination of hippy children in the 1960s, buy there was no internet social media then.

BTW. That much publicised sailboat across the atlantic was fibreglass hulled (plastic) with polymer sails and ropes (plastic).

My concern is that it seems to have become accepted that climate change is soley due to human activity and all proposed 'green' solutions concentrate on that.

I'm not denying that is part of the problem and needs to be tackled - but we ignore natural change at our peril.

Ice ages and hothouse ages came and went long before humans were even here.
We need (very) long term plans for those and not just curbs on human activity.

I also dislike phrases used by reporters that end '... since records began'.
They usually mean sometime in the last 20 to 150 years of scientific record keeping, which they can find with a google search but which is hardly since records began.