Around 850,000 dwellings exited classes F and G of the DPE (Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique — the French Energy Performance Certificate) on 1 January 2026, without a single euro of renovation work. The estimate is a government one, published with the announcement of the new DPE (economie.gouv.fr). The cause fits in one line of the calculation method: the ministerial order (arrêté) of 26 August 2025 lowered the primary-energy conversion coefficient for electricity from 2.3 to 1.9.
If your home is heated with electricity — electric resistive radiators, convectors, radiant floor heating, heat pump — its rating may have changed class on 1 January 2026 without you knowing. The consequences are far from symbolic: the right to let the property, the rent freeze, the mandatory energy audit at sale, the rating displayed in the listing. Conversely, if you expect this reform to cut your bill, you will be disappointed: it changes strictly nothing about your actual consumption.
850,000 dwellings lifted out of classes F and G with no works — more than a fifth of the 3.9 million thermal sieves (passoires thermiques) France counted on 1 January 2025 (12.7% of the housing stock, SDES data).
What this article covers
The content of the order of 26 August 2025 and the rationale for moving from 2.3 to 1.9, the final-energy to primary-energy conversion mechanism that determines the rating, the official worked example and the class threshold table, the winning dwelling profiles and those that gain nothing, a complete case study in kWh, the four common mistakes after the reform, and how to obtain your updated rating free of charge.
The order of 26 August 2025: why the DPE electricity coefficient drops from 2.3 to 1.9
The order of 26 August 2025 amends the order of 31 March 2021 which defines the official DPE calculation method, known as the 3CL-DPE 2021 methodology. From 1 January 2026, the primary-energy conversion coefficient for electricity — the multiplier applied to every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed to establish the dwelling's conventional consumption — drops from 2.3 to 1.9. The coefficients for all other energy sources are unchanged.
| Energy source | Coefficient until 31 December 2025 | Coefficient from 1 January 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| Natural gas | 1.0 | 1.0 (unchanged) |
| Heating oil | 1.0 | 1.0 (unchanged) |
| Wood | 0.6 | 0.6 (unchanged) |
The 2.3 coefficient applied since 2021 was a legacy of the electricity generation mix of the 2000s: to deliver 1 kWh of electricity at the meter, the power system of that era was deemed by convention to mobilise 2.3 kWh of primary energy, given power-plant efficiency and grid losses. Two arguments motivated the revision (economie.gouv.fr): the French electricity mix is now largely decarbonised, driven by nuclear and renewables, and the value of 1.9 aligns France with the European reference value.
The reform has a twofold scope. DPEs carried out from 1 January 2026 are calculated directly with the 1.9 coefficient. DPEs carried out between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2025 that are still valid are not redone: their owners can obtain a free rating-update certificate from the DPE-Audit Observatory run by ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (service-public.gouv.fr).
The stakes go well beyond display. The DPE class conditions the right to let: G-rated dwellings have been banned from new rentals since 1 January 2025, F-rated ones will be from 1 January 2028 and E-rated ones from 1 January 2034 (article L.173-1-1 of the CCH, the French Construction and Housing Code, introduced by the Climate & Resilience Act of 22 August 2021). A dwelling reclassified from F to E therefore escapes the 2028 deadline — but remains concerned by the 2034 rental ban on E-rated dwellings. The housing recovery bill debated in 2026 may also adjust this schedule through a works commitment: our analysis of the 2026 French housing bill and the option to re-let an energy-inefficient property details the scenarios.
A coefficient that may move again by 2027
The 1.9 value is not necessarily final. Directive (EU) 2024/1275 on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD), which France must transpose by 29 May 2026, harmonises calculation conventions across Member States: a further adjustment of the coefficient is possible by 2027 within that framework. France's third national climate change adaptation plan (PNACC 3) also provides for a strengthened summer-comfort indicator in the DPE by 2028. The DPE remains a living reference framework — and each revision of a convention can move hundreds of thousands of ratings at the stroke of a pen.
How the 1.9 coefficient recalculates your home's DPE rating
Final energy × coefficient = primary energy: the formula behind the rating
The DPE does not measure billed consumption: it calculates a conventional consumption expressed in primary energy. Final energy (EF) is what passes through the dwelling's meter; primary energy (EP) adds, by convention, the energy mobilised upstream to produce and deliver each kilowatt-hour. The 3CL-DPE methodology applies a simple formula: primary energy consumption = final energy consumption × the coefficient specific to each energy source. It is this EP consumption, per square metre and per year, that places the dwelling on the class scale — coupled with a second threshold on greenhouse gas emissions, the retained class being the worse of the two scales (order of 31 March 2021).
