New Better Energy Homes Scheme Pilot Soon to be Available to Homeowners

Denis Naughten, the Minister for Climate Action and the Environment, has announced a deep retrofit scheme that will soon be available to homeowners in Ireland. The announced €5 million Euro budget per annum will go towards helping homeowners install deep retrofit measures in their home, increasing energy efficiency while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The scheme will help to drastically improve access to funding, meaning homeowners will pay less out of pocket for upgrading the energy efficiency of their homes.

What’s “Deep Retrofit”?

Funding to increase the energy efficiency of homes across Ireland has been available for a number of years, under both the Better Energy Homes Scheme and the Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme. Until now, these schemes have provided funding for limited measures, including:

• Cavity Wall Insulation
• External Wall Insulation
• Internal Wall Dry Lining
• Attic Insulation
• High Efficiency Oil & Gas Fired Boilers
• Heating Controls
• Solar Water Heating Systems

The grants provide a minimum of €300 for attic insulation and go as high as €4,500 for external insulation for a detached house. Each measure is assigned it’s own grant amount, and measures can be combined, with SEAI offering bonus grants when three or four measures are installed together. Since March 2009, SEAI has paid out nearly €201.5 million in grant funds, and helped homeowners retrofit 350,000 homes across the country. Current grants help cover about 30% of the total cost of works.

The deep retrofit of homes goes a bit further than simply installing a new heating system or topping up attic insulation. The goal of a deep retrofit is to reduce the home’s energy consumption, annual costs for heating and cooling and polluting emissions while creating a comfortable, healthy indoor environment. Deeper retrofit measures typically include the following measures, as part of a “whole-home” approach:

• Air tightness measures
• Controlled ventilation, including mechanical heat recovery ventilation systems
• High levels of insulation to obtain low U-values, including
  • Cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation, internal wall dry lining, attic insulation
• Window and door upgrades and replacements
• Zoned heating systems for space heating and hot water
• High efficiency heating systems, including
  • Gas or oil fired boilers
  • Heat pumps
  • Solar water heating systems
  • High efficiency stoves
  • Upgraded heating controls (i.e. remote access or programmable)
• Renewable energy technologies

What are the benefits of deeper retrofit measures?

There are many benefits that may be realised after the installation of deeper retrofit measures in the home. A few of these benefits include:

1. Comfort

One of the main benefits homeowners notice after the installation of deep retrofit measures is a more comfortable home. Deep retrofit measures help the house stay warmer during the winter and cooler during the summer. Properly insulated homes won’t take as long to heat up, and will retain the heat for much longer periods of time. Homeowners should notice an increase in the comfort levels of their home straight away.

2. Reduced Energy Bills

From increased levels of insulation to high efficiency heating systems, homeowners will notice reduced energy bills when deeper retrofit measures are installed. A Building Energy Rating performed after the measures are installed will give your home a rating and also let you know how much CO2 it will produce on an annual basis. Since you’ll be using less energy to heat and cool your home, you’ll notice a reduction in your electricity, gas or heating fuel bills, depending on the type you use to heat your home. With grant amounts covering up to 50% off the cost of new measures, the return on investment could be relatively short – and you’ll continue to save on your energy spend long after the initial investment has been paid off.

3. Increased Property Values

Deep retrofitting your home and obtaining a high Building Energy Rating (BER) can actually increase the value of your home. A recent article published in the Irish Independent found that a home worth €300,000 with a high BER rating could increase in value by up to €30,000, or 10 percent, when compared to a home with a low rating. The study found that sales prices can increase by as much as 2 percent per upgrade on the BER rating scale, which ranges from G to A1.