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Helping you navigate SEAI grants

SEAI grant eligibility

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) offer a variety of home energy grants to help Irish households upgrade their homes with energy efficient solutions. Retrofitting works not only make your house more comfortable but can also increase your homes energy efficiency, in turn reducing your energy costs and carbon emissions.

This article will help you understand the home energy grant options offered by the SEAI.

What types of home energy upgrade grants are available?

There are a number of ways to plan and manage your home energy upgrade and grant applications.
 
Individual energy upgrade grants are the solution for homeowners who want to manage the upgrade process themselves. This option offers a selection of individual grants for home energy upgrades which are part funded with SEAI grants, up to 80% of the cost of the upgrade for a typical family home.  These grants are suitable for homeowners who want:

  • To manage their own project

  • To apply for the grant themselves

  • To pay for full cost of works and claim grants afterwards

One-stop shop grants are a complete home energy upgrade solution for homeowners who want to carry out multiple energy upgrades and who wish to have the entire upgrade process managed for them. The Green Hub from An Post home upgrade service is a one-stop shop, in partnership with SSE Airtricity. We'll manage your home upgrade project, arrange grants and offer Ireland’s lowest green loan rate. Home energy efficiency retrofitting, without the hassle.

Tip: You can use our BER rating calculator to check your BER rating, explore upgrade and grant options for your home. Then book a free survey with our partner SSE Airtricity.

Different energy upgrade grants explained

Individual energy upgrade grants include the following grant options:

  1. Attic Insulation Grants
  2. Wall Insulation Grants
  3. Heating Controls
  4. Solar Water Heating Grant/Solar Thermal
  5. Heat Pump Grant
  6. Solar Electricity Grant/Solar PV

Attic insulation grants

Attic insulation is often the most cost effective upgrade you can make to your home. Well-known Quantity Surveyor and An Post Green Hub ambassador Patricia Power recommends checking what insulation lies between the ceiling joists in your attic – it should be between 300mm and 400mm. In older homes, insulation is usually non-existent or is about 100mm in depth. Insulating the attic is like putting on a hat. Heat rises, so you will see an immediate benefit from this work.

Grant Type

Property Type

Grant Value 

Attic Insulation

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace

Semi-detached or end of terrace

Detached house

€800

€1,200

€1,300


€1,500


Looking at the approximate costs associated with attic insulation, Patricia Power said attic insulation costs can be in or around €3,000 and the grant available for a standard semi-detached family home is €1,300, so the cost for you will be in or around €1,700. When you take into consideration the potential savings to your annual energy bill of 10-15%, it’s a no brainer.

Wall insulation grants

Insulating walls, either internal or external, is a great way of making your home more energy efficient and comfortable and the SEAI grants will help you to reduce heat loss and more importantly, your heating bills. 

Here are some of the wall insulation grants available for homeowners:

Grant Type What does this include? Property Type Grant Value
Cavity Wall Insulation Grant Cavity walls are injected from the outside with insulation.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace

Semi-detached or end of terrace

Detached house

€700
 
€800

€1,200

€1,700
Internal Insulation Grant (Dry Lining) Insulation boards are fixed to the inside of external walls.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace

Semi-detached or end of terrace

Detached house

€1,500

€2,000

€3,500

 
€4,500

External Wall Insulation Grant (External wrap) Insulating materials are fixed to the outer surface of external walls.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace

Semi-detached or end of terrace

Detached house

€3,000

€3,500

€6,000

€8,000


Looking at the approximate costs associated with wall insulation, well-known Quantity Surveyor and An Post Green Hub ambassador Patricia Power said ‘upgrading internal dry lining can be an expensive process and can vary in price starting anywhere from €15,000 up to €20,000. The process requires adjustments to any power sockets, switches or decorations on the internal walls. It’s worth noting that in some cases, new floor finishes may also be required.

Adding external wall insulation is a very effective but can often be the most expensive option, ranging from €30,000 to €45,000. This covers the adjustment of downpipes and new lightweight windowsills.

To insulate under the ground floor of your home, including adding a new concrete slab, insulation, and membrane, typically costs somewhere in the region of €20,000 to €25,000. Lifting the floorboards and insulating between floor joists is a more affordable option, costing in the region of €12,000 to €15,000. Costs and decisions are all dependent on the ground floor area.

Here Patricia Power talks about the impact of insulating from the roof down.

Grants for solar water heating systems

Solar hot water heating systems use the sun’s energy to generate heat for the water in your home. They are designed to meet about 50 to 60 percent of your overall annual hot water requirements.
 

