While the term 'sustainable' living' is getting a lot of traction these days, it is often linked to things like reusable coffee cups and reducing plastic packaging in stores.
But one of the most important and impactful ways to live more sustainably is to upgrade your home. Living sustainably, in a nutshell, means lessening the burden you place on the environment.
Making changes to your home means reducing the carbon footprint of your entire household/family.
The most comprehensive and effective way to upgrade your home is to undergo a 'deep retrofit'.
Simply put, deep retrofitting is a process where you look at the house’s overall energy efficiency and use a combination of measures to improve it. The aim is to ensure your house is operating in the most efficient way possible, using the least amount of energy.
What does deep retrofitting involve?
By looking at the overall energy wastage of a house and minimising it, deep retrofitting makes some strategic improvements to help make it more efficient. It’s usually done with a view to cutting down on the house’s emissions and to lower the monthly energy costs.
One of the most common energy-saving methods used in Ireland is insulation, which prevents heat from escaping. Insulation can be added on the floors, roof, around windows and in the attic.
Air sealing is also a solid energy efficiency measure, which finds and stops areas in the house that are leaking air.
Improved ventilation is another method, along with radiator resizing, solar energy implementation, heating system improvements and much more.
Combining a number of methods into making the house more energy efficient is the aim of the game, as the improvements all end up working in tandem to achieve maximum efficiency overall.
What are the benefits of a deep retrofit?
The efficiency of your house will be greatly improved when it comes to wasted energy, meaning your carbon footprint will be reduced as you’re no longer allowing it to escape unused.
You’ll also notice improved air quality indoors which is beneficial to the health of your entire household.
In the long run, a deep retrofit will save you money in heating and electricity bills and also home repairs as the measures needed to make your house energy efficient also make your home more durable. Plus, it will significantly increase the value of your property should you want to sell at some stage.
Perhaps most importantly though, it will improve your quality of life greatly. Living in a warm and cosy home all year round without having to crank up radiators or sleep under two duvets is the real pay off.
How much does deep retrofitting cost?
It depends on a number of factors and evaluations are done on a case by case basis.
Generally speaking, the average cost to retrofit a house in Ireland amounts to around €50,000, but this can vary. Typically, older homes may need a little more work to become energy efficient, while modern ones will have had energy-saving measures put in place during the build, so it’s likely to be a less costly process.
Similarly, the size of the house plays a role in the cost, along with the frequency of use and the number of people living there.
There are SEAI grants available to help cover significant portions of the costs needed for a deep retrofit project so it is worth doing some research beforehand.
To get a quick quote on what your project might cost and the finance options available, visit Energia online for their easy to use calculator.
Energia are pleased to offer money-saving energy efficiency upgrades for all kinds of homes. So whether it's a traditional cottage or a townhouse, we offer support and advice for projects big or small. We even manage all the grants and paperwork, making your journey to a more energy efficient home easier than ever. For more information see here.
Energia. Experts in Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades big or small.
Energia is proud sponsor of RTÉ's Cheap Irish Homes on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
