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The worse the rating, the faster it pays

We worked out what a full upgrade costs for every common kind of Irish home. The homes that look worst on paper are the ones where the money comes back quickest — because there is more waste to stop.

A home rated F or G earns it back in about 5 years. One rated D takes 7 years.

A cut-stone semi-detached cottage with a natural slate roof and two chimneys, behind a rubble wall.
A cottage built before 1970 — the kind of house that fills the F and G rows.Semi-detached cottage in Geashill, County Offaly · A.-K. D. · CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication) · Photo credits
years to repay7C388,042 homes7.2D207,968 homes7.1E97,526 homes5F/G110,630 homes
Median years to repay by rating band, across every published cell.

The twenty most common homes

Cost, grant, amount payable and years to repay for the twenty most common Irish homes
HomeHomesThe workGrantYou payPays back in
A 1990s detached house on oil, rated CEnergy rating C47,829€16,500€12,500€4,5007 years
A 1990s semi-detached on gas, rated CEnergy rating C37,798€16,800€12,500€4,30011 years
A 1990s semi-detached on oil, rated CEnergy rating C29,131€16,800€12,500€4,30011 years
A 1970s–80s detached house on oil, rated CEnergy rating C24,045€19,000€10,300€8,90015 years
A 1990s apartment on electric heating, rated CEnergy rating C23,787€10,100€5,500€4,6004 years
A 1970s–80s detached house on oil, rated DEnergy rating D23,707€36,400€19,000€16,3009 years
A pre-1970 detached house on oil, rated F/GEnergy rating F/G21,637€42,400€23,000€18,1005 years
A 1990s apartment on electric heating, rated DEnergy rating D21,468€10,100€5,500€4,6004 years
A 1990s terrace house on gas, rated CEnergy rating C20,620€15,000€12,500€2,5008 years
A 1990s apartment on gas, rated CEnergy rating C19,505€10,100€9,500€6002 years
A 1970s–80s terrace house on gas, rated CEnergy rating C17,875€15,000€12,500€4,30011 years
A 1990s detached house on oil, rated DEnergy rating D15,504€31,100€19,000€12,30010 years
A pre-1970 terrace house on gas, rated CEnergy rating C15,252€15,000€12,500€4,30010 years
A pre-1970 terrace house on gas, rated DEnergy rating D14,573€23,300€15,900€7,4009 years
A 1970s–80s semi-detached on gas, rated CEnergy rating C14,454€16,800€12,500€6,90014 years
A pre-1970 detached house on oil, rated DEnergy rating D13,321€28,000€19,000€9,5007 years
A pre-1970 detached house on oil, rated EEnergy rating E12,266€36,700€21,000€15,1005 years
A 1990s detached house on gas, rated CEnergy rating C11,482€16,500€12,500€5,0009 years
A pre-1970 terrace house on gas, rated EEnergy rating E10,967€32,100€17,700€14,4008 years
A 1970s–80s semi-detached on oil, rated DEnergy rating D10,819€29,300€17,300€11,80011 years

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Why it works out that way

A home rated F or G is burning far more than it needs to. The work costs more, but it stops a much bigger bill, so the money comes back sooner. A home already rated B has little waste left to stop, so the same spend takes far longer to earn out.

Age is most of it. 3 in 10 homes built before 1970 are rated F or G; among those built in the 1990s and early 2000s it is closer to 1 in 100. The oldest houses are where both the waste and the saving are.

2025 medians (n=47,067 upgrades; OSS n=1,406). 2026-07-01. BER file 2026-09-08. DEAP standard occupancy.

Every grant and what it pays