The official example given with the reform's announcement illustrates the effect of the new coefficient: a dwelling consuming 10,000 kWh of electricity in final energy was counted as 23,000 kWh of primary energy until 31 December 2025; it has been counted as 19,000 kWh since 1 January 2026. The reduction is around 17% on the electric share of consumption — mechanical, and identical for every dwelling, wherever it is located.
| DPE class | Primary energy consumption (kWh/m²/yr) |
|---|---|
| A | 70 or less |
| B | 71 to 110 |
| C | 111 to 180 |
| D | 181 to 250 |
| E | 251 to 330 |
| F | 331 to 420 |
| G | over 420 |
Thresholds applicable to dwellings in mainland France (order of 31 March 2021); the final rating retains the worse of the two scales, primary energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Reading the table explains why a roughly 17% reduction in counted consumption is enough to change class: dwellings sitting in the lower part of their class cross the threshold, while those further away stay in the same class with an improved margin.
The update is not automatic, however: a DPE issued before 2026 still displays the old rating. For DPEs carried out after 1 July 2021 and still valid, ADEME issues a free official certificate of the new rating through the DPE-Audit Observatory — our step-by-step guide to the free 2026 ADEME DPE rating update walks you through the procedure.
Who wins: the profiles of reclassified dwellings
The first winning profile, by far: direct electric heating — convectors, electric resistive radiators, radiant floor heating. In these dwellings, almost all of the conventional consumption is electric: the roughly 17% reduction applies to nearly the entire counted consumption, and the gain runs to tens of kWh EP/m²/yr. Dwellings sitting at the top edge of their class tip over. Dwellings equipped with heat pumps benefit from the same coefficient, but they generally started from much better classes: the recalculation improves their margin, rarely their class in any decisive way.
Typical profile of a reclassified dwelling: a home heated by convectors or electric resistive radiators, domestic hot water from an electric tank, rated F or G by a narrow margin before the reform — typically a 1970s-1990s dwelling whose insulation has already been partially upgraded.
Geographically, the reform follows the structure of the housing stock, not an administrative map. Electric heating is over-represented in the detached-house stock of western France — Brittany, Normandy, Pays de la Loire — and of the South-West, where it spread widely in houses built from the 1970s onwards. Conversely, the older urban stocks of Île-de-France and the Grand Est, mostly heated with gas, often collective, are little affected: their coefficient does not move. To visualise the certificates recorded near you, the Mon Simulateur Immobilier DPE map by municipality lets you explore the DPEs in your area.
What the reform does not change
Three categories gain nothing. Dwellings heated with gas or oil, first: their coefficient stays at 1.0 and their rating is strictly identical before and after 1 January 2026. The "true" Gs, next: a highly energy-hungry dwelling remains far above the 420 kWh EP/m²/yr threshold even after recalculation — the reform tips class borderlines, not thermal money pits. Your bill, finally: the price per kilowatt-hour has not changed, and neither has your actual consumption.
⚠️ Warning: the coefficient reform changes your rights and obligations — the right to let, the rent freeze, the energy audit at sale, class-conditioned subsidies, the rating displayed in the listing — but it generates no energy savings whatsoever. The DPE is a conventional calculation: it is the rating that moves, not the dwelling. No dwelling is downgraded either: the impact is neutral or positive for everyone.
Case study: an all-electric flat rated F tips into E
Profile: a 60 m² flat from the 1980s, heated by electric convectors, domestic hot water from an electric tank, conventional consumption of 9,120 kWh of final energy per year, i.e. 152 kWh EF/m²/yr. All end uses are electric: the entire consumption is converted at the electricity coefficient.
Scenario — The same dwelling, recalculated on 1 January 2026
| Calculation step | Before (coefficient 2.3) | After (coefficient 1.9) |
|---|---|---|
| Final energy consumption | 152 kWh EF/m²/yr | 152 kWh EF/m²/yr (unchanged) |
| Conversion to primary energy | 152 × 2.3 = 350 kWh EP/m²/yr | 152 × 1.9 = 289 kWh EP/m²/yr |
| Position on the class scale | 350 within the 331-420 band: class F | 289 within the 251-330 band: class E |
| Gain | −61 kWh EP/m²/yr (around −17%): one class gained, zero works | |
The consequences for you are immediate — and purely legal. The dwelling is no longer a thermal sieve: it escapes the rental ban on F-rated dwellings on 1 January 2028 (CCH art. L.173-1-1) and exits the rent freeze applicable to F and G dwellings (decree no. 2022-1143 of 24 August 2022). The energy audit mandatory at the sale of F and G dwellings no longer applies. On the other hand, nothing changes on the bill: the dwelling still consumes 9,120 kWh per year, billed at the same price per kilowatt-hour.
