At long last homeowners interested in reducing their heating bills, and protecting the value of their homes as both energy prices rise and energy ratings for buildings come ever closer, have some support from the Irish government.
The levels of grant funding available to homeowners interested in reducing their heating bills, protecting the value of their homes as energy prices rise and energy ratings for buildings come ever closer for renewable energy heating systems are as follows:
Technology Grant amount
Wood Chip or Pellet Boilers €4,200
Wood Chip or Pellet Stoves €1,100
Wood Chip or Pellet Stoves with Back boiler €1,800
Heat Pump - Horizontal Ground Collector €4,300
Heat Pump – Vertical Collector €6,500
Heat Pump – Water (well) to water €4,300
Heat Pump – Air source €4,000
Solar (per m2 to a max of 12m2) €300
The grants over this broad range of renewable energy heating systems are available from 27th March 2006 and are not retrospective. SEI intends to process applications with two weeks. However, SEI is expecting a large number of applications once the programme is launched and this may initially result in longer processing times.
Eligible applicants will include people building new homes and installing a renewable energy heating system, along with people renovating an existing home and replacing the traditional heating system with a renewable energy heating system. The grant is a fixed amount, based upon the particular technology selected, towards the cost of purchase of the chosen system, from SEI’s Registered Products List, and subsequent installation, by an installer on SEI’s Registered Installer List.
There is a wide range in product prices in the renewable energy sector. The price depends on the size of the home, the size of heating system required and the product quality.
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The following are indicative prices published by SEI for the various product categories:
Technology Descriptions
Solar
Solar Panels, also known as "collectors", can be fitted to a building’s roof. They use the sun’s heat to warm water, or another fluid, which passes through the panel. The fluid is then fed to a heat store (e.g. a hot water tank) and helps provide hot water or a source of hot water for central heating for the building.
Solar panels work throughout daylight hours, even if the sky is overcast and there is no direct sunshine. Solar panels can also be used to contribute to space heating demand and even heat swimming pools.
The cost of a professionally installed solar system for heating hot water can vary greatly. If you are considering investing in this technology you should do sufficient research to ensure that you are getting the best system for your needs and with value for your money.
A solar water heater is composed of:
• A solar collector which absorbs solar radiation (sunlight) and changes it into heat;
• A pump which transfers the heat from the collector to hot water in a storage tank;
• The storage tank accumulates the hot water produced by solar energy so that it can be stored for use when needed;
• A number of accessories which ensure the regulation and the safety of the system;
• A back-up heater (gas, oil, or wood fuelled boiler, immersion heater or heat pump) which will bring the hot water to the temperature required when there is not enough sunlight to do so (mostly in winter).
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In Ireland, solar collectors alone cannot provide all the hot water for a household’s needs throughout the year. Correctly sized they will supply 60% of heat / domestic hot water needs.
They are normally installed in conjunction with a conventional back-up heating system.
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