Replacing your gas boiler, whether its oil or gas, can be expensive. However, your boiler is over 15 years old, it may be running at as low as 65% efficiency. Therefore, investing in a new energy efficient boiler can greatly reduce the cost of heating your house and save you money in the long-run. In fact, according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), by upgrading your home you could cut your heating bill by up to 50%.
Aside from reducing your heating bills, there are other ways to help reduce the burden of replacing your old boiler with a new one. For example, grants under the Better Energy Homes scheme (funded by the Irish government and available from the SEAI) can greatly reduce the costs involved with getting a boiler replacement.
What Grants Can I Avail Of?
The Better Energy Homes scheme provides grants to homeowners who invest in energy efficiency improvements, such as the installation of a high efficiency (greater than 90%) gas or oil boiler and heating control upgrades.
Under the Better Energy Homes scheme, homes built before 2006 are eligible to receive grants from the Government for heating system upgrades. These grants aim to help make your home more comfortable and cheaper to run, as well as more environmentally friendly.
What Are the Benefits?
Replacing your old boiler could save you up to 30% in operational efficiency. Combine this with zoned controls and your savings can increase to over 35%. What this means, is that you can reduce your fuel bills by a third by simply replacing your old boiler with a high efficiency boiler with zoned controls.
Who’s Eligible for the Better Energy Homes Scheme?
Grants available from the SEAI’s Better Energy Homes Scheme, are not means tested. Therefore, your income will not be taken into consideration when assessing your eligibility for the scheme. All homeowners, with homes built before 2006 may apply for a boiler replacement grant in Ireland.
In addition to the above, the following criteria must be met in order to comply with the Better Energy Homes scheme:
- Applicants must use a contractor on the SEAI Registered Contractors list
- Grant applicants must also apply for a grant to cover the Building Energy Rating (BER). This must be carried out before work is undertaken.
- The grant must be used within 6 months of the application being accepted.
- The grant must be in place before any work can begin.
How Do I Apply?
The boiler grant is easy to apply for, but grant approval must be received before works commence. For your application, you will need certain pieces of information including:
- Meter Point of Reference Number (MPRN), which you will find on your electricity bill
- Bank details
- E-mail address
- Chosen registered contractor from the SEAI Registered Contractor List
For a speedy application and immediate decision, apply online at www.seai.ie/betterenergyhomes. Or if you wish to apply by post, you can call 1850 927 000. You will know within 20 working days whether or not you will receive a boiler grant.
What Else Do I Need to know?
You should keep all invoices and receipts associated with your boiler grant. The SEAI may occasionally request to see these as evidence of the grant’s correct use. So, make sure you keep a record of all expenditure associated with your boiler replacement.
So, if your gas or oil boiler is in need of a replacement, contact us today. Our team of skilled and experienced technicians have the required expertise to ensure your boiler replacement is as seamless as possible.
