Where Do I Start With Energy Saving Upgrades? A Guide from Cork Energy Consultancy Copy

For Homeowners

The single best first step for any homeowner is a BER assessment. A Building Energy Rating tells you exactly how energy efficient your home is right now, rated on a scale of A to G, and crucially it tells you why. The advisory report that comes with it identifies where heat is being lost and which improvements would have the greatest impact on your rating and your bills.

We think of it like a health check before deciding on a treatment plan. Without it you're making expensive decisions based on guesswork.

Once you know your current rating, the next question is what grants you're entitled to. SEAI offer significant support for insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, windows and doors, and the amounts have increased substantially in recent years. Depending on the works you're planning, you could be looking at anything from €700 for heating controls up to €12,500 towards a heat pump system, or up to 50% of the total cost if you're going down the full retrofit route through the One Stop Shop scheme.

One thing we always tell homeowners: you must have grant approval before any works begin. Starting without it means losing your funding entirely, no exceptions.

If you're building a new home or carrying out significant renovation works, energy compliance under Irish building regulations isn't optional either. We work with homeowners and developers to make sure new builds meet the required Nearly Zero Energy Building standards from the design stage, which saves a lot of headaches further down the line.

For Businesses

For our commercial clients the starting point is usually an energy audit. Unlike a BER assessment which looks at how a building is designed to perform, an energy audit looks at how your business actually operates, covering your building fabric, heating, lighting, ventilation, machinery, transport costs and everything in between.

We visit your premises, speak with your management and staff, review your energy bills and build a detailed picture of where your money is going and where the biggest savings are available. You get a prioritised report with realistic costs, savings and payback periods so you can make informed decisions about where to invest.

If your business spends more than €10,000 a year on energy, you may be entitled to an audit voucher of up to €2,000 through SEAI, which means the audit itself costs you very little.

For businesses in new or significantly renovated premises, Part L compliance and commercial BER certification are legal requirements we can take care of from the design stage right through to sign-off. And for public buildings over 250m², we carry out the Display Energy Certificates you're legally required to display on your premises every year.

The Honest Answer

The right starting point genuinely depends on your situation. A homeowner in a 1960s terraced house has different needs to a business managing a large commercial premises or a developer planning a housing scheme. What we offer at Cork Energy Consultancy is the expertise to look at your specific situation and tell you clearly what makes sense, in what order, and what support is available to help you fund it.

If you're not sure where to start, that's exactly what we're here for. Get in touch and we'll have a straightforward conversation about your options, no obligation, no jargon.

Contact Cork Energy Consultancy today and take the first step towards a more energy efficient home or business.