Heating

Space and water heating is by far the primary energy use in Irish households. It accounts for up to 75% of the total energy spending, or about 1,500 euro per year (excluding transport). For the same reason, it is also the sector with more room for efficiency interventions and savings potential. Don’t let the heat escape your walls (and wallet)! A good start is to conduct a thermal energy walk twice a year around your house, at the beginning of the cold season and at its closure.

Thermal energy walk checklist

thermal energy walk checklist

Tips and tricks on how to save on your heating bill

It’s time to take action against that tyrannic heating bill. Thermal sector is the treasure land of energy savings and health & environmental benefits. We prepared a list of 12 tips on how to save energy in the heating sector at home, from zero-cost life hacks to light-speed return-on-investment. Click on images to expand.

Ranking of heaters

The following infographics ranks different heating systems by cost per unit of useful heat delivered. The bars stretch from the minimum to the maximum cost that can be found over the market. The color code identifies clean (green), not so clean (orange) and dirty (red) energy sources/technologies (source: consumerreports.org). Click on images to expand.
  • home energy costs space heaters

    Note! An oil boiler would be about the same range as natural gas.A ground source electric pump (geothermal probe) would display the lowest €c/kWh ratio and be coloured green!

  • home energy costs water heating

    Note! A solar thermal system would display the lowest €c/kWh ratio and be coloured green!

  • home energy costs central heating

    Note! Bioenergy fed district heating would be greener and cheaper.

Get a BER

Second step is getting a BER certificate, or a Building Energy Rating, from a local energy assessor. A professional energy technician will conduit a thorough energy audit of your house. The audit will return a synthetic indicator gauging the energy performance of your property, from A to G, in terms of energy usage per square meter. It factors in heat retention, air tightness and carbon footprint. It’s the baseline upon which to compare & contrast costs vs. benefits of any future investment in efficiency. It’s always a good idea to get your dwelling assessed via a BER certificate, as it can either raise the value of the property or show you how to raise it. More on BER here