Make your home much more energy efficient Make your home more energy efficient and make sure you get the best from your oil or solid fuel heating with an air leakage test on your home by Energy Focus. The Ballaghaderreen-based company specialise in conducting an air pressurisation test which shows up where the heat is being lost in your home. When conducting the test, all of the vents are sealed up, including chimneys. A fan is then set up at the front door, which depressurises the house and every hour ten times the volume of air in the house passes through the house. This shows up where the heat is being lost. Smoke tests are also carried out at windows and trapdoors, which show up any draughts. Faulty trapdoors will not only cause significant heat loss, they could also cause problems for asthmatics, with fibreglass fragments making their way into the household air. There are multiple benefits to having the test carried out. It will tell you where you are losing heat and pinpoint the windows, sockets and pipes under sinks where the heat is being lost. By dealing with these areas of heat loss, you can save on the amount of oil or fuel necessary to heat your house and there are significant savings to be made in the long run. The test takes about four hours to conduct and costs €300 plus VAT. An initial reading will be available as soon as the test is conducted, but it will be a few days before the full report is prepared. An energy score of ten is very poor, seven is the average. Five is considered very good, while a house with a score of three is considered a passive house. Bringing a house’s rating down from ten to seven, would result in significant savings on oil. To arrange an air pressurisation test with Energy Focus, simply call (087) 4180878. Get an A rated energy home built on your site If you want an A rated energy home built on your own site, then pick up the phone and call Micom Construction at (087) 2255457. Micom Construction uses eco-friendly concrete building systems to build A rated energy homes. The homes are built using double insulated concrete structures and feature suspended concrete floors. The insulated roof system employed by Micom Construction makes full use of your attic, but keeps your oil bill as low as possible. The houses built using this eco-friendly system have up to 75 percent lower costs, by using the very latest in German heat recovery and ventilation systems. A showhouse built by Micom Construction, using eco friendly concrete building systems, is available to view in Castlerea. To arrange a viewing, call Michael on (087) 2255457. July is Energy Month at 4Home Superstores Carrick-on-Shannon To celebrate the launch of the Renew iT Energy Hot Spot at 4Home Superstores Carrick-on-Shannon, July has been officially announced as Energy Month. The Renew iT Energy Hot Spot is a one-stop-shop run by Co. Roscommon based renewable energy company Renew iT Energy Solutions and energy consultants Energy Matters. Sample products and services available in-store include Building Energy Ratings, Home & Business Energy Audits including thermal imaging and air tightness testing, Solar Water Heating Systems, Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems, and Alurad High Efficiency Radiators. Recognising the increasing energy costs of home and business owners, Energy Month at 4Home Superstores Carrick-on-Shannon will provide customers with information on how to reduce their energy costs for existing and new houses and businesses. Activities will involve a series of Saturday information seminars from 2-4pm on energy efficiency and renewable energy for the home renovator, self-builder and business owner. In addition, there will be an evening seminar on July 10th from 6-8pm specifically for architects, engineers, plumbers, and building contractors. And what celebration would be complete without a sale! Throughout Energy Month, any customer who references 4Home Superstores Carrick-on-Shannon and places a deposit on a 4m² or 6m² Solar Water Heating System will receive an unbelievable €500 cash back. In addition, Energy Matters will run a draw and offer one lucky homeowner a detailed free home energy survey from one of Energy Matters trained engineers. The survey will be arranged at the homeowner’s convenience and will include recommendations for the most cost effective solutions to improve the energy efficiency of the home and advice on available grant support. The total value of the prize to each winner is €600. Any home owner who wishes to enter the draw can complete the entry form at the Energy Hot Spot at 4Home Superstore in Carrick-on-Shannon. And finally, for those wanting to easily improve the thermal performance of their home or building, 4Home are offering 25% off light bulbs while stocks last and 10% discount on all purchases of the new ThermaWrap Insulation while stocks last! ThermaWrap is perfect for handy DIY installation. So if you are thinking about energy efficiency in your home or business, there is no need to go further in July than a visit to 4Home Superstores Carrick-on-Shannon. There will be an advisor at the Hot Spot every Monday 5-6pm, Thursday 5-7pm, and for Energy Month, there will also be an advisor available each Saturday from 10am to 4pm. If you would like to arrange an on-site visit, quotation, or consultation outside these hours you can contact Renew iT directly on 094 9621921. About Renew iT Energy Solutions Established in 2006, Renew iT Energy Solutions based in Castlerea are a leading supplier of renewable energy and energy efficient products on the Irish market. Renew iT provide the complete solution to the renewable energy needs of both homeowners and building contractors. Their exclusive product range includes Alurad High Efficiency Designer radiators which reduce the water content of central heating systems by over 50% and are half the size of conventional radiators with the same heat output. Perfect for a geothermal heating system. The Orcon Heat Recovery Ventilation system is distributed and installed nationwide, and is one of the most efficient and advanced on the marketplace. Renew iT also supply the Solartek range of solar panels and Waterway Twin-Way solar piping to both homeowners and plumbers. As part of current expansion Renew iT are training installers on their Orcon Heat Recovery Ventilation system and all those interested in becoming a registered installer should contact Renew iT directly on 094 9621921. About Energy Matters Energy Matters offer the support and superior service of one of Ireland’s leading independent building energy consultancy, servicing both the domestic, non-domestic, new and existing building markets. With offices in Dublin, Galway and Cork, Energy Matters offer a nationwide service. Clients range from construction companies, county councils, business owners to home owners. Energy Matters offer a range of services from design and specification for energy efficiency, implementation on site, specialised testing such as thermal imaging & air tightness testing, energy profiling and building fabric analysis. Energy Matters will also identify available grant support and offer application and coordination services. Energy Matters are the first trained domestic Building Energy Rating (BER) Assessors in Ireland for both new and and now also existing dwellings. Energy Matters also have the distinction of designing, testing and officially certifying the first A-rated houses in Ireland. Design a whole-house system for your home with My Energy Design a whole-house system with My Energy to ensure that your energy bills are kept to a minimum. With rising fuel prices, solar panels, pellet boilers systems and wind turbines are alternative energy systems that are being considered by many householders. One man who is able to answer all your questions on renewable energy for your home is Cyril McKeon of My Energy in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim. My Energy has two divisions, a thermal or heating division and an electrical division. The thermal division specialises in providing pellet boilers, and solar panel systems for domestic, small industrial and recreational hot water. They also supply wood pellets. The electrical division specialises in the creation and delivery of electricity micro systems. Photovoltaic cells and wind turbines are the main elements in the delivery of a system which allows you to create a stable supply of electricity to service your house, farm, small industry or workshop. Wind turbines cost between €5,000 and €10,000 and Cyril is hoping that householders will receive credit for the electricity they supply to the national grid from next year, Householders with a wind turbine remain connected to the ESB, which is useful as a back-up service. ‘At night time the wind turbine is creating electricity and that can be sent back to the national grid,’ said Cyril. The photovoltaic cells, which take solar energy and transfer it to electricity, cost between €10,000 and €12,000. My Energy specialises in designing whole house systems for heating and electricity and Cyril pointed out that running costs for pellet boilers are now less than half the cost of oil, for example a household which uses €1,000 of oil would use €450 worth of pellets. Grants are also available for pellet boilers and solar panels. Contact Cyril McKeon at My Energy, Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim on (086) 8281412 or visit www.my-energy.ie As fuel prices soar
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