Technical Assessments for Domestic Dwelling
New Heat Pump Grant Overview
Launched in April 2018 by SEAI, this grant supports installing heat pumps in existing homes. To qualify, your home must meet a specific Heat Loss Indicator (HLI) to ensure it’s properly insulated and the heat pump will operate efficiently.
As your BER assessors, we will:
- Conduct a BER assessment before you submit your grant application.
- Complete a technical assessment survey and fill out the required forms.
- Provide a report detailing any improvements needed if your home doesn’t meet the required HLI.
- Perform a final BER assessment once the work is completed.
The technical assessment report is essential for your grant application and heat pump approval.
The SEAI offers €200 for the technical assessment and €50 towards the final BER assessment, totaling €250 available upon grant approval and heat pump installation.
FAQ
How do you get an SEAI grant for a heat pump?
To receive the SEAI grant for a heat pump, you must get a Technical Assessment done by an SEAI registered Technical Advisor.
The Technical Advisor will provide a report to detail if your house insulation levels are efficient enough to be able to retain the heat from a heat pump effectively. If your house is not compatible with a heat pump the Technical Assessor will detail what insulation upgrade works are required, along with an estimate of each insulation upgrade cost along with possible grants available to you.
The Technical Advisor role
The Technical Advisor will carry out a BER on your house to ascertain the building fabric heat loss. The building fabric heat loss is the heat lost through the building element of the house, such as the floors, walls, windows and ceilings. Default U-value figures can only be used for elements that have not received insulation upgrade works. This means that if you cannot prove insulation upgrade works have been carried out, we cannot include it in the BER and you will not be eligible for the heat pump grant.
What is a Heat Loss Indicator?
As a domestic house heat pump operates most efficiently in a dwelling that has low ventilation heat and low fabric heat loss. This will allow the heat pump to operate at a much lower water and distribution space heating temperature. This will enable the heat pump to operate less frequently and to be more efficient. The Better Energy Homes grant specifically requires that the there is a low fabric and ventilation loss in a dwelling.
A heat loss indicator (HLI) is used to ascertain if the dwelling is compliant to receive the Better Energy Homes Grant. The HLI is calculated using the total ventilation and fabric losses for the house divided by the dwellings total floor area. SEAI require that the HLI must be below, 2 Watts/Kelvin/m2.
