FAQs And General Advice
What is a BER? Do I have to have a BER? How do I get a BER certificate? What happens if I don't get a BER Certificate? How is it calculated? What happens if I score a low rating? How can I improve my Energy Rating? Is there anything I should do before getting my BER certificate? How long does it last? What is included in the Advisory Report? What is an air tightness test? How long does it take? Is the air test disruptive? What kind of results should I receive? What can I do about a high reading? What is renewable technology? What kind of technology is available? What are solar panels? What is Geothermal heating? What is a Heat Recovery Ventilation system? What are Pellet Boilers? What is a District Heating System?Q: What is a BER?
Put simply it is a label indicating the Energy Rating of a house or building. It is clearly show in different "bands"... A1 being the best and most efficient through to G being the least efficient.
Q: Do I have to have a BER?
That depends; a BER is for most new homes built since 2008. Since January 1 a BER cert is compulsory for all homes being sold or rented. The responsibility is the owners for acquiring one?
Q: How do I get a BER certificate?
BER assessments can only be carried out by SEI approved assessors. Contact Walsh Energy Consultants here.
Q: What happens if I don't get a BER Certificate?
If you need one and you don't get one the maximum fine, subject to a conviction in the District Court, is 5000 euro. Failure to get one could delay your completion of the sale or lease.
Q: How is it calculated?
The calculation includes building fabric, ventilation, space and water heating, and lighting. These values coupled with measurements taken from the drawings of the property culminate in the achievement of an energy label.
Q: What happens if I score a low rating?
Nothing. There is no legal requirement to have an energy efficient house yet, but a low rating may affect the marketability of the house.
Q: How can I improve my Energy Rating?
The Building Energy Rating Certificate comes with an accompanying advisory report. This report outlines recommendations as to what you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your home. You may then choose to implement some or all of the changes outlined.
Q: Is there anything I should do before getting my BER certificate?
Some good ideas before getting the assessment done would be:
- beef up insulation in your attic
- pump insulation in to the wall cavity on older houses
- Install a good lagging jacket to your cylinder
- Insulate primary pipework
- Change traditional light bulbs to CFL's
Q: How long does it last?
Ten years. That assuming no material change to the building over that time which might affect its energy performance, like an extension, a new boiler or additional insulation.
Q: What is included in the Advisory Report?
The Advisory Report will give owners useful pointers in relation to improving the running costs of their homes as well as improving its marketability. These will include energy saving measures ranging from something as simple as increased usage of energy saving light bulbs to replacing an inefficient heating system. We expect that these reports will frequently focus on the need to switch off appliances completely at night, lagging boilers, insulating attic spaces, the use of time controls on heating systems and the sealing of windows/doors.
Q: What is an air tightness test?
An Air tightness test measures the flow of air within a building. Air leakage is the uncontrolled flow of air through gaps and cracks in the fabric of a building. Improving air tightness in a dwelling can reduce air leakage.
Q: How long does it take?
For a standard sized house (3 bed semi ) it should only take about 2 hours.
Q: Is the air test disruptive?
It is a non invasive test. The test kit is installed in an external doorway. The kit comprises of a fan, an adjustable frame and a laptop.
Q: What kind of results should I receive?
The procedure will give you several read outs but the most important one is air changes per hour (ac/h). Obviously a lower reading is preferable.
Q:What can I do about a high reading?
Once the test kit is set up the operator will do a room by room survey sometimes using a smoke gun to establish exactly where the air leakage problems are. They will then advise you on what you can do to rectify these areas.
Q: What is renewable technology?
Renewable energy resources are constantly replenished through the cycles of nature - their supply will never be exhausted. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are finite resources
Q: What kind of technology is available?
There are a few different options commonly used in houses recently, the main ones are
- Solar panels
- Geothermal heating systems
- Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems
- Pellet Boilers
- District Heating Systems
Q: What are solar panels?
Active Solar Heating is one of the primary ways for buildings to use solar energy. This technology uses solar collectors to transform sunlight into heat to provide space and/or water heating.
Q: What is Geothermal heating?
The earths surface acts as a huge solar collector, absorbing radiation from the sun. In this country the ground maintains a constant temperature between 11oC and 13oC, several metres below the surface. Geothermal Heat Pumps take advantage of this by transferring the heat stored in the earth or in ground water to buildings in winter and the opposite in summer for cooling. Through compression, heat pumps can pump up heat at low temperature and release it at a higher temperature so that it may be used again.
Q: What is a Heat Recovery Ventilation system?
When room air escapes or is expelled, the energy that was used to heat or cool it is wasted. The HRV unit is normally fitted in the attic of a new house and is ducted to every room. As it pushes out stale air, it pulls in fresh air, and with no mixing of the two air streams it transfers the heat from the outgoing air to the incoming supply. The fresh air arrives to the room pre-heated.
Q: What are Pellet Boilers?
Wood Pellet Stoves and boilers are a new and very popular way as a means to provide heat. Pellet Stoves use wood pellets as its primary heat source. These wood pellets are tightly compacted and dense which causes it to be burned very efficiently and powerfully. Pellets usually come from the byproduct of sawmills and are very easily transportable due to their size. It is now possible to get boilers which are also capable of burning grain i.e wheat as well wood pellets
Q: What is a District Heating System?
District heating is the use of a centralized boiler installation to provide heat for a number of buildings. This can use a heat only boiler, or the heat from a combined heat and power (CHP) plant.
- They can be multi fuel units capable of running on biomass, solid fuel, LPG, gas or oil.