Home insulation scheme unveiled

luckat

Six days later and still no reply. Overworked civil servants ftw.

kasper

to avail of a grant for insulation you must use a contractor that is registered with sustainable energy ireland but the havent got enough contractor yet i rang a week ago and they were supposed to send out a form to register i am still waiting , on older houses a 27mm thermal liner board should make a huge improvement ,the builders arent at fault for bad ratings for older houses the engineers and architects set the specs

hick

I emailed the SEI, Emaon Ryan and John Gormley to ask about the BER
John Gormley came back within 24hours to say he in't have the details but would follow it up, 3 days later I got a official answer from the SEI... here it is...

Dear Hick

Thank you for your feedback regarding the recently announced Home Energy Saving scheme – it is always welcome.

The first point you make relates to the before and after BER – the key point to be made here is that the before and after BER is in fact totally discretionary, at the choosing of the homeowner. It is NOT a compulsory element.

Where a homeowner is confident and content to decide on the measures they require in their home then they are free to do so and are not in any way compelled to undertake a BER. However there are many homeowners who may feel intimidated or confused at the options before them and in particular as to what might best work in their home. In that situation the homeowner would benefit greatly from having a BER done and using the accompanying advisory report to guide and inform their choices of what measures to undertake. A follow-on or after BER, will give them further confidence of the benefits accruing from the works done. In that situation SEI is happy to grant aid the combined before and after BER as it will likely underpin people securing more appropriate and comprehensive solutions to improve the energy performance of their homes.

You also use the grant for attic insulation as an example in your costs calculation. It is important to be aware that homeowners must complete measures that result in a minimum grant of €500. This means that a home owner undertaking attic insulation must be doing it in combination with one of the other insulation or heating measures in order to qualify for a grant under the scheme.

Thanking you again for your feedback and if you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.



Simone ***

Programme Manager
Home Energy Saving scheme
Sustainable Energy Ireland

luckat

Hmm, so they won't give you a grant if you're just insulating. Totally bats, imho. Bats in their attic.

cormie

My mam has been on about getting insulation, the house was built in the early 80's I think. Windows aren't double glazed but she doesn't have the money for new windows, just attic insulation really. What can she do to get a grant? She has somebody who was made redundant from one of the biggest insulation companies lined up to do the attic at a good price (he's part of the family). Would it be more expensive for her to go the grant route since a contractor will probably charge much more? What options does she have? Any help appreciated

hick

average 3 bed semi d should cost no more than €700 to insulate with 300mm of Fibreglass or rockwool.

The issue indeed is that you have to apply for two or more of the items to get over the €500 minimum grant claim. I do agree this is an issue and will prevent those who most needed it from getting started.

Replacing the boiler may be an option, a mid level A rated boiler replacement would cost €1400 installed so you get half that back with the €700 grant, these are the two options I'm going for.

I'm mailing them back to give them feedback on the minimum grant requirement, if I hear anything I'll post.

luckat

The boiler is a thought; my boiler is 20 years old, and I'm told that it may not last. Or it may. I'm also told that the new ones may not be as long-lasting as the old ones. Hm. Hm.

hick

I would argue they are not built as well they are very effiecient and if you service it regularly you should get at least 10-15 years out of it, and I'd much prefer that the an older one that I kept having to get fixed.

luckat

hick wrote: »

I would argue they are not built as well they are very effiecient and if you service it regularly you should get at least 10-15 years out of it, and I'd much prefer that the an older one that I kept having to get fixed.

My old one has only been fixed once - it needed a small part. Apart from that it's chugged along happily since 1989.

hick

ah yeh in most cases that's fine, but some old boilers aren't as fortunate.
but in my case I've a boiler that's about 7 years old and while it's fine and I've only had one very minor problem, but I checked it out and it's a D rated boiler so I could save a couple of hundred quid a year by changing it, and if I can get the scheme to pay for half of it, even better.

you can check out how good/poor you boiler perfomance is here
http://www.sedbuk.com/

holdfast

Just a few points here this scheme is a good idea for everyone that can avail of it. Yes I am an Energy engineer before I start. I worked on the pilot scheme last year and you would be surprised what can be done even with a 1964 house. Don’t forget the boiler can be ungraded in this grant.

Don’t blame the engineers it was the government that set standards for insulation after the builders and developers had their way. Thankfully the green have changed this practice. Most builders could not tell what is required in terms of building standards. The days for poor workmanship are coming to end and all builders and tradesmen will be required to work higher standards. (I am not picking on them but the need for up skilling was never high on Irish building game.)

