Which SEAI grant delivers the “easiest win” for lower bills? 

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland offers grants to homeowners to subsidise the cost of retrofitting and decarbonising homes. 

The Government has set itself a target of retrofitting 500,000 homes to a BER rating of B2 or above. 

With that in mind, grants are available for insulation, solar panels, heat pumps and airtight windows and doors. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, Kieran McCarthy of KMC Homes in Cork said there has been a “huge surge” in solar panels in particular because of the war in the Middle East. 

“When you look at paybacks from solar, typically people are saying the payback is around five years,” he said. 

“I'm probably finding it a bit longer; I kind of looked at my own, I'd say five to seven years before you make your money back.”

Solar panels on a roof. Picture by: Pexels.com. 

The Government offers homeowners a maximum grant of €1,800 to install solar panels on their property. 

Solar panels immediately slash a person’s energy bills; however, Mr McCarthy said a person looking to retrofit their homes should not necessarily look to install solar panels first. 

“I was talking to a client last week and they had a house that was built in the 90s,” he said. 

“I think there was very little insulation in the cavity of their external wall; so, they had a cavity that they could pump. 

“But there was just three inches or two inches of 50 mil of air aboard in it and they had an attic that only had 100 mil of insulation.

“So, straight away, what they could do before they even go near things like solar.”

A bungalow with solar panels on the roof, Leysdown. Picture by: Alamy.com. 

Despite this, Mr McCarthy said solar panels are still a worthwhile investment, if you own your own home and have the cash to pay for it. 

“The easiest thing to add is solar because it's happening on the outside of your house, happening up on your roof typically,” he said. 

“You're probably looking at €7,000 or €8,000 for a three bed semi, depending on whether you're going for batteries or not. 

“So, that's the easiest win, outside of just pumping the walls or pumping the attic.

“I mean, they were the first few I'd be looking at, apart from the very obvious things like sealing up drafts and whatever on an older house.”

Main image: Builders attaching rigid foam wall insulation sheets. Picture by: Alamy.com.