Deep retrofit or individual measures, which to choose?
If you are interested in improving the energy performance and comfort of your home, there are two key approaches you can take, depending on your budget and the range of work required. If you need to make sweeping changes to your home involving several upgrade measures, you may be looking at a __deep retrofit__. On the other hand, if you just need one or two things done, or you don’t want to do all the work at once, you can look at getting individual retrofit measures completed over a period of time.
What is a deep retrofit?
If you are looking to do a major retrofit on your home, this is known as a deep retrofit.
A deep retrofit is a comprehensive approach to improving the home to make it more energy-efficient, comfortable and healthy to live in. It may involve making significant changes to the building's insulation, windows and doors as well as the heating system, ventilation, appliances and lighting.
Frequently deep retrofits are undertaken when someone has purchased a 'fixer-upper' or as part of a major piece of work such as the building of an extension.
If this sounds like you, you may consider using the services of a ‘One Stop Shop’. One Stop Shops are SEAI approved outfits who can manage all the services you need for a complete overhaul of your home.
Registered with the SEAI, these operators will manage the entire retrofit process for you from start to finish.
There are several benefits to the One Stop Shop approach:
- You’ll have one point of contact, rather than having to source and deal with multiple service providers yourself.
- By providing a project management service, you’re less likely to be faced with difficult questions and decisions that you may not have the expertise to answer
- You will have a plan that is tailored to the needs of your home, once again saving you from having to educate yourself about the best approach to take.
- The grant amount, once approved, is deducted from the cost of the work upfront. Given that the grants can be quite considerable, this can save you from having to pay out a significant sum of money.
Using a One Stop Shop will mean that you get a fully managed service, arranging all the work required for your home as well as conducting a detailed home energy assessment to determine your precise needs, apply for the grants and organising the final BER assessment to demonstrate that your home now meets the required B2 standard.
Anything else to consider?
It’s worth keeping in mind that a deep retrofit will result in significant disruption to your home over the duration of the work which could take many weeks or months.
It’s also going to cost a good deal due to the extent of the work being done. Even with generous grants you’ll need to allow for costs of between €30,000 and €70,000.
Individual retrofit measures
If you don’t need an extensive range of home energy upgrades, or you don’t wish to get all the work done at once you may choose to get changes done one by one. There are a range of grants available to homeowners covering changes from attic and wall insulation through to the installation of heat pumps.
Going this route means you will apply for the grant yourself as well as selecting a contractor to do the work.
You’ll find details of the grants that are available, and you can use our calculator to get an idea of the type of work your home might require.
Finally, get in touch with one of our trusted partners to find out how they can help you upgrade your home.