France is overhauling its energy performance diagnostics to favor electricity, allowing roughly millions of homes to escape the restrictive “thermal sieve” classification without requiring property owners to lift a finger or pay for renovations, according to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition cited by energy specialist Hello Watt.
How the New Electricity Conversion Factor Works
The Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique (DPE) evaluates a home’s energy efficiency by measuring the primary energy required to produce and transport power, whether that energy comes from electricity, gas, or oil. According to government updates, the primary energy conversion factor for electricity drops from 2.3 to 1.9 on January 1, 2026, and will fall further to 1.7 on January 1, 2027. The government states that this adjustment makes the DPE calculations more favorable to electricity, pointing out that French electricity is produced abundantly and is 95% decarbonized. The policy aims to push households to swap gas or oil boilers for heat pumps.
Automatic Updates and Rental Market Impact
Property owners will not need to hire a new inspector because DPE assessments completed during 2026 remain legally valid. Instead, the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) will automatically and free of charge update the DPE on its website, where owners can download a new certificate showing their updated energy label. Thanks to this shift, approximately 300,000 homes will automatically escape the F or G energy rating categories, freeing them from rental bans that previously barred landlords from leasing them out.
Regulatory Shifts Versus Actual Renovations
Regulatory tweaks rather than physical property upgrades drive the vast majority of these reclassifications. According to Hello Watt, more than two-thirds of the homes exiting the energy sieve category do so because of changing government calculations rather than completed renovation work. Ministry figures cited by Hello Watt indicate that the combined calculation adjustments for 2026 and 2027 will reclassify 1.8 million inefficient homes automatically, compared to an estimated 500,000 properties that will clear the threshold through actual energy-saving renovations. Hello Watt also notes that the updated calculation methodology does not account for summer comfort in buildings.
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