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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the UN New York Climate Summit about phasing out oil exploration

Irish government to Phase out Oil exploration

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Oil Exploration to be phased out

It seems like every new headline is offering more incentives than ever to switch to renewable energy. This week,  Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York that the Government is planning to phase out oil exploration in Irish waters. “We will take coal off our electricity grid by 2025. Our renewable electricity will rise from 30% today to 70% in ten years,” Mr Varadkar added.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the UN New York Climate Summit about phasing out oil exploration

Carbon taxes

The Taoiseach also expects a carbon tax to raise billions of euro over the next few years. An all-party Oireachtas committee has committed to raising carbon taxes from €20 a tonne to €80 a tonne by 2030. Banning oil exploration is just one of the first steps the government will need to meet its climate targets. The future of carbon taxes is still uncertain so investing in renewable energy for your home is a wise move. It will not only reduce your bills in the long term but also help to protect you from hefty charges which may be introduced in the upcoming budget.

 

Carbon tax written in emissions smoke from a factory stack

Energy Efficiency

Fossil fuels are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Governments, industry, small businesses and homeowners all need to take action to ensure we have a renewable energy infrastructure in place for the coming years, which will see innovative new technology heating our homes and workplaces. The benefits of energy efficiency upgrades are short-term as well as long-term, for us and for the environment. Cheaper heating bills, warmer homes and protection from carbon taxes are just some of the benefits of heat pumps.

 

Air source heat pump

Heat Pumps

To meet EU environmental regulations by 2030, we need to make renewable energy our primary heat source. We need to completely eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels as soon as possible. Energy efficiency is also crucial, as less energy waste means less energy needs to be supplied from whatever source. Heat pump systems can be optimised by installing a mechanical ventilation heat recovery unit to ensure greater energy efficiency as well as cleaner, moisture-free air in your home. If you are ready for a cleaner, warmer home, get in touch with us today!

 

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The Climate Strikers are fighting for a Fossil-Free Future: Let’s Help them!

On Friday 20th September, thousands of people will take to the streets in Galway and in cities and towns around the world to for the Global Climate strike. Companies like Lush, Amazon, WordPress and organisations Amnesty International and Oxfam are all supporting the climate strikers on Friday, and we can too!

How can I help if I can’t join the strike?

Even if you can’t leave your workplace for whatever reason, you can still support the climate strikers. One of the most important things you can do is start decarbonising your home by installing a renewable energy system. This will ensure a lasting legacy of energy infrastructure for future generations. It also saves you money on your heat bills as well as protecting you from any potential hits from future carbon taxes.

 

Decarbonising heat

The Taoiseach has acknowledged that Ireland is a “laggard” in fulfilling its climate change treaty obligations. A major contributor to Ireland’s shortfall in reaching its renewable energy target is an under-performance on renewable heat. Ireland actually placed 26th out of the 28 EU member states for renewable energy for heat. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently published a review of the government’s performance on climate adaptation measures and one of its recommendation was for the government to prioritise a time-bound roadmap for decarbonising heat.

 

Nutherm Galway can design, install and commission a renewable energy system for your home. This saves you money in the long run and reduces our unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels. We can deliver retrofits or complete heating system installations for new builds. We install air source heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, thermodynamic and photovoltaic panels and Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery units. Check out our products here and see which system might be right for your home and your needs.

Renewable Energy is the Future

After the Climate Strike, we adults owe it to our youth, and to ourselves, to make sure that we implement change so we can to make our planet healthier. You can help encourage the transition to green energy by greening your home and ensuring a fossil-free future. Get in touch today and let us help you future-proof your home.

 

 

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Advantages of Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery(MVHR) Units

Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery comes with a host of benefits and is one of the best decisions you can make for your home’s long term livability. When combined with a renewable energy heat source like a heat pump, it can save you a lot of money. Your energy savings and improved quality of life makes it well worth the investment.

How does it work?

Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery(MVHR) is a ventilation system where air is extracted from ‘wet’ rooms (e.g. bathrooms, kitchens) and passed through a heat exchanger. The MVHR unit transfers the heat from the extracted air into the incoming fresh air. This in turn results in fresh, filtered, pre-warmed air being supplied into ‘habitable’ rooms (e.g. lounge, bedrooms).

Mould and Indoor Pollutants

Our indoor environments can become very polluted if we don’t manage them carefully. The air can quickly become stale from our breathing, cooking, dust and dander, as well as from chemicals in household products and off-gassing from furniture and textiles. Every house needs to ‘breathe’ – to allow fresh air into our home, exchanging old air with new, during the day and night.

Full mechanical air exchange systems provide clean and warm fresh air throughout the whole house. A mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system draws that moisture-heavy, used air out of every room. It simultaneously replaces it with equal quantities of fresh, clean air. Exhaust grilles take stale air out, while distribution grilles pour fresh air back in to the house, while heating it at the same time.

Advantages include:

Better Air Quality

  • There is a constant fresh air supply with no need to open windows or doors.
  • There is no build up of air pollutants that contribute to poor respiratory health. People can experience health effects from indoor air pollutants soon after exposure or, possibly, years later. It is very important to try to improve your home’s indoor air quality even if symptoms are not noticeable.

Humidity Control:

  • Ventilating your home helps keep it mould-free, will eliminate draughts and ensure condensation-free windows. This is essential in the West of Ireland’s climate and can impact heavily on quality of life for everyone. It especially impacts vulnerable people like children, the elderly and people with respiratory conditions. Although those with pre-existing allergies or asthma are at greater risks, mould can also cause health effects in otherwise healthy people. Measures to prevent or reduce mould exposure are important to everyone.

Energy Saving:

  • Conventional homes are very expensive to heat and it is incredibly inefficient to invest money in heating your home to then lose that heat by opening windows to bring in fresh air. With an MVHR unit, you bypass the need to get rid of stale air manually. With MVHR you can ensure that you are maximising your home’s energy efficiency potential.

 

If you’re interested in a system like this, or you would like further information on our products, please fill out our contact form or email us at info@nuthermgalway.ie.

Our team at Nutherm Galway have over 10 years’ experience installing ventilation systems. We only use the highest quality tried and tested products designed especially for the Irish climate. For more information on the Vent Axia units we install see here.

You can also check out our resource page where you can download the information sheets for all our products.

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SEAI Heat Pump Grant

Are you tired of your old fossil fuel heating system? Would you rather a more environmentally friendly solution with more comfort, cheaper heating bills and reduced C02 emissions?

If so, now is the time to install a new heat pump in your home.

Did you know, subject to meeting certain requirements, an SEAI Heat Pump Grant of up to €3500 is available to all homeowners including landlords to install a heat pump into their existing dwelling.

What are the requirements?

In order to qualify for the grant your dwelling must be built and occupied before 2011. This is defined as the date your electricity meter was installed.

Your dwelling must also be “heat pump ready” i.e. it must have adequate insulation levels etc. to ensure low heat loss levels are achieved. This will ensure your heat pump system performs well and your electricity bills are not too high.

Before you can apply for the grant an SEAI Registered Technical Advisor will carry out a technical assessment of your home. Based on the findings, the technical advisor will make recommendations on what is required to make your home “heat pump ready”.

A further €200 grant is available through the Better Energy Homes Programme towards the Technical Assessment of your home. This is only payable in conjunction with the heat pump system grant.

Below is a link to the SEAI webpage detailing further information on the heat pump grants and how to apply:

https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-grants/better-energy-homes/heat-pump-systems/

We here at Nutherm Galway Ltd have over 15 years experience installing heat pumps in Ireland. We only use the highest quality tried and tested German engineered heat pumps designed especially for the Irish climate.

For further information or to get a quote, fill out our contact form or email us at info@nuthermgalway.ie

You can also check out our resource page where you can download the information sheets for all our products.

