F rated BER.How risky is it?

dbagman

In short,im going viewing a house today thats advertised with a F ber rating.its a 3 bed bungalow with double glazing and gas central heating.What im wondering is what would have this so low and how risky would it be to purchase a house like this? It was built in the 80s so I didnt expect it to be high but F seems unusually bad.how much of a bearing should the BER rating have on my decision to buy a house and how much (roughly) and what work would be needed to raise it?thanks in advance

BryanF

dbagman wrote: »

In short,im going viewing a house today thats advertised with a F ber rating.its a 3 bed bungalow with double glazing and gas central heating.

1. What im wondering is what would have this so low and how risky would it be to purchase a house like this?
2. It was built in the 80s so I didnt expect it to be high but F
3. seems unusually bad.
4. how much of a bearing should the BER rating have on my decision to buy a house
5. and how much (roughly)
6. and what work would be needed to raise it?thanks in advance

1. please define 'risk'
2. what made you think or expect the BER to have a better BER rating
3. what were you expecting?
4. A-G. A-rated homes are the most energy efficient and F not so effecient. you''ll have a local eng deicide how sound the structure is
5. thats for you to figure out preferably with a local arch/QS/surveyor
6. as per no. 5

dbagman

BryanF wrote: »

[/LIST]

1. please define 'risk'
2. what made you think or expect the BER to have a better BER rating
3. what were you expecting?
4. A-G. A-rated homes are the most energy efficient and F not so effecient. you''ll have a local eng deicide how sound the structure is
5. thats for you to figure out preferably with a local arch/QS/surveyor
6. as per no. 5

risk as in what extra costs am i likely to incur in my heating and energy bills and for any work i may need to carry out to improve its rating.thought that was fairly evident given what were talking about.
I thought it would be a better rating due to the house having modern features like double glazing and as F is pretty much the lowest rating it could get,again pretty obvious.
And i was only asking as to what improvements i could make and a rough idea of the average cost.Again a question as plain as the nose on my face

4Sticks

Ask to see the BER cert and in particular the Advisory Report which by law must accompany it. It will guide you as to what improvements are required.
My suspect no 1 for such a low rating would be an old inefficient boiler.

4Sticks

This puts the houses rating into some context for you.

I would say the most important rule with buying a house is location. An F rated house will be more expensive to heat than a C rated house ( in my opinion the optimum send / reward rating to aim for ) . But I would relegate that to a secondary consideration.

dbagman

4Sticks wrote: »

Ask to see the BER cert and in particular the Advisory Report which by law must accompany it. It will guide you as to what improvements are required.
My suspect no 1 for such a low rating would be an old inefficient boiler.

thanks for your help mate

PAL100

I would ask what wall construction if it's solid or hollow block then dry lining would be expensive.either of these wall types are near enough the worst for heat loss. A bungalow is also the worst house type for BER ratings most exposed elements relative to floor area, also attic insulation should be easy to rectify if insulated at ceiling.also the boiler may not be very efficient as well as the heat controls.
Also if it's cavity wall then it's relatively cheap to have pumped and is money well spent

Pkiernan

dbagman wrote: »

risk as in what extra costs am i likely to incur in my heating and energy bills and for any work i may need to carry out to improve its rating.thought that was fairly evident given what were talking about.
I thought it would be a better rating due to the house having modern features like double glazing and as F is pretty much the lowest rating it could get,again pretty obvious.
And i was only asking as to what improvements i could make and a rough idea of the average cost.Again a question as plain as the nose on my face

Tons of attitude in your post. Maybe you could be nicer to the fellow that took the time to respond to your post?

G is the worst rating, not F.

None of your questions have obvious answers, as you obviously do not understand how BER ratings are calculated, nor do you understand what a BER really measures, or what the results mean.

In an 80's house, assuming no upgrades biggest factors will be:

1. Heating system - cost circa 4 grand

2. Lack of or poor attic insulation - should be well under a grand, though hard to determine since you don't say how big the property is, and it is pretty obvious that the size of the house makes a difference to the cost of upgrade.

3. Lack of poor wall insulation - lots of money. Up to 10k for external insulation, less for interior drylining. Pumping a cavity wall is typically less than 2k, but you have left out if the property has cavity walls.

4. Poor glazing (double glazing isn't a modern feature), and external door performance - 5 k and higher depending on what windows you want

5. No insulation under the floor - astronomical cost for little gain.

One could say that these would be obvious as the nose on your face...

dbagman

Pkiernan wrote: »

Tons of attitude in your post. Maybe you could be nicer to the fellow that took the time to respond to your post?

G is the worst rating, not F.

None of your questions have obvious answers, as you obviously do not understand how BER ratings are calculated, nor do you understand what a BER really measures, or what the results mean.

In an 80's house, assuming no upgrades biggest factors will be:

1. Heating system - cost circa 4 grand

2. Lack of or poor attic insulation - should be well under a grand, though hard to determine since you don't say how big the property is, and it is pretty obvious that the size of the house makes a difference to the cost of upgrade.

3. Lack of poor wall insulation - lots of money. Up to 10k for external insulation, less for interior drylining. Pumping a cavity wall is typically less than 2k, but you have left out if the property has cavity walls.

4. Poor glazing (double glazing isn't a modern feature), and external door performance - 5 k and higher depending on what windows you want

5. No insulation under the floor - astronomical cost for little gain.

One could say that these would be obvious as the nose on your face...

The irony of harping on about attitude and then posting what you did.fact remains I was looking for some guidance,not smart arse responses.Im fully aware of what the BER is and what it means,hence my initial questions about cost factors involved in improving it.

BryanF

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dbagman wrote: »

I was looking for some guidance,not smart arse responses.

you got several responses with good advice/ guidance. if you feel you got 'smart arse responses' go and seek guidance and help elsewhere. thread closed

BryanF

thread reopened after request by OP

4Sticks

OP- what follow up questions do you have ?

dbagman

4Sticks wrote: »

OP- what follow up questions do you have ?

hi mate,i dont have any follow up questions off the top of my head if honest,your information was very helpful,Thanks.The house I was making the initial post about has since been sold Im afraid so has all become a tad irrelevant really.
I did however query the moderator in question that closed the thread as to why he felt the need to do so as I wasn't happy with the reasons given.Guess he had a change of heart or couldnt back up his reasons for doing so and reopened.Either way thanks again

BryanF

thread closed again, for good this time.

Have a week off dbagman