Enhancing home energy efficiency for colder months
Home energy upgrades are not only helping the environment, but they'll also be good for your wallet in the long term.
As we move towards colder months, homeowners are becoming increasingly aware of their energy consumption as they look to keep their homes warmer for longer while managing rising energy bills. While turning down your thermostat or reducing heating times can help now, more homeowners are looking for long-term solutions to improve the overall energy efficiency of their homes. By investing in home energy upgrades, such as attic and wall insulation, and installing heat pump systems and other renewable technologies, you are keeping your valuable heat in your home and making it much more energy efficient. These long-term investments will provide significant improvements in home comfort and savings. By improving the energy efficiency of your home, you are also playing a vital role in reducing carbon emissions and doing your bit for the environment.
Often, homeowners living in cold, draughty houses want to improve their home comfort but just don’t know where to start. Carrying out a Building Energy Rating (BER) assessment is a good starting point as this gives you a personalised report on how energy efficient your home currently is and what upgrades are suitable for your home. With around half of Irish homes having a BER of D or lower, many homeowners may be interested to learn where their property sits on the BER scale and what improvements can be made to improve home comfort.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) offers a range of home energy upgrade grants to suit most budgets and circumstances as well as expert advice on where to start and what home energy upgrade route to take.
SEAI’s individual energy upgrade grants are ideal for homeowners who want to take a step-by-step approach, completing their energy upgrades over time. Insulating your home and keeping your valuable heat in is a great starting point, with grants available for attic and wall insulation. With a well-insulated home, homeowners should consider replacing old oil or gas boilers with more energy efficient heat pump systems. Heat pumps are highly efficient alternatives to fossil fuel heating systems, creating a warmer and healthier home by maintaining a constant, comfortable temperature throughout the year. Even better, as you are no longer using fossil fuels, you are reducing your carbon footprint and creating a much more energy efficient home for the future.
SEAI has over 1,000 registered contractors available to choose from and an easy-to-follow online application system for homeowners to start their journey to a warmer and more comfortable home. SEAI’s website offers a step-by-step guide on how to plan your project, apply for the grant and proceed with works.
For homeowners who want to carry out a complete home energy upgrade in one go and achieve a BER rating of B2 or better, then the One Stop Shop service from is ideal. This grant option is entirely managed by an SEAI registered One Stop Shop from start to finish, including the grant application, meaning the homeowner does not have to go it alone. Another great benefit is that the grant is deducted from the cost of works, so the homeowner receives the value of the grant upfront which is beneficial towards financing. This is a long-term investment in the home, with the homeowner feeling the immediate benefits of increased comfort and savings.
If you are considering a complete home energy upgrade, visit our website and choose from one of our registered One Stop Shops. The registered One Stop Shop will carry out a home energy assessment which provides a very useful technical report on the energy upgrades needed in your home to make it suitable for a heat pump and bring it up to a B2 BER energy rating. SEAI offers a standalone grant of €350 for this assessment and you are under no obligation to carry out the works.
Whether you choose to carry out a complete home energy upgrade through the One Stop Shop service, or carry out individual energy upgrades over time, both options offer significant Government grants ranging from up to €1,500 for attic insulation, up to €8,000 for external wall insulation and up to €10,500 for a heat pump system.
When exploring home energy upgrade options, SEAI always recommends shopping around and getting a number of quotes, ensuring you are comparing like-for-like energy upgrades. You might decide to install more upgrades and go to an A-rated home, in which case your quote is likely to be higher than that for achieving a very acceptable B2.
For further information about SEAI Home Energy Upgrade grants please click here.
