July 2011
Breffni Insulation has been awarded ISO status for their excellence in Quality, Environmental and Health and Safety.
ISO 9001:2008 - Quality
ISO 14001:2004 - Environmental
OHSAS 18001:2007 - Health and Safety
08 February 2022
Government launches the National Retrofitting Scheme
The government has approved a package of supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades, for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills. The measures address barriers to undertaking energy upgrades (retrofits) reported by homeowners and those working in the industry. They also reflect the step-change needed – in pace and scale of delivery – to achieve our target of 500,000 home energy upgrades, to B2 Building Energy Rating (BER) standard, by 2030.
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- a new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme providing increased grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical deep retrofit to a B2 BER standard (up from 30%-35% grants currently)
- One Stop Shops to offer a hassle-free, start-to-finish project management service, including access to financing, for home energy upgrades
- a significant increase in the number of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty (400 per month – up from an average of 177 per month in 2021)
- a special enhanced grant rate, equivalent to 80% of the typical cost, for attic and cavity wall insulation for all households, to urgently reduce energy use as part of the government’s response to current exceptionally high energy prices
- an Exchequer investment of €8 billion to 2030 will enable the supply chain to scale up, creating thousands of high quality jobs and delivering on this critical national objective
The Schemes will be administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The increased grant supports and the significant ramping up of free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty is supported by ring-fenced funds from the carbon tax.
For more details on this press release please click here.
Introduction of grant for Solar PV and increase in grants for other insulation measures
The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten T.D. has today launched a new scheme to support domestic customers who install solar photovoltaic (solar PV) panels on their homes.
This pilot scheme will support the installation of solar PV panels for the generation and self-consumption of renewable electricity. The scheme will be grant aided and there will be additional grants available to those who install battery storage to capture the electricity they generate for use at a later date.
Announcing the grants for homeowners, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten TD said:
“Turning your home into a renewable power station is now one step closer. Micro generation is an incredibly exciting space that will allow citizens in local communities to generate their own electricity and contribute towards Ireland’s climate action targets. With this grant that I am announcing today, a typical 3 bed semi-detached house would spend about €1,800 on a solar panel system and would save approximately €220 per year on their electricity bills. The Government is committed to helping citizens reduce their energy use and making clean energy cheaper and affordable to use. The introduction of a grant for household solar PV and further increases to home energy grant amounts demonstrates this commitment.”
The Minister added:
“The pilot scheme will be subject to a 6 month review at which time the costs of installation will be assessed and further opportunities to broaden this scheme to other groups and other technologies will be explored.”
The scheme will be funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
The new scheme delivers on ambitions set out in the 2015 Energy White Paper with increased focus on citizens and communities as active participants, and agents of change in how we generate, transmit, store, conserve, and use our energy.
The grant is available for homes built and occupied before 2011 and details of eligibility criteria and how to apply are set out here. A registered solar PV installer must be used.
Increased grants for insulating your home
Minister Denis Naughten is also making a further announcement on increased grant amounts.
“Insulating your home so that its more energy efficient is the first step to making a real contribution to a more sustainable world. In addition to the solar PV grant, I am pleased to announce that I am increasing the grant amounts for homeowners to install attic insulation, cavity wall insulation and/or internal wall insulation. These increases can save householders up to €600 per year on heating bills through better wall insulation. Grants for attic insulation and cavity wall insulation have increased from €300 to €400. Grants for internal wall insulation have increased from €1,200 to €1,600 for apartments and mid-terrace houses and from €1,800 to €2,200 for semi-detached and end-of-terrace detached houses.”
Homeowners can apply for the grants online. Once approved, homeowners have six months to get the works completed by a registered contractor and claim the grant.
April 2018
Update on changes to the Warmer Homes Scheme in 2018
The Warmer Homes scheme provides free energy upgrade services (attic insulation, cavity wall insulation, draught proofing, energy efficient lightbulbs) to vulnerable energy poor homeowners. On March 29th Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment announced some forthcoming changes to the scheme. The precise details remain to be finalised and the changes will be introduced in phases, commencing July 2018.
Changes to measures
• Cavity wall insulation will continue to be recommended where suitable. However, for walls not suitable for this type of insulation, external or internal wall insulation may be recommended based on a technical survey of individual homes.
• Replacement windows may be offered in limited circumstances, most likely where external wall insulation is being carried out and the existing windows are very poor performing and must be replaced.
Eligibility criteria
There will be no change to the Warmer Homes eligibility criteria; the application process will also remain the same. Our ‘one home one visit’ rule will continue to apply, however we may consider revisiting properties that have previously received works under the scheme, where appropriate, from mid-2019.
Further details are available on the SEAI website