How To Improve The BER Rating Of Your Home

A Building Energy Rating (BER) is a certificate that ranks your home’s energy efficiency on a scale from A -G (with A being the most efficient and G being the least efficient). Improving your BER rating will not only help to reduce your energy bills and carbon emissions, it will also increase the overall value of your home. 

What Is A Good BER Rating?

Before we look at suggestions for how to improve a BER rating, let’s take a moment to look at what you should be aiming for. The Sustainable Energy Authority Of Ireland (SEAI) recommends aiming for B2 on the BER rating scale when making energy upgrades to your home. This rating will give you the best return on the money you invest in property upgrades. These are some of the most effective ways to achieve this: 

Upgrade Your Home’s Insulation

One of the most important steps in how to improve your BER rating is upgrading the insulation in your home. Poor insulation is one of the most significant causes of heat loss in the home. In fact, poorly insulated roofs and walls can cause a home to lose up to 30% of its heat. Improving your property’s insulation will therefore not only reduce your energy consumption, it will also help to keep your home warmer and more comfortable.

Update Old Windows & Doors

The state of your windows and doors are both taken into account in a BER assessment, which is why it’s important to make the relevant changes where necessary. Single glazed windows are big culprits for heat loss and so switching these to double or triple glazed will make a big difference. In addition to this, it’s important to ensure that doors and windows are properly insulated. Draught-proofing is a simple step in how to improve BER rating, but a really beneficial one nonetheless.

Switch To Low Energy Light Bulbs

Again, switching to low energy light bulbs is another simple step but one that will have a significant impact on the overall energy efficiency of your home by complementing the bigger upgrades. To do this, all you need to do is swap old, inefficient light bulbs for LED ones. The reason that LED light bulbs are so energy efficient is because they provide a higher lumen output per watt than other forms of lighting. 

Invest In Renewable Energy

The method you use to heat your home has a huge influence on energy efficiency. That’s why investing in renewable heating solutions, such as an air to water heat pump, is one of the most effective steps in how to improve the BER rating of your home. There are SEAI grants available to help fund the cost of heat pumps and solar heating, and an upgrade to renewable sources is likely to add significant value to your home.

Make The Most Of Smart Heating

Smart heating controls can make a huge difference to reducing your energy bills. Making the most of the functions they have to offer, including timers and zoned heating will ensure you’re not wasting heat unnecessarily. Most smart thermostats now enable you to adjust your heating from your smartphone, meaning you can stay in control of your energy usage even when out of the house. 

For more information on how to improve the BER rating of your home, including details on our renewable energy upgrades, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Pipelife team.