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FixMyBER

Retrofit plan for a apartment built before 1940

Start with a BER assessment to measure the house, then the insulation, windows and doors in one grant application, then the heat pump in a second application. Self-managed, about €12,375 in SEAI grants leaves about €10,857 to pay.

A worked example of the house published BERs most often describe: solid stone or brick walls (87%), heated now by electric storage heaters. The plan is the same with gas, oil, LPG or solid fuel. Make it yours

For this house, a One Stop Shop is the better route — and we will say so. Cara can help you compare registered One Stop Shops.

One Stop Shops on SEAI’s register, by county

Grants
€12,375
You pay
€10,857
Order saves
€1,290

Self-managed, 2 grant applications. A plan, not a BER assessment. Grants are SEAI’s published figures and SEAI decides each application; costs are medians, not quotes.

The plan, in order

Tap a step for why, the rule behind it and the source.

  1. 1Find out

  2. 2Insulation, windows and doors

  3. 3The heat pump

Make this plan yours

What doing it in order keeps

about €1,290

The same works, done one job a year in the order people often start, against this plan. Grant rates are the same either way; what changes is which grants get paid and how many assessments you buy.

One job at a timeThis plan
Works and assessments€25,222€23,232
Grants paid€13,075€12,375
You pay€12,147€10,857

The one-job-at-a-time order (windows and new controls first, a year apart) is our assumption about how people often start; SEAI does not publish it.

Self-managed or a One Stop Shop

€10,857 vs €17,572, self-managed is cheaper

Grant rates are the same on both schemes. What differs is which grants you end up with. Done one at a time in the usual order, this house loses about €1,290 to sequencing traps and repeat BERs; Cara's order keeps it. A One Stop Shop can also claim €6,650 of grants that exist only on its scheme (assessment, project management, ventilation, airtightness), against its own project management fee of about €1,800 and the assessment it charges for.

Self-managedOne Stop Shop
Works, assessments and fees€23,232€36,347
Grants€12,375€18,775
You pay€10,857€17,572
Cash needed at the peak€20,082€17,572
How grants are paidYou pay, SEAI pays you backTaken off the invoice
  • Traditional solid-wall house: wall insulation is grant-aided only through a One Stop Shop, under the Traditional Homes pilot — a whole-house upgrade overseen by a Traditional Building Professional. A B2 result is not required.
  • Grants come off the invoice upfront, and the low-cost Home Energy Upgrade Loan is only available through a One Stop Shop — and only up to 31 December 2026 unless it is extended.

Grants only a One Stop Shop can claim: €6,650

FixMyBER and Cara are not a One Stop Shop and cannot give access to that scheme. SEAI’s register lists the registered One Stop Shops; see them by county. The One Stop Shop fee is our estimate from SEAI’s sample assessment, which is why a small difference counts as a close call.

Cash flow, month by month

up to €20,082 out at the peak

Self-managed, you pay each contractor and SEAI pays the grant back afterwards.

WhenWhatMoneyRunning total
Month 0Pre-works BER assessment−€245−€245
Month 2Fabric (application 1): works and post-works BER paid−€13,217−€13,462
Month 4Fabric (application 1): SEAI grant paid+€3,150−€10,312
Month 8Heat pump (application 2): works and post-works BER paid−€9,770−€20,082
Month 10Heat pump (application 2): SEAI grant paid+€9,225−€10,857

The largest amount SEAI owes you at any one time is about €9,225, for roughly 2 months between paying the contractor and the grant arriving (post-works BER, forms, then SEAI's stated 4–6 weeks). The low-cost Home Energy Upgrade Loan cannot be used for self-managed works (and is available only up to 31 December 2026). If your contractor agrees to take the grant directly — SEAI allows it; it is their choice — your peak outlay falls to about €10,857.

Contractor taking the grant: Individual grants: Homeowner Application Guide, read 25 Sept 2026 · The low-cost loan: Home Energy Upgrade Loan, read 30 Jul 2026 · Timing is our assumption: about two months from paying for the works to the grant arriving.

What to apply for, and when

2 applications, offer before any work

SEAI’s rule: the grant offer has to be in place before any work starts or materials are bought.

  • Windows · SEAI Better Energy Homes (individual grants) · Application 1 — before any fabric works start or materials are bought
  • External doors · SEAI Better Energy Homes (individual grants) · Application 1 — before any fabric works start or materials are bought
  • Heat pump technical assessment · SEAI Better Energy Homes (individual grants) · Application 2 — after the fabric works and their post-works BER
  • Heat pump (air to water) · SEAI Better Energy Homes (individual grants) · Application 2 — after the fabric works and their post-works BER
  • Radiators and pipework for the heat pump · SEAI Better Energy Homes (individual grants) · Application 2 — after the fabric works and their post-works BER
  • Renewable heat bonus · SEAI Better Energy Homes (individual grants) · Application 2 — after the fabric works and their post-works BER

Worth knowing

2 to check, 4 left out of the plan

What this plan is based on

your answers, SEAI's figures, our assumptions

The house in this plan is the one published BERs most often describe for apartments built before 1940:

  • 87% of published BERs for apartments built before 1940 record solid stone or brick walls, so this plan uses them.
  • 84% of them record windows that lose more heat than 2.0 W/m²K (new windows must reach 1.4), so this plan replaces them.
  • Planned with a home directly above, so no attic of its own.
  • The example is heated by electric storage heaters, the commonest heating in these BERs (66% electric, of every kind). The plan is the same with gas, oil, LPG or solid fuel.

From 5,396 published BERs. SEAI BER Research Tool, file of 8 September 2026. A pattern across similar homes, not a fact about any one.

County
Don't knowThe plan does not depend on it.
House type
Apartment
Built
before 1940
Heating (example)
Storage heatersThe plan is the same with gas, oil, LPG or solid fuel.
Walls
Solid stone or brick87% of published BERs for these homes
Windows
Double, before 2000From the build date and published BERs for these homes
Attic
No attic of my own
  • This is a plan, not a BER assessment. Only an SEAI registered BER assessor can assess or certify a home.
  • Grant amounts and rules are SEAI's published figures as read on the dates shown beside each one. Whether a grant is paid is SEAI's decision on your application.
  • Costs are SEAI medians for this house type (Jan–Jun 2026) or labelled estimates — not quotes.
  • FixMyBER is not a One Stop Shop and cannot give access to the One Stop Shop scheme. Registered One Stop Shops are listed by SEAI.
  • Contractors are shown with their SEAI registration details only. SEAI registers contractors but does not endorse their work, and neither do we.

rules 2026-09-26.1

Make this plan yours