Heating EPC Improvements, Boilers, Controls & Systems: EPC points and cost

Does a new boiler improve an EPC rating? Yes, but controls come first

Heating is one of the biggest single blocks of an EPC score, typically 15 to 25% of its weighting, so getting the heating right moves the number meaningfully. But “improve the heating” splits into two very different decisions with very different economics: cheap, high-value controls, and a much larger boiler replacement. This page answers the question owners actually ask, does a new boiler improve an EPC rating, and by how much, costs both the controls and the boiler by cost per point, and explains why controls almost always come first.

The short answer on the boiler: yes, replacing an old non-condensing boiler with a modern condensing model typically adds +5 to +15 SAP points. But a programmer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves add +2 to +5 points for a fraction of the cost, so on most homes the controls are the smarter opening move. A domestic EPC is a SAP rating from 1 to 100 (band C starts at 69, B at 81), calculated for existing homes by the government’s RdSAP model, and the plan is always the same: current score, minus the target threshold, equals the points you need. You can check your current number free on the national EPC register.

Heating controls, the strongest value after the quick wins

Full heating controls are one of the best cost-per-point measures on any certificate after LED lighting and a cylinder jacket. A programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) on every radiator together cost £150 to £500 fitted and typically add +2 to +5 points, around £75 to £150 per point. That is a strong return, and it is available to almost every home with wet central heating.

There are two tiers worth knowing:

• Standard controls, a timer or programmer, a wall-mounted room thermostat and TRVs. This is the baseline the model rewards, and the £150 to £500 figure above.
• Smart controls, internet-connected thermostats with features such as zoning, learning schedules and remote control. Under RdSAP 10 (in force 15 June 2025) smart heating controls are now recorded on the certificate, and they map directly onto the proposed “smart readiness” metric coming with the reformed EPC. So smart controls are both a points measure today and a future-proof one.

Controls need no consent, install quickly, and pair naturally with a boiler change if you are doing one. They are the reason a heating upgrade need not start with a four-figure spend. Controls also sit on the sub-£500 quick-win list on the cheapest improvements page.

Boiler replacement, the bigger lever, and its two caveats

Replacing an old non-condensing boiler with a modern condensing model costs £2,000 to £3,500 and typically adds +5 to +15 points, around £200 to £400 per point. On a home still running a 1990s or early-2000s non-condensing boiler, that is a substantial gain, and it is often the measure that finishes a band jump the controls and quick wins started. Two caveats decide whether it is worth it:

• If you already have a reasonably modern condensing boiler, a like-for-like swap adds little. The big points come from replacing genuinely old, inefficient plant, not from upgrading a boiler that is already efficient. Check what you have before you budget for a change.
• Evidence decides the score under RdSAP 10. The assessor now scores the actual boiler from its documented model data, so an efficient boiler with no paperwork can be scored on pessimistic age-band defaults, throwing away points you paid for. Keep the make, model and serial number, or the installation manual.

All gas boiler work must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and a boiler change is a Building Regulations Part L matter, so keep the Building Regulations compliance certificate as well as the Gas Safe notification.

Electric heating and commercial systems, the same logic, different levers

Not every home is on gas. In electric-heated stock, often 1960s to 1970s ex-council flats, the levers within a leaseholder’s control differ: high-heat-retention storage heaters replacing old off-peak storage heaters, a cylinder jacket, full controls and LED lighting. The heating metric is frequently the biggest problem on these certificates, so evidenced, efficient electric heating with good controls is where the points are.

On commercial certificates the same logic applies with even more force. Heating and lighting upgrades are the classic fastest route from an F or G assessment back over the E line that MEES requires to let lawfully. An illustrative example (clearly labelled): a roughly 120 sqm high-street retail unit assessed F after a tenant left, unlawful to re-let without a registered exemption, was brought back to a solid E with a full LED retrofit plus replacement efficient electric heating and controls, exactly the levers its recommendation report ranked first. Commercial buildings are scored differently from homes (an SBEM-modelled asset rating rather than a SAP score), but the cheapest lift is still lighting and heating.

Cost-per-point verdict, where heating sits

Rank the heating measures against the alternatives and the sequence is clear:

• Heating controls (programmer, room stat, TRVs): ~£75-£150 per point, one of the best values on the certificate
• Condensing boiler (replacing non-condensing): ~£200-£400 per point
• Loft top-up (for comparison): ~£50-£100 per point
• Double glazing (for comparison): ~£1,000-£2,700 per point

Controls are near the top of the value table; a boiler is mid-table, cheaper per point than glazing, dearer than fabric measures like the loft. The practical takeaway is to buy the cheap heating points (controls) alongside the quick wins and the loft, and treat a boiler replacement as a considered measure for homes with genuinely old plant, or as the finisher that completes a band jump. Smart controls also carry a forward-looking edge: they feed the proposed smart-readiness metric, so those points count under both today’s SAP and the reformed EPC. For the full costed picture across every measure, see the cost page.

Who heating improvements are right for

Heating improvements are the right focus when the certificate points there, and the recommendation report will tell you:

• Full controls suit almost any home with wet central heating, especially one with only a basic timer or no room thermostat. This is a near-universal cheap win.
• Boiler replacement suits homes still on old non-condensing gas boilers. If your boiler predates the mid-2000s condensing requirement, a replacement is likely to add real points; if it is already a modern condensing unit, it will not.
• Electric-heated flats benefit most from high-heat-retention storage heaters plus controls, within the limits of leaseholder consent on communal systems.
• Commercial F/G units should look at lighting and heating first as the fastest route back over the MEES E line.

