HouseWise

About HouseWise

HouseWise is a small, independent website for homeowners in Ireland. We explain home energy grants, BER ratings, retrofit costs and planning exemptions in plain English, so you can work out what you're entitled to and what a job is likely to cost before you talk to anyone.

The site is written from a building-trade background: we've spent years around extensions, refurbishments and the paperwork that goes with them.

Independent, not official

HouseWise is not part of, or endorsed by, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the Government of Ireland, any government department or any local authority. We link to the official sources so you can check everything yourself, and you should always confirm the current rules on seai.ie, gov.ie or with your council before you apply or start work.

How we research

  • Grant amounts and rules come from SEAI, gov.ie, Citizens Information and the Irish Statute Book. Each guide lists its sources with the date we checked them.
  • Costs come from SEAI's published median costs (based on thousands of grant-aided jobs) wherever possible. Where we use other sources, such as suppliers' published price lists, we name them and show the range rather than a single number.
  • No invented figures. If we can't source a number, we say so.
  • We re-check guides after each Budget and whenever SEAI changes a scheme.

What this site isn't

Nothing here is financial, planning, legal, tax or engineering advice. For a specific property, talk to an SEAI-registered contractor or BER assessor, an architect, engineer or chartered surveyor, or your local authority's planning department. See our disclaimer.

How we make money

HouseWise is free to read. Some pages include clearly labelled affiliate links or "get quotes" links to third-party services, which may pay us a fee. That never changes which grants or rules we describe. See our affiliate disclosure.

Spotted a mistake?

Grants change often. If something is wrong or out of date, please tell us and we'll check and correct it.

Company details

HouseWise is operated by Approved Tradesmen Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 14197980.