Paying for external insulation
On the usual route you pay the contractor and SEAI pays you the fixed grant after the claim, usually in 4 to 6 weeks. Through a One Stop Shop the grant comes off the invoice instead. For the rest, Home Energy Upgrade Loans run from €5,000 to €75,000, at rates from 2.99%.
The grant, the timing, the loan and the paperwork.
Free, no obligation. One registered contractor prices it, not five.
- €5,000–€75,000Home Energy Upgrade Loans
- from 2.99%the loan rate
- 4–6 weeksfor SEAI to pay you
- €10,000of grants a year: tax clearance over it
The money, in order
- Approval first. Apply and accept the offer within 30 days. Nothing before it.
- Pay the contractor as agreed in your written contract.
- Post-works BER, with a €50 grant towards it.
- Claim within 8 months of the offer, with a Tax Clearance Certificate if you got more than €10,000 of grants in the calendar year.
- SEAI pays you, usually in 4 to 6 weeks.
Your grant against your walls
Four quick taps. You see your grant, your wall, what a job that size typically costs and what's left. Your number is only asked for at the end, if you want a price.
An average semi-detached house: about 91 m² of outside wall, a typical job of about €23,200, the €6,000 grant, so about €17,200 left to pay.
How this is worked out
The grant is SEAI's fixed amount for your house type. The wall area is the median outside wall on the BER register for homes of your type built before 2011, or the smaller or larger quarter if you picked those. The typical job is what grant-funded external insulation typically costs for your house type, scaled to that wall. Your contractor prices your house after a look: it's a guide to plan with, never a quote. SEAI decides every grant.
One Stop Shop
A One Stop Shop manages a whole-home upgrade, applies for the grants and takes them off your invoice. The home has to go from a BER of B3 or lower to B2 or better. There's a €350 grant for its Home Energy Assessment.
Landlords
Landlords can also deduct energy upgrade costs from rental income: the lesser of €10,000 or the cost net of the grant, for up to three properties, for work done from 2026 to 2028.
Questions people ask
Do I pay for external insulation upfront?
On the usual route, yes, then SEAI pays you the grant. A One Stop Shop takes it off your invoice.
Is there a loan for external insulation?
Home Energy Upgrade Loans run from €5,000 to €75,000, at rates from 2.99%.
Do I need tax clearance?
If you get more than €10,000 in SEAI grants in a calendar year, a Tax Clearance Certificate goes with the claim.
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Your grant against your walls
Four taps to your grant, your wall and what's left. Then, if you want, one SEAI-registered external insulation contractor who covers your county rings with a price.