Residential retrofitting is a key element of the Government’s Climate Action Plan, with a target of 500,000 homes to be retrofitted to a minimum B2 building energy rating (BER) by 2030. The benefits in terms of warmer homes and cheaper energy bills are obvious but the main barrier appears to be the high upfront cost.
How do the sums stack up for householders?
According to the AIB Homes Retrofit Report, published in December, average costs for a basic retrofit range from €5,000 to €15,000, while a deep retrofit can cost anywhere from €30,000 to over €100,000.
While there are long-term savings on electrical and heating bills, along with elevated comfort and warmth in the home, these upfront costs are considerable. So where can you save money?
With homes losing 20-30 per cent of their heat through the roof, if it isn’t properly insulated, this is a popular place to start the retrofitting journey. With the potential cost-savings on heating bills, insulation is considered the most cost-effective energy efficiency upgrade.
Meanwhile, according to AIB’s research, up to 20 per cent of energy use can be reduced by heat pump systems; solar thermal panels can save up to 60 per cent on water heating bills; and solar photovoltaic (PV) modules can save householders €200-300 per year on electricity bills. Solar PV will also improve the BER rating of your home – and consequently its value.
Grants and financing
Along with Government grants and incentives available through the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEAI), there is also a wide choice of ‘green’ loans available from lenders to help finance the works.
Yvonne McCarthy, head of sustainability research, AIB, says the green financing options they offer include “green personal loans, green mortgages, and the low-cost Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme”. Financing can help bridge the gap between paying for works and drawing down grants.
“Most grants are paid after renovations and retrofits are completed but importantly, you must have grant approval in place before you start on any works. If you don’t have grant approval, you shouldn’t do any work,” she advises. “Then, in order to draw down the approved grant, works on your home must be completed and paperwork returned within eight months of the grant approval. However, if you’re applying for a full retrofit grant with a one-stop shop, the grant is deducted from the overall costs, so you don’t have to fund the full amount upfront. In these cases, the contractor will apply for you, making the process smoother and less complicated.”
However, not everyone has had a friction-free experience with the SEAI incentives. One homeowner told this writer that their BER assessor measured their house incorrectly, over-speccing the job as a result. A scroll through Reddit turns up many disgruntled homeowners, complaining about “jumping through hoops” to get SEAI grants, to complaints about suppliers profiteering through raised prices.
Registered BER assessor Sean McNeill lives and works on the Dingle Peninsula. He says there are “checks and balances” in place when working with an SEAI-registered assessor. “The quotes we submit have to be within reasonable current market value.”
McNeill recently engaged in a full deep retrofit of his 1970s bungalow, stripping it back to the bare walls and bringing it up to A-rated standard. However, he counsels that even a modest €5,000 spend could bump you up a BER rating. Insulating the thermal envelope is the fundamental first step. “You wouldn’t fix solar panels on a house with single-glazed windows,” he says. “There is a methodology to it.”
McCarthy agrees. “There can be a lot of focus on carrying out a full deep retrofit, but it’s important to remember that you can also undertake retrofitting on a step-by-step basis. Sometimes, big gains can be made from smaller actions.
“Tackling insulation, which is up to 80 per cent grant funded, is one of the most cost-effective of any energy efficiency upgrades you can do.”
What else can be done to help hard-pressed homeowners?
“With the latest 2025 Programme for Government, there has been a commitment to revise and improve the provision of grants and financing models and expand on the accessibility through the introduction of a €500 million Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme,” says Conor Gunn, government and infrastructure partner, EY Ireland. “That will offer low-interest loans from €5,000 to €75,000. This will make retrofitting financially attainable for many more households who previously might not have been in the position to cover the upfront costs of investment.”
Several countries have successfully embraced a leasing model for retrofitting, he adds. “With this approach, a third-party investor or energy service company (ESCO) finances the retrofitting project,” he explains. Lower energy bills free up some of the homeowner’s finances to fund repayments. Such models could offer a viable alternative in Ireland.