The reasoning works both ways. The same flat with a consumption of 250 kWh EF/m²/yr would remain rated G after recalculation: 250 × 1.9 = 475 kWh EP/m²/yr, still above the 420 threshold. The reform tips dwellings close to a threshold; it does not rescue highly energy-hungry homes, for which renovation remains the only way out.
The four common mistakes after the electricity coefficient reform
Mistake no. 1 — Believing your electricity bill will go down
The reform touches neither the price per kilowatt-hour nor your actual consumption. The 1.9 coefficient reduces the consumption counted in primary energy in the DPE's conventional calculation, not the energy your home consumes. If your home was expensive to heat in December 2025, it still is in January 2026 — with a better rating. Keep the two planes distinct: the reform improves your rights and obligations (letting, audit, class-conditioned subsidies, displayed rating), it generates no savings.
Mistake no. 2 — Paying for a new DPE instead of requesting the free certificate
If your DPE was carried out after 1 July 2021 and is still valid, you do not need to commission a new paid diagnostic to benefit from the 1.9 coefficient: ADEME's DPE-Audit Observatory issues a free official certificate of the new rating (service-public.gouv.fr). Going through a certified diagnostician only becomes necessary again if your DPE has expired or predates 1 July 2021. The online procedure is detailed in our guide to the free DPE rating update.
Mistake no. 3 — Thinking gas or oil heating is concerned
Only electricity changes coefficient. Natural gas and heating oil stay at 1.0, wood at 0.6: a gas-heated dwelling has exactly the same rating on 1 January 2026 as on 31 December 2025. If someone presents a gas-heated dwelling rated F as "probably reclassified by the reform", the information is wrong — for these dwellings, exiting thermal sieve status requires works, not a recalculation.
Mistake no. 4 — Selling or letting without updating the rating in the listing
On the seller's or landlord's side, failing to update the rating amounts to inflicting an unjustified discount on yourself: a listing displaying F when the dwelling has officially qualified as E since 1 January 2026 suffers buyer distrust and the perceived rental restrictions, for no valid reason. On the buyer's side, it is a verification reflex to adopt: on an electrically heated dwelling advertised as F or G, ask whether the rating has been recalculated at the 1.9 coefficient — the property may already have left thermal sieve status.
What to check before any step: the date your DPE was carried out (after 1 July 2021?), its validity (10 years), the heating and hot-water energy source (electricity?), and the 13-character DPE number shown on the document — it is the key to both the free update and the online simulation.
Check your DPE rating recalculated at the 1.9 coefficient
Mon Simulateur Immobilier My DPE 2026 simulator
Get your rating recalculated at the 1.9 coefficient in 30 seconds: the simulator takes the data from your existing DPE, applies the primary-energy conversion with the new coefficient and displays your new class, along with your margin to the next threshold in kWh EP/m²/yr. The calculation runs on the full 3CL engine developed in-house by Mon Simulateur Immobilier (more than 60 calculation modules), faithful to the methodology of the order of 31 March 2021.
To go further: explore the DPEs of your municipality on the Mon Simulateur Immobilier DPE map.
Conclusion
The order of 26 August 2025 produced, on 1 January 2026, the largest reclassification of the housing stock since the 2021 DPE reform: around 850,000 dwellings lifted out of classes F and G without works, and no dwelling downgraded. The winners are electrically heated dwellings close to a class threshold; gas- and oil-heated homes, like deep thermal sieves, are not concerned. The reform reshuffles rights and obligations — letting, audit, displayed rating — but changes nothing on bills.
Two reflexes follow. Check first: the My DPE 2026 simulator recalculates your rating at the 1.9 coefficient in 30 seconds from your existing DPE. Then make it official: if the class changes, ADEME's free certificate makes the new rating official, without redoing a diagnostic. And keep an eye on what comes next: between the transposition of the EPBD directive by 29 May 2026 and the strengthened summer-comfort indicator planned by 2028 under PNACC 3, the DPE's conventions will keep evolving.