Landlords planning for the confirmed EPC C by 1 October 2030 standard should note that the heating system is one of the reformed metrics that standard is measured across, so an efficient, well-controlled heating system is not just a points measure, it is one of the two things the future standard will directly test.

The RdSAP 10 evidence to keep

Since 15 June 2025, RdSAP 10 has scored heating from evidence, so the paperwork is worth real points. Keep:

• The boiler make, model and serial number, or the installation manual, this is what lets the assessor score the actual unit rather than a pessimistic default.
• The Gas Safe notification and the Building Regulations Part L compliance certificate for a boiler change.
• Invoices and product details for heating controls, especially smart controls, which are recorded on the certificate under RdSAP 10 and feed the smart-readiness metric.
• Product data for replacement electric heaters, showing high-heat-retention specification where relevant.

Hand this pack to the assessor at re-assessment. An efficient boiler with no evidence is the classic way owners lose points they have already paid for. The evidence discipline runs through every measure and is set out on the FAQs page.

Applicable grant, dated and status-exact

Several supports touch heating, each with an honest caveat:

• 0% VAT on energy-saving materials (status: live until 31 March 2027, then reverts to 5%; source VAT Notice 708/6, gov.uk) zero-rates the installation of heating controls and heat pumps, though not, in general, a straight gas-boiler replacement, on residential accommodation in Great Britain. Confirm any specific measure’s status on the 0% VAT guidance (Notice 708/6).
• Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) (status: open as of July 2026; £7,500 the dependable figure) pays £7,500 toward an air or ground source heat pump in England and Wales, landlords included, and has been extended with funding allocated through 2029/30. It does not fund a gas boiler, it funds the low-carbon alternative. A temporary higher grant for oil/LPG-heated homes was announced in 2026; present £7,500 as dependable and confirm the current uplift on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme page. The heat-pump route, and how it satisfies the future heating-system metric, is covered on the heat pump page.
• ECO4 (status: end phase as of July 2026, original end date 31 March 2026, government consulted on extending to 31 December 2026; check gov.uk) can fund heating for low-income and vulnerable households, tied to occupant eligibility, not a general owner or landlord grant.

Full, dated detail on every scheme sits on the grants and funding page.

When a new boiler is the WRONG first move

Heating matters, but a boiler replacement is one of the most over-sold measures in the improvement market. It is the wrong first move when:

• Your boiler is already a modern condensing unit. A like-for-like swap of an already-efficient boiler adds little to the score. If the recommendation report does not flag your boiler, spend the money on cheaper points first.
• You have not bought the cheap heating points yet. Full controls at £150 to £500 deliver a large slice of the available heating gain at a fraction of a boiler’s cost. Fit the controls, the LED lamps, the cylinder jacket and the loft top-up before you consider a £3,000 boiler, the controls alone often close much of the gap.
• A heat pump is the real goal. If you are heading for a low-carbon system with the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, spending on a new gas boiler first is money you would then replace. And the grant requires a valid EPC with no outstanding loft or cavity insulation recommendations, so the fabric measures come before the heating decision anyway.
• You are chasing band B for a green mortgage. A boiler alone rarely reaches B. If 81-plus is the target, the plan needs the fabric measures and often a generation measure as the finisher, see the solar PV page.

The rule we build every plan on holds here too: cheapest points first, controls before boilers, then only the bigger measures the arithmetic still demands. To sequence it for your specific property, start from your own number by checking your current EPC score on the national register, and see how our fabric-and-controls-first approach orders the work. For the measure that pairs most naturally with heating, see the insulation improvements page.

Frequently asked questions

Does a new boiler improve an EPC score, and by how much?

Yes. Replacing an old non-condensing boiler with a modern condensing model typically adds +5 to +15 points for £2,000 to £3,500, and pairing it with full controls, programmer, room thermostat and TRVs, adds a further +2 to +5 at low cost. Two caveats matter: if you already have a reasonably modern condensing boiler, a like-for-like swap adds little; and under RdSAP 10 the assessor scores the actual boiler from its documented model data, so keep the make, model and serial number. An efficient boiler with no evidence can be scored on default assumptions that throw the points away.

Should I upgrade my boiler or my heating controls first?

Controls first, in almost every case. Full controls cost £150 to £500 and add +2 to +5 points, around £75 to £150 per point, while a boiler costs £2,000 to £3,500 for +5 to +15 points at £200 to £400 per point. The controls deliver a meaningful slice of the available heating gain for a fraction of the cost, and they need no consent. Fit the controls (alongside the quick wins and a loft top-up) first; treat a boiler replacement as a considered measure for genuinely old plant, or as the finisher that completes a band jump.

How many points do heating controls add to an EPC?

A full set, programmer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves on every radiator, typically adds +2 to +5 points for £150 to £500, making it one of the strongest cost-per-point measures after LED lighting and a cylinder jacket. Smart controls are recorded on the certificate under RdSAP 10 and map onto the proposed smart-readiness metric in the reformed EPC, so they are future-proof points as well as cheap ones. Keep the invoices and product details as evidence for the assessor.

Will efficient heating still count under the new 2026 EPC metrics?

Yes, more directly than almost any other measure. The confirmed reform (partial government response, 9 March 2026; status: confirmed policy, regulations intended in 2026) splits the domestic EPC into four metrics, energy cost, fabric performance, heating system and smart readiness, produced with the Home Energy Model, targeted from October 2026 subject to the regulations. Efficient heating feeds the heating-system metric and smart controls feed the smart-readiness metric, and both are among the two metrics the proposed EPC C by 1 October 2030 landlord standard will be measured across. Heating and controls points score under today’s SAP and under the reformed regime alike.