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Stiebel Eltron launches new ‘Classic’ version of best selling Heatpump

Stiebel Eltron has introduced a new version of its best-selling WPL air source heat pump and we at Nutherm are happy to be partnered with Stiebel Eltron to extend this launch to the West of Ireland. Contact us for more details on this best selling product.

Benefits for your Home: 

  • Energy efficient inverter technology for high flow temperatures even on cold winter days
  • Suitable for densely built-up areas thanks to low operating noise
  • Minimal energy consumption – resulting in very low running costs
  • High energy efficiency class, even at a flow temperature of 55 °C

Benefits for You:

  • Outside air water heat pump for heating and cooling
  • High efficiency inverter technology for low energy consumption
  • High DHW comfort due to high flow temperatures
  • Quiet operation thanks to intelligent defrost function
  • Silent mode allows reduced operation for even quieter operation (e.g. at night)
  • Convenient operation via mobile devices in conjunction with the ISG (Internet Service Gateway)
  • Developed and produced in Germany

 

New Classic version of best selling Heatpump launched

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Better Energy Homeowner Grants

Better Energy Homes is a Government programme which gives fixed cash grants for heating system upgrades and insulation, helping to make your home more comfortable and cheaper to run. It is available to all owners of homes built before 2006.

The SEAI  are offering higher grants and cash bonuses if you carry out 3 or 4 measures. The grants are also open to previous applicants who wish to get additional works done.

All applicants must carry out a Building Energy Rating (BER) on completion of works. A BER grant is only payable once as part of a works grant.

Contact info@nuthermgalway.ie to see how we can help with your heating system upgrades

For more information check out the SEAI Better Energy Homes page

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Why Heat Pumps are good for the Environment

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The above video is from the Stiebel Eltron Academy in Germany explaining why Heat Pumps are good for the environment.

 

Technology Overview of Heat Pumps

Heat energy flows naturally from a hot place to a cold place. The main task of a heat pump is to move heat energy in the opposite direction i.e. from a cooler to a hotter place but energy is required to achieve this! There is a lot of natural energy available in our environment which can be tapped into and the role of the heat pump is to collect this energy and move it to where it’s needed.

The heat pump is the machine which drives the cycle of heat collection and release. A heat pump is similar to a fridge in the way it works except the process is opposite – the heat is taken from the air, ground and water and released into the building.

A heat pump uses an electric compressor which moves a fluid (called a refrigerant) around in a closed pipe circuit. A heat exchanger takes the heat from the surroundings, transfers it to the refrigerant circuit passing through the compressor, where its temperature is raised. The heat then passes through another heat exchanger, where it is transferred to the dwelling, and the cycle can start again.

The most common type of heat pumps are electrically driven with electricity used to drive the compressor. The collector, the heat pump unit, the heat distribution system and the control system all make up the heat pump system. There are  three main types of heat pump:

  • Air Source Heat Pumps- energy is extracted from the external air
  • Ground Source Heat Pumps – energy in the soil is extracted either by transferring heat from a horizontal bed of pipes laid flat in the soil or by transferring heat from pipes laid in a vertical borehole
  • Water Source Heat Pumps- energy in the water is extracted directly, either from wells or from rivers, streams
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SEAI announce Deep Retrofit Pilot Programme

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The SEAI have just announced the Deep Retrofit Pilot programme to tackle the challenge presented by the existing housing stock in Ireland, which continues to pose one of our greatest energy efficiency challenges.. A considerable portion of the current building stock performs poorly when compared against a building built to the current standards.

With government funding of €5 million allocated for 2017 to support this pilot, the SEAI is inviting applications for funding for deep retrofit projects in the residential market for dwellings constructed prior to 2006.

Deep retrofit is the significant upgrade of a building toward nearly zero energy requirements where it is practically feasible and achievable. Rather than upgrading isolated parts of the house, the whole home should be assessed as a system, looking at how energy is used and retained. For further details check out the link below or contact your local authority, local energy agency or community group. Applications will not be accepted from individual homeowners.

http://www.seai.ie/Grants/Deep-Retrofit-Programme/

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