A quarter of all Ireland's energy use is directly by all homes, known as the residential sector.

Residential sector has a large share of energy use

The residential sector accounts for about one quarter of the energy used in Ireland. It is also responsible for 19% of the energy-related CO2 emissions. The fuel shares are relatively stable, with a gradual increase in the share of electricity, gas and of renewables and a continuing though gradual decline in coal, peat and oil use. It is notable that electricity consumption over the period was at its highest in 2021. 

Residential Final Energy Demand

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Residential Final Energy (ktoe),Residential Final Energy Demand,Weather Corrected Residential Final Energy Demand
2005,3298,3365
2006,3322,3428
2007,3272,3462
2008,3583,3446
2009,3483,3345
2010,3636,3191
2011,3192,3169
2012,3038,2905
2013,2960,2812
2014,2678,2673
2015,2844,2729
2016,2949,2865
2017,2861,2859
2018,3046,2942
2019,2976,2925
2020,3204,3188
2021,3073,3066
Source: SEAI

Final residential energy use by fuel type

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Residential Final Energy by fuel (ktoe),Coal,Peat,Oil,Natural Gas,Renewables,Electricity
2005,252,280,1543,622,20,648
2006,227,295,1527,657,23,699
2007,223,291,1579,635,34,701
2008,219,267,1564,638,31,728
2009,254,259,1505,595,39,693
2010,214,216,1401,606,38,716
2011,213,239,1399,564,41,711
2012,228,203,1168,568,46,692
2013,251,204,1063,568,48,677
2014,236,200,990,534,51,662
2015,235,191,1046,527,59,672
2016,248,190,1146,543,64,673
2017,196,188,1171,555,65,684
2018,208,188,1202,578,68,698
2019,182,180,1214,579,74,697
2020,194,188,1388,586,82,749
2021,185,179,1267,593,85,757
Source: SEAI

Dominance of oil

Oil remains the dominant fuel in the residential sector. Electricity was the second largest source of energy in the sector in 2021, with natural gas having the next largest share.

Weather corrected oil and gas use

Changes in oil consumption caused most of the fluctuation in residential energy use between 2007 and 2021.

A likely reason for the higher fluctuation in oil consumption may be the volatility in oil prices. Additionally, the majority of oil-fired homes are located in rural areas and constructed as detached buildings (with more external wall area). Finally, rural areas may offer greater opportunity to fuel switch from oil to solid fuels.

Electricity

Total electricity consumption had peaked in 2008, having more than doubled since 1990. It reduced between 2008 and 2014, but since grew yearly — reaching a new peak in 2021. There is evidence that the growth of large household appliances is levelling off. At the same time, there has been an increase in appliance efficiency. Additionally, there was an increase in electricity prices over the period.

Renewables

From 2005 to 2021 renewable energy quadrupled, but from a low starting point. New building regulations require new homes to generate a portion of their energy from renewable energy, and this has seen a large increase in the use of solar thermal water heating, solar PV electricity, and heat pumps which provide renewable ambient energy.

Final energy by end-use

Electricity,Space heating,70.76
Electricity,Water heating,88.4
Electricity,Cooking,52.55
Electricity,Lighting and appliances,511.92
Electricity,Other end uses,27.83
Gas,Space heating,417.55
Gas,Water heating,157.79
Gas,Cooking,14.42
Gas,Lighting and appliances,0
Gas,Other end uses,0
Solid Fuels,Space heating,355.57
Solid Fuels,Water heating,36.17
Solid Fuels,Cooking,0
Solid Fuels,Lighting and appliances,0
Solid Fuels,Other end uses,0
Oil,Space heating,1014.05
Oil,Water heating,299.27
Oil,Cooking,1.41
Oil,Lighting and appliances,0
Oil,Other end uses,0
Renewables,Space heating,50.58
Renewables,Water heating,30.2
Renewables,Cooking,0
Renewables,Lighting and appliances,0
Renewables,Other end uses,0
Source: SEAI

Challenge of gathering end-use data

It's important for us to understand how energy is consumed in homes. In particular, it is useful to know the portion of energy consumed for the main end-uses. These include space heating, water heating, cooking, lighting and electric appliances. For 2020 we estimate that 61% of all energy used in households was for space heating, 20% for water heating, 16% for lighting & appliances, and 2% for cooking.

We cannot collect data on energy by end-use in the same way as by fuel type. For example, it's not possible to know from an electricity meter reading how much electricity is used for for water heating versus appliances. To estimate the split, SEAI developed a model of household energy use based on information from the BER database.

