BER Rating: What Is It and How Can You Improve It?
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A Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate rates the energy efficiency of a home. The efficiency of your home is rated on a scale of A to G with A representing the most energy efficient and G the least. A BER certificate costs €125 and the evaluation of your home can be carried out by an SEAI accredited assessor. Grants are available from the SEAI to cover the cost of the assessment.
What Is a BER Rating?
A Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate is a measurement of your home's energy efficiency.
Introduced by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), your home's efficiency is rated on a scale from A to G with A representing the most energy efficient and G the least.
The BER scale measures how many kWh per square meter your home requires per year for the following items:
- Space heating
- Water heating
- Ventilation
- Lighting
- What Does Each BER Rating Mean?
- A Rating:
Your home uses less than 74 kWh of energy per square meter a year. These are usually given to newly built homes, purposefully built for energy efficiency and may include some solar panels. - B Rating:
Your home requires between 75 and 149 kWh of energy per square meter a year. Typically handed for a modern home between 10 and 20 years old, which may have had some renovations for efficiency. - C Rating:
Your home needs from 150 to 224 kWh of energy per square meter a year. Often granted to a common flat in a 10 to 15-year-old development. - D Rating:
Your home uses between 225 and 299 kWh of energy per square meter a year. Generally bestowed to a 20 to 40-year-old home with an old boiler and some insulation. - E Rating:
Your home spends from 300 to 379 kWh of energy per square meter a year. Ordinarily assigned to houses that are 30 years or older with single-pane windows. - F Rating: Your home ranges from 380 to 449 kWh of energy per square meter a year. Usually delivered to an older home with single glazed windows and no insulation.
- G Rating:
Your home uses more than 450 kWh of energy per square meter a year. Historically applied to very old or abandoned dwellings.
What is the average BER rating in Ireland? According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 37% of homes in Ireland receive a C from the BER rating chart, 24% obtain a D, and only 4% of homes receive the highest rating of an A.
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How To Get a BER Rating Certificate?
Various contractors in Ireland can obtain a BER rating certificate for your home.
As some of the 2024 SEAI grants require the BER certificate to be completed by one of the certified SEAI contractors, we recommend using one of these assessors for your home's evaluation.
You can find a registered contractor through the SEAI website.
You can expect to pay close to €125 for the average 2 or 3-bedroom house.
It is important to note that only assessments carried out by SEAI contractors are recognised as valid should you want to make improvements to your home using one of their many energy-efficiency grants available.
How Long Does a BER Certificate Last? The BER rating certificate is valid for a period of 10 years. Should you make any structural upgrades, you should have your home reassessed. A high energy-efficiency rating increases the value of your home on the housing market.
Who Needs a BER Certificate?
If you are looking to rent your home, or put it up for sale to a potential buyer, you are required by law to obtain a BER certificate.
This is to give the potential new tenant or owner an insight into the property's energy efficiency and how expensive it could be to run.
You will also need a BER assessment if you're applying for any SEAI grant for home improvements.
How Do I Find A Property's BER Rating?
The easiest way to obtain this is by visiting the National BER Register page with your electricity's 11-digit Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN).
If you have just moved into a new home, or are considering buying one, it is important to know what the property's BER rating is. This is important for a number of reasons as:
- A lower rating could mean higher energy bills as more energy is used by the property.
- Lower rated properties will often be colder in winter due to poor insulation.
- Lower rated properties, might require large investment to improve efficiency.
How Can I Improve My Home BER Rating?
As we mentioned, the BER rating solely evaluates the energy-efficiency level of your home. To improve the rating, you will therefore need to make improvements to one or many of the following upgrades to your home:
- Insulation
Whether this is for your attic, cavity wall, or any other parts of your home, it is one of the quickest and easiest ways to improve your home's energy efficiency. - Windows and Doors
Probably one of the more expensive investments you can make, however, windows and doors are where you can have the biggest impact on your home's BER rating. - Renewable Energy
You can now re-sell to the energy grid any power generated from a renewable source. Installing some solar panels on your rooftop, even in Irish weather, is another way to lower your home's carbon footprint on the environment. - Home Heating System
There are a multitude of choices in this category, but opting for some of the modern heating systems like underfloor heating or using a smart thermostat is another way to improve your home's rating. - Lighting
Even simple measures like using LED bulbs and other energy-saving tricks can have an impact on your BER rating.
Any of these upgrades do come with the bonus of obtaining saving on your energy costs as well.
You can cut down significantly on the costs of these home improvements by applying for SEAI grants. Their latest range of schemes is very complete and, should you qualify, can even allow you to complete some renovations 100% covered by the grant.
Why Is It Important To Improve Your BER Rating?
There are various reasons one will want to improve your home's BER rating, including:
- Increasing the value of your home.
- Energy efficient homes, are better for the environment and can help Ireland reach its 2050 emission targets.
- Significant savings on your energy bills.
Below, you will find an example of how improving your BER rating can help cut the costs of running your home:
- Savings by Improving Your BER Rating
- The average 3-bedroom house with an E rating would have an annual energy cost of €2,450 per year.
- The same home with a C rating would have a yearly bill of €1,300.
- The savings come to €1,150 every year on your electricity and gas bill.
Source: SEAI
With such savings in energy costs, it is easy to see why investing a little in your home can go a long way. In less than 10 years, one can recover over €10,000 on their energy bills in this example.
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