Figuring out what are the best changes to make for greater comfort and energy efficiency of your home can be hard. Navigating the journey of retrofit may be confusing or even daunting, so here are a few case studies of owners embarking on their own retrofit journey. You can read about the resources they used, how they found contractors and the upgrades in their homes.
If you are looking for more information on any of these case studies, you can ask questions in the SEAI live chat.
This is a case study outlining every step in order to achieve upgrades that can save up to 91% on energy bills annually. The upgrades took the BER rating from E1 to A2 and were as unobtrusive for the homeowners as possible. This case study is a detailed, comprehensive step-by-step showing you the best approach to take to get great results. If you are interested to see how your BER can improve at every step, this case study shows the difference in BER after each upgrade and why.
Cormac Madden gradually improved the energy efficiency of his home by taking the fabric first approach. Cormac eliminated all the drafts and installed a heat pump, better ventilation as well as solar panels. His home now has a BER rating of A3 and is completely disconnected from fossil fuels. This is an example of how a home can be upgraded gradually or if you are interested in the benefits of installing a heat pump.
Aoibheann and her family of seven did several energy upgrades to their detached house in the countryside of Cork. She sought advice from family, friends, and did her own research. Aoibheann employed three different contractors to install PV, heat pump and insulation. She upgraded her home from BER C1 to A3 and now enjoys increased comfort. By using renewable energy, Aoibheann reduced her carbon emissions and solar PV panels offset the energy bills reducing her expenses significantly. If you are interested in seeing how renewable energy systems like PV panels or heat pumps can save you money, click the link below.
A 1960’s house had a deep retrofit increasing the BER rating from E to A1. Internal and external insulation of walls, attic, and floor was installed. Double-glazed windows to triple-glazed windows, and the PVC door to triple-glazed glass door. Next, a heat pump, heat recovery ventilation system, and solar panels were installed. This is an example of all the different systems and technology that can be installed to create and preserve heat in the home using renewable energy as well as improve air quality.
In 2013, Francis Clauson built Ireland’s first passive house with BER cert of A1. After consulting with SEAI, Thomas O’Leary from passive house academy and conducting other research Clauson built a home with air to water heat pump, internal and external insulation, heat recovery ventilation system, thermal bridging and solar PV panels. Instead of paying €2000 a year on energy bills he now only spends around €150-200 a year.
If you are interested in a PassivHaus, thermal bridging or heat recovery ventilation please, read this case study …
Most Irish homes have poor performance when it comes to energy efficiency, to improve this, the government launched the Deep Retrofit Pilot Program. Here are some examples of changes made that increased the energy efficiency of people’s homes all the while reducing the CO2 emissions and usage of fossil fuels.
Here is a video of how Sinead and Peter’s home was upgraded by a one stop shop and why Aisling and Cormac decided to make energy upgrades worth around €80,000 on their newly bought home.
These are examples of how energy savings can quickly offset high costs of deep retrofit and increase the value of the home.
Anja Murray lives in a semi-detached house in Dublin 8. Built in 1929, the house was cold and dark. Anja transformed it into a more comfortable, warm home by doing a deep retrofit, fabric-first approach, bringing her BER from G to A2. She employed Electric Ireland Superhomes One-Stop shop that had the expertise to install solar panels, demand control ventilation system and air source heating pump. Now not only is her home energy efficient, it is also brighter, dryer and has better air quality.
https://electricirelandsuperhomes.ie/case-study/anja-murray-dublin-8/
Ali Sheridan and her family, driven by climate change, decided to buy a home and carry out energy upgrades as an alternative to buying a home with A2 or A3 energy rating. Ali installed insulation in the attic, internal and external insulation and floors, put in triple glazed windows and changed the ventilation system as well as installed PV panels.This resulted in the energy rating going from D3 to A2. Electric Ireland Superhomes guided Ali through the grant process and necessary paperwork to make the process as straightforward as possible.
https://electricirelandsuperhomes.ie/case-study/ali-sheridan-family-kildare/
Twelve homes on College View, Wexford were the first project to be retrofitted with the help of 50% grant aid from SEAI’s Deep Retrofit Grant Scheme. All homes were built in the 70’s and had BER ratings of F or G. The main issues were inadequate ventilation and thermal bridging. After the retrofit, the homes had A1-A3 BER ratings. This is an example of how homes with the low BER ratings can be improved and a community can become energy efficient.
https://3cea.ie/sectors/residential/college-view-wexford-deep-retrofit/
Eddie Bennan did a deep retrofit on his home with the help of 3cea. Built in the 1930’s, Eddie’s bungalow had a BER rating of G which he wanted to make more comfortable and easy to heat. After insulation upgrade, heat pump installation, new ventilation system, change of windows and doors and solar PV panel installation his home now has a BER rating of A2.
Rachel and Denis Doherty from Kilkenny benefited from the Deep retrofit scheme with the help of 3cea. They did insulation upgrades, installed a heat pump, changed doors and windows and installed a new ventilation system. All works were carried out by a local company in Kilkenny. Rachel and Denis are now happy that their home is warm, bright and well aired with an energy rating of A2. Eddie describes the entire process of retrofitting his home and the immediate results he is experiencing after the retrofit.
Homes with low BER rating and high carbon emissions tend to be unhealthy and cause high energy bills. Watch this video about homes with BER G, F and E that are almost impossible to heat sufficiently that are upgraded. With energy upgrades to A3, homeowners can save around 80% annually on their energy bills and reduce carbon emissions by around 90%.
