Hellio offers a True / False on thermal strainers and takes stock to see more clearly

1 / In France, 4,8 million homes are heat sieves. TRUE

This data was published in 2020 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The Government has put in place a massive energy renovation plan, in particular to eradicate thermal strainers, an economic (exorbitant bills), social (exclusion and health problems) and environmental (CO2 emissions and waste of resources for heating) scourge. .

The ambitious objective is to renovate 500.000 housing units per year, of which 250.000 are occupied by low-income households (and nearly 1/3 of social housing in order to remove energy strainers from the social housing stock).

To this end, the budget of MaPrimeRénov 'has been revised upwards in 2022: 2 billion euros. The fifth period of the Energy Saving Certificates (CEE) system, from 2022 to 2025, also devotes more importance to operations intended for precarious households; in fact, it is the most represented public among the owners or tenants of thermal strainers.

2 / Thermal strainers are housings heated by fuel oil. FALSE

Designating a dwelling as a thermal strainer (or "energy strainer") does not take into account heating energy - at least directly. These are in fact the most poorly classified dwellings on the energy label, either F or G, after an energy performance diagnosis (DPE).

The two criteria that determine the energy class are:

• Primary energy consumption
• Greenhouse gas emissions

The more energy a home consumes and emits CO2, the more its letter is degraded. In 2021, the reform of the DPE imposes new classification thresholds:

• Letter F: consumption above 330 kWh / m2.year or emissions above 70 kg CO2eq / m2.year;
• Letter G: consumption above 420 kWh / m2.year or emissions above 100 kg CO2eq / m2.year.

Indirectly, homes heated with a polluting fuel - such as fuel oil - emit more greenhouse gases, which promotes poor classification. But the mere fact of using fuel oil does not automatically assign the F or G label.

3 / I will no longer have the right to rent my accommodation if it is a colander from 2028. TRUE et FALSE

The schedule for banning colanders for hire is spread over several years, in order to gradually encourage owners to renovate their energy-intensive home and make it more decent:

• January 1, 2025 for G-rated dwellings;
• January 1, 2028 for classified F dwellings;
• January 1, 2034 for housing classified E.

Note that with the reform of the DPE in 2021, new thresholds apply, as well as a new unique form of energy label.

4 / I must do a DPE rather than an audit before selling my home. FALSE

As a reminder, the energy audit is a more complete assessment than the energy performance diagnosis. The DPE, for its part, determines the energy class of a home, between A and G, according to its primary energy consumption and its greenhouse gas emissions.

In the general case, any accommodation put up for sale must be accompanied by the results of the DPE, valid for 10 years. If energy efficiency work has been carried out since the last diagnosis, it is advisable but not compulsory to carry out a new one, in order to obtain a better letter and enhance the value of the property.

With the Climate and Resilience Law of 2021, the most energy-consuming individual dwellings put up for sale must be subject to a prior energy audit, which is more extensive than the DPE. This obligation is spread over 3 maturities:

• 2022: audit required for thermal strainers (letter F or G);
• 2025: audit required for class E;
• 2034: audit required for class D.

5 / If I do my DPE now, it may be invalidated. FALSE

The new version of the DPE, which entered into force on July 1, 2021, quickly came under criticism. Indeed, many dwellings have seen their energy class deteriorate due to an "anomaly in the calculation method", in particular those built before 1975.

Result: the DPE for this type of old building were temporarily suspended on September 24, 2021. But a new method came into effect on November 1, to correct the faults noted.

As stated by the public service:

• For dwellings built before 1975 and classified F or G, the DPEs will be automatically reissued by the diagnosticians, at no cost to the owners.
• For dwellings built before 1975 and classified D or E, owners may request a reissue of their DPE, at no additional cost.

On the other hand, for more recent dwellings, the calculation implemented on July 1 continued to apply, without any invalidation.