Semi-D goes from a BER D1 to A2 following a home energy upgrade
Martina is now living in a more comfortable and energy efficient home following multiple energy upgrades managed by an SEAI registered One Stop Shop
Background
Martina has been living in her semi-detached house in Lucan, Co. Dublin for almost thirty years. Originally, she was renting, but when the landlord put the house up for sale, she offered to buy it, her offer was accepted, and she has been there ever since.
Martina and her husband lived happily in the house over the years, but they always felt the house was cold. “We knew we had a problem with ventilation”, she said. They noticed that whenever the gas central heating was turned off, the house would get very cold. There was mould in some rooms, which made storing clothes and possessions difficult at times.
The problem was the windows. “They were letting in air and water in,” explains Martina. Without properly sealed windows, the house was never going to stay warm and dry. “To be honest, I didn’t know where to start,” she said.
The project
Martina noticed advertisements for One Stop Shops (OSS) appearing. She did her research and discovered there was a good range of One Stop Shops to choose from. Martina chose SSE Airtricity as her One Stop Shop. “You fill out the paperwork and then they send out the people to assess every job that needs doing.”
A home energy assessor carries out a full assessment of the home, looking at insulation, windows and doors, the heating system and the potential to make the home as energy efficient as possible. The BER was D1, which is average for Irish homes of this age. The assessment report gives the project a baseline to work from. “From there, we propose a roadmap and look at the funding available under the One Stop Shop grant”, explains John Egan, OSS Project Delivery Manager, SSE Airtricity.
Following the assessment, SSE Airtricity recommended the following:
- New windows and doors
- A 2.67kW solar pv system
- An air to water heatpump
- Attic insulation
The house already had bead insulation pumped in the walls, so no further wall insulation was needed.
Each upgrade played its part in Martina’s full home transformation:
- Insulation, new windows, and doors now keep precious heat inside.
- The heat pump provides steady, comfortable warmth using renewable energy.
- Solar PV now generates clean energy and helps to reduce Martina’s electricity costs.
Heat pump
Martina is particularly impressed with her heat pump: “It makes the house so comfortable. You can feel the difference when you walk in the door now.” SSE Airtricity were able to use Martina’s existing heating system and connect it to a heat pump. It is a renewable energy heating system that extracts heat from external air using an outside unit. It emits consistent, comfortable heat all day instead of bursts of high temperatures.
Results
The house has achieved a BER A2 and the impact was felt immediately. “It was freezing outside during the last storm. I didn’t hear it, let alone feel it,” said Martina. “The mould is gone, and the house feels cosy and comfortable”.
The gas heating is gone leaving Martina with just one energy bill – electricity. She believes she has saved almost 50% on her energy bills compared to previous year.
Other benefits include the sound insulation. Martina lives in a busy housing estate with a crèche nearby. She can no longer hear all the traffic thanks to her new windows.
“This is painless. I would recommend them in a heartbeat”, she says about SSE Airtricity and the One Stop Shop process. Martina’s decision is a long term one and she hopes to enjoy these benefits for the next 20 to 30 years.
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