Warmer Homes Scheme

If you are owner of a home built pre-2006, and in receipt of certain social welfare payments, you may be eligible for free energy upgrades such as:

  • Attic insulation
  • Wall insulation
  • Lagging jacket
  • Draught-proofing
  • Energy efficient lighting
  • Window replacement (in certain cases)
  • Boiler replacement (in certain cases)
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Better Energy Homes

The Government, through existing SEAI grant schemes, continues to offer significant financial incentives towards carrying out energy efficiency upgrades of the home. However, it must be anticipated that such supports, towards such highly-investible measures, will be eventually be phased out in the medium-term. These grants are open to homeowners & landlords where houses are built pre-2006. In some cases, modest grants for post-2006 houses can be available where compliance with 2003 Building Regulations can be demonstrated. The main measures that can be considered are as follows:

Attic Insulation
This is a relatively low-cost measure but is highly effective. For example, if attic insulation depth is increased from 100mm to 300mm, the rate of heat loss through the roof can be reduced by 50% approx.

GRANT AVAILABLE: €400

Wall Insulation

This measure depends on the original type of wall construction. Older homes are typically built of solid wall construction, which may be suitable for external or internal wall insulation systems. However, there are issues such as weather tightness & vapour control, as well as practical considerations, which need to be professionally assessed prior to deciding on the best intervention. Many walls built in Ireland since the 1960’s are of cavity-wall construction – in such cases, cavity-filling with insulation is normally a straight-forward measure.

GRANTS AVAILABLE:

Cavity Fill €400
Internal Wall Insulation €1,600 – €2,400
External Wall Insulation €2,750 – €6,000

Heat Pump Grant

Heat pumps are an alternative heat source instead of fossil fuel (oil/gas) boilers and provide a significant efficiency improvement for suitable homes. In particular, this grant is available where a high level of overall home insulation, as measured by a Heat Loss Index (HLI) of less than 2.0 W/K m 2 . This can be demonstrated by carrying out a Technical Assessment of the dwelling (by a registered Technical Assessor) and, in many cases, it will be necessary to improve the existing building fabric to ensure your home is heat-pump-ready.

GRANT AVAILABLE:
Typically €3,500

Heating Control Grant

This grant is payable towards time/temperature/zone controls within the home.

GRANT AVAILABLE: €700

Solar Thermal Grant

Roof-mounted solar thermal panels can deliver 50-60% of domestic hot-water needs, at minimal operating costs, depending on roof orientation & over-shading conditions. In this case, pre-2011 houses are eligible subject to an appropriate solar thermal design.

GRANT AVAILABLE €1,200

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Panels

Roof-mounted PV panels generate DC electricity in suitable conditions which, combined with an inverter, provide electricity towards powering domestic appliances, electrical-vehicle charging, etc. At times of generation, when there is no electricity load, excess electricity can be stored in batteries, converted to hot water storage or exported to the national grid. A 1kW p installation would typically involve 3 – 4 roof panels.

GRANTS AVAILABLE:
€700 per kW p
Battery Storage €1,000

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