Electric Ireland - deceptive advertising on website

dublin99

I was attracted by the advertisement on Electric Ireland's website for rafter insulation for attic. It is stated on the website that :

"What are the typical costs?

Typical cost of attic insulation for a 3 or 4 bed semi-detached house is around €460* and there is a potential SEAI grant of up to €200** for the work, when you completed the work in conjunction with another measure."

Well, I rang up and made and appointment for a surveyor the give me a quote - mine is a 4 bedroom detached and I would expect the quote to be a bit higher than that quoted on the website, maybe around the €600-€700 region.

Oh no, my quote was €5,600, some 12 times the quoted figure (as at 1st July 2012 according to the website)

What a complete waste of my time???!!!

So was it a doll house that was insulated at €460? The National Consumer Agency should be made aware of this scam!

Electric Ireland: David

Hi dublin99,

This is an error on our website, and we will have this fixed asap. We apologise for the inconvenience it has caused you.

The typical cost for basic attic insulation of a 3/4 bed semi-detached house would indeed be in the region of €600 (without a grant); for rafter insulation, the cost is significantly more (typically around €2,000 for a 3/4 bed semi-d).


The basic (or ceiling-only) insulation would cover:

• Insulation laid between and across the joists in the attic space
• Provision of an insulated walkway from the attic hatch to the cold water storage tank
• Insulation of all the water pipes in the attic space and insulation of the cold water storage tank.
• The typical price assumes approximately 100mm of quilt insulation (often referred to as 'fibreglass') is already present.

The rafter insulation covers the following:

• Insulation placed between the rafters in the attic space (i.e. following the slope of the roof) and finishing with a plasterboard slab.
• Provision of a walkway from the attic hatch to the tank.
• Pipes and tank do not require insulation in this case as the attic space remains warm. This measure may be carried out in conjunction with ceiling level insulation where the customer has already converted the attic space. In this instance the price will be greater as any existing plasterboard slabs may need to be removed before installing the new insulation.
• It is assumed no insulation is present in the attic space.

Do you live in a bungalow/dormer? Typical costs for rafter insulation in this case can be much higher; in and around the figure you were quoted.

Because costs can vary so much depending on the household in question, we have created a Quick-Quote App (Web-based and available for Android/iPhone), which gives you a personalised quote by simply answering a few questions about your home. Once done, you'll then receive exclusive discount vouchers.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

David.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi again dublin99,

Just letting you know that we have now corrected the Home Services>Rafter-Level Insulation section of our website:

What are the typical costs?

Typical cost of attic insulation for a 3 or 4 bed semi-detached house is around €1,935* and there is a potential SEAI grant of up to €200** for the work, when you completed the work in conjunction with another measure.

*Terms and conditions apply. Prices quoted are correct as of 1st of July 2012.
**Source SEAI. Savings and losses are calculated by SEAI Grants are subject to BER. For full details on SEAI grants visit www.seai.ie