Anyone should get a good BER assessor (creditable background) and the cert should cost no more than 300 euro for the before and after cert. Of which 200 is grant aided.

All I am saying this looks like a win, win situation for everyone, home owner, contractor and country. This fact should be remembered by everyone. No one is suppose to come out on top. Rant over Sorry !

luckat

Why in the name of the sweet living Jesus don't they just give a straight grant for insulation without requiring you to do other work?

I'm not applying because of this, and the roofer who's working on my roof says he's not going to apply for contractor status - too fiddly, too much admin.

If the government want people to insulate, they should make it simple and attractive.

Another blooper by the Greens.

overmantle

I agree. We bought attic insulation in B & Q at half price and are putting it down ourselves. It's got to be cheaper than a contractot, even with the grant factored in. Insulating the walls is a different matter. A DIY job beyond me, I'm afraid.

bobbbb

A guy who lives near my mothers house started insulating peoples attics about 2 years ago. You buy the Insulation and he'll do it for you for €100.

So i got my mothers attic insulated for about €200 total.

This whole green initiative seems like a complete scam to me. As are most of their ideas. Idiots. Bring on the election.

hick

overmantle wrote: »

I agree. We bought attic insulation in B & Q at half price and are putting it down ourselves. It's got to be cheaper than a contractot, even with the grant factored in. Insulating the walls is a different matter. A DIY job beyond me, I'm afraid.

I went to heatons and priced up the insulation, to get 300mm in my attic was going to cost €620 to buy and do myself, I bargined a contractor down to €650

I'm very happy to pay them €30 to do the install plus remove/dipose any old stuff, plus clean up

Shop around there's ones out there who are very competitive

Carlow52

hick wrote: »

I went to heatons and priced up the insulation, to get 300mm in my attic was going to cost €620 to buy and do myself, I bargined a contractor down to €650

I'm very happy to pay them €30 to do the install plus remove/dipose any old stuff, plus clean up

Shop around there's ones out there who are very competitive

just make sure what u say in Heatons is the same as what is being put in from a thermal efficiency point of view.

on the math: 620 is about 510 pre vat so assume a 10% trade discount: 460, add on 13% supply and fit vat to bring it to 520 so he could be doing it for 130 euro 'profit' so depends how long it takes.[ In Capetown 130 euro is about 2 weeks pay for someone who 'lives' in a township#

As a matter of interest what area are u doing?

gears

luckat wrote: »

Why in the name of the sweet living Jesus don't they just give a straight grant for insulation without requiring you to do other work?

I'm not applying because of this, and the roofer who's working on my roof says he's not going to apply for contractor status - too fiddly, too much admin.

If the government want people to insulate, they should make it simple and attractive.

Another blooper by the Greens.[/QUOTE

I was just reading over some old posts and noticed this.

All that is required to be a registered contractor is filling out a short form and suppling details of contractors insurance and have a tax clearance cert. Lack of insurance and non-tax compliance maybe a reason why many "contractors" will not register.

This post is not directed at the poster I've quoted, I'd just like to point out that most contractors will get registered as there is so little work for many they can't afford to ignore any potential work. Also it may be a way to check the credentials of a contractor, at least from the point of view of insurance and tax compliance.

hick

Carlow52 wrote: »

just make sure what u say in Heatons is the same as what is being put in from a thermal efficiency point of view.

on the math: 620 is about 510 pre vat so assume a 10% trade discount: 460, add on 13% supply and fit vat to bring it to 520 so he could be doing it for 130 euro 'profit' so depends how long it takes.[ In Capetown 130 euro is about 2 weeks pay for someone who 'lives' in a township#

As a matter of interest what area are u doing?

The material is exactly the same, i made sure of that and check the R values on both, and even weighed up the pro's and cons of rockwool and sheepswool to boot (Sheepswool is my favorite but I wait till I build before I spend that much)

With reagrds to the area it's circa 60sqm

Don't really get your point on the €130...as I pointed out for DIY it would cost me €620, I can get a grant via the contractor for €250 off his price of €650 so It'll cost me €400 in the end, saving €220 versus diy

have inspecte some of the Woodies/B&Q type offers and the quality of insulation is average at best

Carlow52

was not aware that it was a grant job: the 130 wasa stab at his profit

what else are u doing as the min spend is 500 under new scheme?

Thanks for area: so just over 10 a sqm.

hick

np, going for the boiler replacement also, got a quote just before this was announced for €1400 for a A rated version, grant is €700 there which is great, also thinking about getting the walls pumped