BER ratings explanation

Wizard!

I am looking for a house to rent. I found a great one, however it is 4 bed (we need 3) and has a BER of D1.

From your experience, are the numbers reported on SEAI site realistic?
I mean, it says for a 4 bed house with C1 the estimated cost of heating for a year will be about 1900€, and for that same house with a D1, will be 2800€

Are there owners/tenants of such houses to give me their thoughts?

L1011

There is so much guesswork and fudging going in to the calculations, particularly on an older house, that you can't make huge assumptions particularly over fairly low scale differences. C1 to D1 is only a few stages.

Basically, A/B, C/D/E and F/G can be roughly grouped together as "good", "OK" and "bad" on old houses. You should read the report to see what's in it, also.

My house had an F when I bought it. Said there was no attic insulation (there was - 125mm, well below current standards but far more than the age of the house would suggest - the assessor never looked) and that all windows were single glazed (they weren't, assessor was lazy). Redoing the correct data gave it a D3.

Too much weight is given to lightbulbs also, for some surreal reason.

Wizard!

Light bulbs count against BER?
If I change them for example with LEDs, it can go to C1 ?

Steven81

Wizard! wrote: »

Light bulbs count against BER?
If I change them for example with LEDs, it can go to C1 ?

Also if you can control the temperature upstairs and downstairs it counts too.

L1011

Wizard! wrote: »

Light bulbs count against BER?
If I change them for example with LEDs, it can go to C1 ?

Yes, and no. They're given too much weight but not *that* much.

Wizard!

Ok, so the cost is realistic? Will I have to pay 1900€ throughout a year for heating?
I am trying not to exceed a budget here

alastair

Don't use the BER as any sort of realistic measure of how much it'll cost to run the place. It's got so many skewed ways of measuring that it's effectively useless other than in a very ballpark fashion. Your actual heating bill will be determined by how you live, rather than the figure indicated in the BER.

dutopia

Had no idea light bulbs played a part in BER.

I'm buying a new A3 rated home. It's a timber frame with a concrete base, 1.2 UV rated windows, solar panels and high levels of insulation. Some LED lights installed.

alastair

dutopia wrote: »

Had no idea light bulbs played a part in BER.

Only if they're connected to a wall switch and not plugged into a socket. You could have every plugged in lamp in the place on LED's and they would count for no energy saving.

Cilar

L1011 wrote: »

There is so much guesswork and fudging going in to the calculations, particularly on an older house, that you can't make huge assumptions particularly over fairly low scale differences. C1 to D1 is only a few stages.

Basically, A/B, C/D/E and F/G can be roughly grouped together as "good", "OK" and "bad" on old houses. You should read the report to see what's in it, also.

My house had an F when I bought it. Said there was no attic insulation (there was - 125mm, well below current standards but far more than the age of the house would suggest - the assessor never looked) and that all windows were single glazed (they weren't, assessor was lazy). Redoing the correct data gave it a D3.

Too much weight is given to lightbulbs also, for some surreal reason.

There is no "D3" rating on the scale.

newacc2015

alastair wrote: »

Don't use the BER as any sort of realistic measure of how much it'll cost to run the place. It's got so many skewed ways of measuring that it's effectively useless other than in a very ballpark fashion. Your actual heating bill will be determined by how you live, rather than the figure indicated in the BER.

I think in the UK, if you sell a property, you have to give the last few years energy bills to show actual consumption and not a fictional BER rating.

If you want to save 25% on your Gas bill. Switch an old boiler to a new condensing one. They are 25% more efficient, than the older ones.

L1011

Cilar wrote: »

There is no "D3" rating on the scale.

I'll find what it came out as - was writing on a train.

Jen44

energy saving light bulbs do make a difference.

alastair

Jen44 wrote: »

energy saving light bulbs do make a difference.

Not to your BER they don't, if they're not on a wall switch.

Jen44

Just had mine done and it was noted on the cert that there were energy light bulbs fitted throughout the house so just presumed they were of some kind of importance the fact they mentioned them.

Paulw

For the official info -

http://www.seai.ie/Your_Building/BER/

L1011

Jen44 wrote: »

Just had mine done and it was noted on the cert that there were energy light bulbs fitted throughout the house so just presumed they were of some kind of importance the fact they mentioned them.

They are taken in to account.

alastair

L1011 wrote: »

They are taken in to account.

But not if they're a lamp etc that isn't connected to a wall switch.

sobeitamen

alastair wrote: »

But not if they're a lamp etc that isn't connected to a wall switch.

Why please? I cannot reach the light fittings in the ceiling here to change dead bulbs so all I have are lamps.. same wattage surely?

alastair

sobeitamen wrote: »

Why please? I cannot reach the light fittings in the ceiling here to change dead bulbs so all I have are lamps.. same wattage surely?

I guess the rationale is that plug in lamps are not a fixture of the property? It makes no sense of course, but when we were getting our BER done, the tester said they were only interested in the wall switched lights, and would ignore any energy saver bulbs in other lamps. Which was a bit of a bummer, as they account for most of the energy saver bulbs in the house.

L1011

sobeitamen wrote: »

Why please? I cannot reach the light fittings in the ceiling here to change dead bulbs so all I have are lamps.. same wattage surely?

You'd want to get all them changed before doing anything that needs a BER (sale/rental), as I'd assume the fitting was dead rather than someone not having a ladder.

athtrasna

L1011 wrote: »

You'd want to get all them changed before doing anything that needs a BER (sale/rental), as I'd assume the fitting was dead rather than someone not having a ladder.

You're replying to a banned poster