Table of contents
An improvement plan is a ranked set of upgrades for a property, each one costed and modelled. Energicore works out what the home needs, puts the measures in order, and attaches an estimated saving, cost range, energy saving, CO₂ saving and EPC score change to every one.
You can build more than one plan for the same property and compare them, so it is worth trying a second approach rather than treating the first plan as the answer.
This guide follows the Optimise savings plan, which takes the highest bill saving available in every area of the home.
What you need
- A property already on your account. If you have not added one yet, follow the "How to add a property" guide first.
- Nothing else. Energicore builds the plan from the property details it already holds.
The more of the property's details you have completed, the sharper the plan's figures will be. If you skipped the About your home questions or the energy use step when adding the property, the savings will be modelled from assumptions rather than from the real household.
The steps at a glance
- Open the property and click Add a plan.
- Choose a plan type.
- Review the measures Energicore has picked.
- Save the plan.
- Open it from the plan list.
- Read and understand the plan.
- Download it as a PDF.
Step 1: Open the property and click Add a plan
Go to the property you want to plan for, from Properties in the left hand menu or from Recent properties on your dashboard.
Scroll down its dashboard to Improve this home. If the property has no plans yet you will see an empty panel with an Add a plan button. Click it.
If the property already has plans the panel lists them instead of showing the empty state. Use the Add plan button at the top of that list. Everything after this point is identical.
Step 2: Choose a plan type
Energicore offers six ways to build a plan. Each one is a different starting point, and you can add more than one to the same property.
- Smart plan. Describe what matters to you and Energicore builds the plan around it, using this property's own data.
- Target an EPC band. Reach a higher band with the cheapest set of improvements that gets this property there.
- Preset plans. Start from a named plan: fabric first, basic, DIY, or a full retrofit.
- Custom plan. Go area by area and choose each upgrade yourself.
- Optimise savings. Take the highest bill saving available in every area.
- Reduce carbon. Take the biggest CO₂ reduction available in every area.
For a savings led plan, click Optimise savings.
Which should you pick? Optimise savings and Reduce carbon often produce different plans for the same home, because the cheapest thing to run is not always the lowest carbon. Target an EPC band is the one to use when you have a compliance deadline rather than a budget.
Step 3: Review the measures Energicore has picked
Energicore builds the plan straight away and shows it to you before anything is saved. Nothing has been added to the property yet. This is a preview.
The This plan so far panel at the top gives you the headline numbers: the estimated annual saving, the indicative cost range to install everything, and the CO₂ saved. The badge in the corner tells you how many measures are included.
Below that, Included measures lists every upgrade in order. Each one shows:
- A number, which is its position in the plan.
- A short description of what the work involves.
- An area tag such as Walls, Heating controls, Lighting or Other.
- The estimated annual saving, shown on the right in green.
- The indicative cost range, the CO₂ saved and the EPC score change.
If there is a measure you do not want, click Remove underneath it. The headline figures recalculate as you go, so you can see what dropping a measure costs you before you commit.
Step 4: Save the plan
Scroll to the bottom. The bar there repeats the running total and gives you two choices: Choose another plan type to go back and start differently, or Add this plan to save it to the property.
Click Add this plan.
Step 5: Open it from the plan list
You land on Improvement plans, the property's list of saved plans. Your new plan appears with the date it was added, the number of measures, and its saving and CO₂ figures.
Click View plan. Delete on the left removes the plan from the property.
Step 6: Read and understand the plan
The plan page is the full report. It has three parts.
The summary
At the top: Saved each year, CO₂ saved, and the Indicative rating the property holds today. The Download plan button sits in the top right corner.
A note on the headline figure. The saving shown on the saved plan can differ from the total shown in the preview. Work from the figure on the saved plan, and use that one when you talk to a client.
The measures
Recommended improvements lists each measure in priority order. Here the plan page shows more than the preview did, adding Energy saved in kWh per year alongside the cost, EPC score change and CO₂ saving.
