[an] ESRI review published last week found very little variation in actual energy consumption between homes with different BER energy ratings.
The review called it “a striking observation” that “average energy consumption is similar for an A-rated house and a G-rated house”.
It referred to a study that showed households consume around 10,869 kWh of energy per year and that this does not vary considerably by BER rating.
It said the median cost of a deep retrofit ranged from €16,000 to €43,000 depending on whether it was an apartment or a detached house.
It also said the monetary cost of the disruption and having to vacate a home during a retrofit ranged between €9,000 and €24,000.
More stupidity. It’s not exactly as if Ireland sitting in the Gulf Stream actually have what Canadians call winter. I’m sure a 1500 watt electric heater could cook them out on a cold winter day. 3.5 inches of insulation and double pane windows should be more than adequate for new housing with only chasing air leaks on existing housing.
Nice return on investment that.
This is very good news and must not be buried. Part of the Net-Zero bs will be home upgrades to make them “fit” to new extreme climate standards. These upgrades will be mandatory and designed to steal your home, You will not be able to sell your house without them done. The cost of these upgrades will drive people out of their homes.
This data could be used to tell them to shove it up their arse with massive class action lawsuits.
My home was built in 68. We had an energy assessment done 10 years ago by Manitoba Hydro. We insulated the unfinished half of our basement to their spec. That was it.
On reassessment it was equivalent to a new home, tight as a drum and just as energy efficient with original aluminum slider single pane windows, 2 layers. They said new windows do very little to improve efficiency. The big things are leaks, roof insulation and foundation insulation. Windows not so much. My house is well built, very tight and level, no cracks in the drywall.
They had a fan in the doorway simulating positive or negative pressures, with the fan on full exhaust, air was coming into the house through the chimney and dryer vent. They strongly recommended CO detectors. I have gas fired furnace and water tank. A no brainer.
So spending $25k on windows will do essentially nothing for efficiency, but plenty for “curb appeal” and virtue signalling.
A huge waste of money when the existing windows are fine.
Do you get these emails/mailers from Efficiency Manitoba telling you your energy consumption is much higher compared to your neighbours? Makes me chuckle, then I remember I’m paying for the lecture.
Ahh, the immutable laws of thermodynamics!
Energy can neither be created, nor destroyed, it can only change form. Each change invokes losses, as nothing is 100% efficient. You get to a point where you want/need hot water, heat, light, etc, but the above laws are always in place. There’s only so much efficeincy to be harnessed at ever decreasing gains compared to money/effort spent.
There is a Eco house in our community, they spent a lot of money on solar panels and geothermal heat and other upgrades. House went on the market twice, both times the contract was terminated and nobody bought it. It was carrying a price $50-70k above exact same floor plan houses a few doors down, that sold in weeks! I still see it sitting vacant, not sure if they are going to try to sell again or rent it out. Meanwhile, the solar panels sit covered in snow, there are trees to the south of the roof that block most of the sun below a certain angle, so most of the year, the new fence was poorly made and is already falling apart, I shudder to think of how the rest of the jobs were done.
Even here in the Globally Warmed California hellhole … even our Title-24 Energy Regulations acknowledged they’d gone too far … with no measurable improvement.
The 2025 Title 24 energy code actually reduces the minimum ceiling/roof insulation requirement to R-22 from the previous R-30 level. This change is part of California’s efforts to update energy efficiency standards.