Energy-related CO₂ emissions

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Residential Carbon Emissions (ktCO2),Coal,Peat,Oil,Natural Gas,Electricity
2005,989,1170,4572,1443,4775
2006,877,1216,4446,1504,4819
2007,835,1163,4465,1414,4523
2008,922,1195,4959,1593,4671
2009,1069,1161,4771,1492,4260
2010,1008,1085,4950,1697,4527
2011,864,1034,4259,1360,4196
2012,968,915,3729,1430,4433
2013,1078,929,3415,1422,3872
2014,953,855,2984,1272,3671
2015,995,858,3311,1323,3828
2016,1036,842,3569,1316,3942
2017,792,807,3519,1296,3617
2018,876,841,3765,1411,3162
2019,753,787,3721,1387,2735
2020,788,811,4192,1387,2696
2021,752,772,3816,1404,3062
Source: SEAI

CO2 emissions by fuel source

The chart shows residential energy-related CO2 emissions split by fuel source. Oil, gas, coal and peat are burnt directly within the home. We also factor in CO2 emissions from electricity generating stations producing electricity for homes.

Electricity use was the largest source of CO2 emissions from households from 1990 up to 2017. From 2018 onwards, emissions from electricity were overtaken by those from oil consumption.

Final energy per dwelling

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Energy intensity per dwelling,Non-electric energy,Non-electric (Weather corrected),Electricity
2005,21774,22305,5303
2006,20890,21702,5528
2007,19996,21414,5377
2008,21562,20566,5547
2009,20568,19587,5160
2010,20931,17859,5302
2011,17484,17327,5023
2012,16402,15514,4896
2013,15869,14881,4764
2014,13966,13935,4591
2015,14925,14174,4669
2016,15562,15012,4638
2017,14823,14810,4663
2018,15872,15198,4761
2019,15332,15008,4711
2020,16438,16331,5025
2021,15430,15383,5043
Source: SEAI

In 2021 the average home used 20,424 kWh of energy (weather corrected) — split into 75% from direct fuel (non-electric) and 25% from electricity. This split of energy sources was steady since 2011, the year when fuel use dropped significantly.

Weather correction yields a lower normalised energy consumption in cold years (e.g. 2010), and yields a higher normalised consumption in mild years (e.g. 2007).  

Annual variations in weather affect the space heating requirements of occupied buildings. Weather correction involves adjusting the energy used for space heating by benchmarking the weather in a particular year with that of a long-term average measured in terms of numbers of degree days.  

Energy-related CO₂ emissions per home

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CO2 emissions per home,Total CO2,Non-electrical CO2,Electricity CO2
2005,9.14,5.77,3.37
2006,8.79,5.5,3.3
2007,8.27,5.25,3.02
2008,8.68,5.64,3.04
2009,8.1,5.39,2.71
2010,8.23,5.42,2.81
2011,7.1,4.56,2.54
2012,6.92,4.24,2.67
2013,6.42,4.1,2.32
2014,5.8,3.61,2.19
2015,6.11,3.84,2.27
2016,6.31,3.98,2.32
2017,5.88,3.76,2.12
2018,5.86,4.01,1.84
2019,5.43,3.85,1.58
2020,5.69,4.13,1.55
2021,5.62,3.86,1.75
Source: SEAI

Overall energy related CO₂ emissions

In 2021 the average home emitted 5.6 tonnes of energy-related CO2. Of this total, 69% were from direct-fuel use, and 31% indirectly from electricity use.

Emissions of energy-related CO2 per home fell by 45% since 2001. After decreases in the CO2 intensity of grid electricity, increases in home CO2 emissions have diverged from increases in home energy use.

Fuel use

The fall and rise in fuel emissions simply reflect the fall and rise in the burning of fossil fuels, particularly oil.

Electricity use

Home CO2 emissions from electricity reduced by nearly 60% during the entire 2001-2021 period. This long-term decline reflects the reductions in usage and carbon intensity of grid electricity.

SEAI National BER research tool

The BER Research Tool gives researchers access to statistical data from the Building Energy Rating (BER) scheme which is administered by SEAI. The BER certificate indicates the annual primary energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions associated with the provision of space heating, water heating, ventilation and lighting to the home. This tool provides access to information on all aspects of construction that affect the energy performance of homes. Results can be viewed on screen or downloaded in the form of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Go to National BER research tool

Energy in the Residential Sector report

Our Energy in the Residential Sector 2018 report provides detailed data and analysis. It also offers a comparison of Irish homes to those of other EU countries.

Go to latest Energy in the Residential Sector report