There’s no shortage of vacant and neglected homes across Ireland. So when Mary and her partner David, along with their son Jack, took on their 1950s home in Artane, it was clear it had been left without the care and attention it needed by its previous owners. They had been overwhelmed by the amount of work required to bring the house up to standard.

I remember standing here and you could see your breath. It was cold and it was vacant, and a lot of work had to be done to it.”

The electrics were faulty, and the house also had lead piping. It quickly became clear that there was a huge amount of work to be done to make it liveable.

For Mary and her family, one of their biggest priorities was creating a home with manageable bills that was also more sustainable.

So, when they were ready to find someone to help with the renovation, they went straight to the SEAI One Stop Shop register, which took care of the administration involved in arranging the SEAI grants for energy upgrades.

“It seemed like a huge amount of work, and then the more we talked to the One Stop Shop, they took all of that off your shoulders.”

“So we just had one thing to do, and that was… to pay them.”

It is possible to stay living in your home and get one grant at a time for an individual upgrade, such as windows or internal wall insulation. Mary and her family also decided to get A-rated appliances at the same time, including a hob and a fridge that would use less energy than standard appliances, helping to save on bills and make the cost of running the home more manageable.

They moved from an E rating to an A rating by carrying out floor and wall insulation, replacing all the external doors and windows, upgrading the heating system and installing a heat pump, as well as closing their chimneys.

The grants are so helpful to get work done. It was great to get a full renovation done. Coming into winter, we’re happy that we can heat ourselves and keep Jack warm.”

A SEAI-registered One Stop Shop service provider will take care of the entire home energy upgrade process, including all of the following steps.

• Home Energy Assessment: Your One Stop Shop will assess your home and compile a report which outlines the best upgrades to bring your home up to a B BER rating or better, as well as an estimate for the cost of these retrofit works.
• Grant application: They will apply for and accept all SEAI grants for your project and deduct the grant value upfront from the cost of your works, saving you time, energy and money.
• Project management: Your One Stop Shop will manage all the works at your home and ensure quality checks are carried out.
• Contractor works: They will also assign a contractor to carry out the works on your home.
• Follow-up BER assessment: A registered BER Assessor will complete your post-works BER assessment and publish the certificate.
• Finance options: When you apply for individual energy upgrades or a complete home energy upgrade in one go, through an SEAI-registered One Stop Shop, you can also avail of the Home Energy Upgrade Loan scheme. This is a Government-backed low-cost loan, helping homeowners finance their energy upgrades.
• Grant values for homeowners: By choosing to carry out a complete home energy upgrade in one go through SEAI’s One Stop Shop scheme, you will have access to a wider range of grants to support you in reaching that minimum B BER rating.

Search SEAI Home Energy Upgrades or visit www.seai.ie/homeenergyupgrades