What documents should I include to get a quote?
What is a Radiant Heater?
A radiant heater produces heat in the form of light. There are different wavelengths of light and our eyes see a limited range of wavelengths. The wavelengths of light we can see are the colours of the rainbow – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet....
Ventilation – Why is it Important?
Modern construction techniques produce housing that is particularly airtight. Old houses have an air pressure of Q = 15 so you didn’t need to worry about it. Modern construction produces an air pressure of Q = 5, sometimes achieving Q = 3 or less in some really...
SAP 2012 – Your Problems Solved
On April 6th 2014 a new version of the regulations relating to Energy Efficiency of Buildings came into force in England. These regulations are Part L1A (new dwellings) and Part L2A (new industrial buildings.) A new version of SAP was introduced replacing SAP 2009...
Conversions – do they need a SAP test?
This was a house, now it is 2 flats. Why does it need a SAP test? When a house is converted into 2 flats, the use was residential before, but now the building contains 2 residential dwellings. This is a change of use, under Part L1B, and requires a SAP calculation...
Why Does My Extension Need a SAP Test?
An extension needs a SAP test if the glazing is more than a quarter of the floor area. This includes doors, windows and rooflights. If any glazing is removed from the house in order to create the extension this is also added to the amount of glazing allowed. If the...
What is a Heat Pump?
A heat pump is a heating system that extracts heat from the things around it. A normal refrigerator extracts heat from the food inside it. That heat will come out of the back of the fridge somewhere. Heat pumps extract heat from the air (air source heat pump) or...
Solar Panels – Are They Really The Enemy?
As a SAP assessor solar panels were always something I tried to avoid. There are limitations to most customer’s budgets. Solar panels used to cost £10,000 or more. They were out of the question. Solar hot water systems were often used as a cheaper...
What is an Energy Sustainability Report?
Some councils like to go beyond national building regulations and have their own standard. This might be 10% better than national building regulations in some areas or require 10% or 20% of energy to be generated by renewable means. The SAP assessor will start with...