Reading a measure:
- Est. £/yr in the top right is what this one measure is expected to take off the annual bill.
- Indicative cost is a range, not a quote. Treat it as a planning figure and get real quotes before committing.
- EPC score change is how many points this measure adds to the property's score. The information icon beside it explains how that is worked out.
- Energy saved is the reduction in annual consumption, which is the figure that drives the bill saving.
- CO₂ saved is the annual carbon reduction.
Measures are ordered by what they return, so the ones at the top are where the money is. That does not always mean doing them first, since a cheap measure low down the list may pay back faster than an expensive one at the top.
Some measures cost nothing. A smart meter, for example, shows an indicative cost of £0 because your energy supplier provides one free, and the entry tells you to contact them to request it.
The footer
At the very bottom sits a reminder that the savings are estimates from Energicore's energy model, based on this property's profile, and a Delete plan link if you want to start over.
Step 7: Download it as a PDF
Click Download plan in the top right corner of the plan page.
Energicore generates a PDF of the plan and your browser saves it to wherever it normally puts downloads. The page itself does not change and there is no confirmation message in Energicore, so look to your browser's downloads bar or downloads folder for the file.
If nothing seems to happen check your browser's downloads list before clicking again. The file usually arrives without any on screen prompt. If your browser is set to ask where to save each file, a save dialog will open instead.
What is in the downloaded PDF
The PDF is not a print of the web page. It is a six page client facing report, branded and dated, and it includes several things the plan page does not show. This is the document to send to a homeowner.
Pages 1 and 2: where the home stands, and what the plan would do
Page 1 opens with the address, the postcode and the date the plan was prepared. Where your home stands today shows the A to G scale with the property's band marked on it, then the headline property facts: type, age and floor area. How each part of your home performs repeats the star ratings for walls, floor, heating and hot water, with a line explaining that the parts with fewest stars are usually where the work makes the most difference.
Page 2 is the summary: the estimated annual saving, the number of improvements, the cost to do it all before any grants, and the carbon saved. It closes with a plain English note that these are typical figures rather than quotes.
Pages 3 and 4: energy now, and savings after
Page 3, How your home uses energy now, is the section with the most detail that the web page does not give you. It states the modelled annual consumption and cost, lists the exact tariff rates used for the estimate, splits consumption between electricity and gas including standing charges, and gives a Where your energy goes table breaking usage down by heating, appliances, hot water and lighting with percentages.
Page 4, Your estimated savings, sets the current bill against the bill after improvements and shows the saving as both a figure and a percentage. How your fuel use changes shows before and after consumption per fuel as bars. The improvements we recommend then begins, with an explanation of why fabric work comes before heating upgrades.
Pages 5 and 6: the rest of the measures, grants, and next steps
Page 5 finishes the measure list and adds two things the plan page does not have. Each measure carries a disruption label, such as Low hassle, Some disruption or Major disruption, and some carry a scheme tag such as ECO4. Help paying for improvements then lists the grant schemes the property may qualify for, with the amount available and a link to apply, plus any schemes opening soon and the date the check was run.
Page 6 finishes What to do next, a four step list covering getting quotes, checking available help, starting with the fabric, and telling Energicore when work is done so the plan recalculates.
Figures to expect. Measure costs, savings and carbon figures in the PDF match the plan page. The disruption labels, tariff rates, fuel split and grant schemes appear only in the PDF.
What to do next
The plan stays on the property until you delete it, so you can come back to it at any time from Improvement plans.
- Add a second plan with a different starting point. Reduce carbon and Target an EPC band are the natural counterparts to a savings led plan, and both will sit alongside it in the same list so you can compare them.
- Complete the outstanding property sections, such as energy bills, tariff and grant eligibility, then build the plan again. Better inputs give tighter figures.
- Enrol your client from the property dashboard so the homeowner or resident can read the report themselves.