All About Retrofitting
By the end of last year, close to 48,000 homes were upgraded with grant supports from SEAI following thelaunch of the SEAI National Housing Retrofit Scheme in February 2022. Studies show that improving your home’s Building Energy Requirement (BER) adds value to your property and that advancing by a single level, from C2 to C1, for example, equates to a 1% increase in property value.
Even with the increased Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grants to cushion the cost, the decision to retrofit the house you have been living in for years is a significant undertaking.
A deep retrofit encompasses everything from attic and wall insulation; new windows and doors; conversion of heating system from gas/ oil to a heat pump; advanced ventilation and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels for electricity generation. It places substantial demand on homeowners who must decide whether they can afford both the financial outlay and the domestic upheaval of a deep retrofit. It is hugely inconvenient to have to vacate your home for four to eight weeks while the project is being undertaken. However, increasing numbers of people living in damp, cold homes which are expensive to run, are willing to accept temporary hardship in return for a warm, comfortable, energy-efficient home that is healthier and significantly cheaper to run.
Insulation is the first and most important step of the retrofitting process. Regardless of the insulation type you choose; research shows that you will experience an improvement in comfort and heat loss will reduce significantly