Grant Type Grant Value
Solar Water Heating Grant €1,200

Heat pump system grants available for homeowners

Installing a heat pump can transform the comfort levels in your home whilst reducing energy costs. Heat pumps are far more efficient than traditional heating systems with Air to water heat pumps being the most common in Ireland. Find out more about your heat pump options and schedule your FREE home survey to find out your grant options

Grant Type What does this include? Property Type Grant Value
Air to Water heat pump system The most common heat pump system extracts heat from external air using an outside unit.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace/Semi-detached/End of terrace/Detached house

€4,500

€6,500
Ground Source to Water heat pump system Uses the earth as a source of renewable heat.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace/Semi-detached/End of terrace/Detached house

€4,500

€6,500

Exhaust Air to Water heat pump system Similar to air to water but includes mechanical extract ventilation and heat recovery from the property.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace/Semi-detached/End of terrace/Detached house

 €4,500 

 €6,500

Water to Water heat pump system Uses open water, such as lakes, rivers or streams, as a heat source.

Apartment (any)

Mid-Terrace/Semi-detached/End of terrace/Detached house

 €4,500

 €6,500

Air to Air heat pump system This system distributes heat through air units. They do not provide hot water.

Apartment (any)/Mid-Terrace/Semi-detached/End of terrace/Detached house

€3,500

Grants for solar electricity (PV) systems

This grant will help you install Solar electricity (PV) panels in your home to generate renewable electricity. PV or Photovoltaics is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect.  Solar PV energy will help to substantially reduce your energy needs and in turn electricity bills. Having your own installed solar energy system will significantly improve the energy efficiency of your home and deliver a significantly improved BER Rating. Solar electricity grants available:
 

Grant Name Grant Value* What does this equate to?
Solar PV Grant €900 per kWp up to 2kWp €1,800 for 2kWp solar panels
Solar PV Grant €300 for every additional kWp up to 4kWp €2,100 for 3kWp solar panels
€2,400 for 4kWp solar panels

* Solar PV grants are capped at €2,400 per household

Considerations when assessing Solar Electricity (PV) options:
Generally, you will not need to seek planning permission for solar panels that take up less than 50% of the total area of your roof (this approximately equates to a 6-panel system). You should consult with your local authority for guidance about planning permission if:

  • Your proposed solar system is larger than 6 panels or 2kW
  • Your home is a protected structure
  • Your home is located in a protected area, for example, an architectural conservation area

Grants for heating controls

Heating controls are a great option to help control your heating and hot water needs to the way you use your home. There are different benefits to upgrading your heating control including reduced energy usage which will save you money on energy bills in the long run. Heating controls help you to heat your home only when you need to and upgraded heating controls are usually zoned within the home for more efficiency. With heating controls, you will be able to heat your water without having to turn on your home heating. If you live in a two-storey dwelling, you can isolate your upstairs and downstairs into two distinct heating zones to further extend your energy efficiency.

Grant Name Grant Value
SEAI Heating Controls Upgrade €700

Heat pump grants

Heat pumps are renewable heating systems offering lower energy costs and reduced carbon emissions. They harness the energy from the air, water or ground outside your home, heating the building and hot water. This heating system is an alternative to the regular fossil fuel system.
 
In order to qualify for a SEAI heat pump grant, a technical assessment must be carried out in your home prior to works being carried out. This must be done by an SEAI registered Technical Advisory. Heat pumps work better in homes that are very well insulated with double or triple glazed windows. This is to make sure your heat pump is working at the optimal level and your electricity bills will be low.

Start your home energy upgrade today

The Green Hub from An Post, in partnership with SSE Airtricity, makes home energy upgrades easy, with our one-stop shop service. From building contractor and project management, to grants and financing, the Green Hub will support your project from start to finish.

The One-stop shop service is part funded with SEAI grants of up to 50% of the costs, of a typical family home energy upgrade to a B2 with a heat pump. You can apply for an An Post Money Green Loan  to pay the balance of the works.

 Green Hub ambassador Patricia Power explains the one-stop shop

The one-stop shop service includes
  • An initial home energy assessment, provided free of charge with no obligations, in partnership with SSE Airtricity. Book a free home survey today
  • SSE Airtricity will assign you a project manager, who will manage all contractors, materials, timelines and the SEAI grant approval process for you, ensuring the works have been completed to the highest standard
  • With the Green Hub from An Post, your financing is taken care of. You can check your eligibility for Ireland’s lowest green loan rate borrow from €5,000 to €75,000
  • A registered BER Assessor will complete your post-works energy rating assessment and issues a new BER certificate for you
 Start your journey towards a cleaner, greener home with the Green Hub from An Post.

Assess your home for free

 

Get recommendations, likely upgrade costs and energy savings for your home:

  • Use our BER energy calculator

  • Book a free home survey with SSE Airtricity

 

Things to know

Apply for a Green Loan


Finance your home upgrade with Ireland's lowest rate Green Home Improvement Loan. 

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