Ecofix Offer
Ecofix is the aggregator for retrofit services at scale. Being pioneers of retrofit services since our inception, we are painfully aware of the challenges faced by all stakeholders. Successful, cost effective delivery of retrofit services requires precision planning, which becomes increasingly difficult at scale. As one of the first companies to address this, we have had the opportunity to innovate, make mistakes and learn.
This desire to constantly innovate and improve our service means that we understand better than most how to provide the right service to our clients, looking after every stage of the project.
We engage highly skilled, experienced specialists to give you the best quality service available. We implement the vast knowledge we have developed over the years to ensure that the entire process is transparent, value driven and as painless as possible.
Ecofix is the one stop shop for retrofit services at scale.
end to End
From lead capture to project completion, Ecofix takes care of everything. We aggregate your customers, based on their needs, location and timelines to create project pools. This has the effect of reducing costs and increasing quality. Aggregation drives when, where and how we deliver projects.
We have the resource, the knowledge and the expertise to ensure that all projects are coordinated efficiently, cost effectively and safely.
We manage every step of the process from start to finish, capitalising on our team of experts and in house innovations to deliver a service that cannot be duplicated.
We begin by carrying out an initial survey to assess the needs of the home and the desires of the home owner. Based on the home owners requirements and situation, we provide the most competitive solutions.
We work hard to make the entire process as convenient and hassle free as possible. A feat only possible through 65 years of leadership and innovation, to tackle the difficulties we faced in the market.
We are trained and fully registered SEAI installers, who maximise value through key partnerships with manufacturers, suppliers and specialists.
We will be there for every step of the journey until the project achieves the desired outcome.
HOME
retrofit
There are many good reasons to carry out retrofit on a home. This will result in a more comfortable, healthier home with an improved BER rating, adding value to your home. Numerous research point to higher performance homes benefiting home owner overall health and well-being. In addition, improved energy efficiency will result in lower running costs.
Deep or shallow retrofit require a whole house approach to achieve the desired comfort and BER. This involves carrying out extensive energy efficiency measures, and requires an individual, bespoke approach to each project, as each home is uniquely constructed and situated, and every home owners circumstances are equally unique and individual.
The first approach should be to assess the current envelope and develop an upgrade plan to improve the envelope performance as much as possible. The second approach would be to compliment any envelope improvements with add-on's such as renewable energy technologies like solar, wind, and storage.
To complete a retrofit project the right way, a great deal of work must be carried out, and is comparable to any renovation project.
One of our assessors will carry out a survey of your home and determine the best methods to achieve your goals, and discuss this with you before work starts.
wall
insulation
Why?
Up to 35% of your homes heat can be lost through walls. This heat loss can be drastically reduced by insulating the walls to retain heat inside your home. There are three ways you can insulate walls; cavity, external and internal wall insulation. They can be used individually or combined depending on the requirements and existing building. When you insulate walls, additional ventilation is needed.
cavity wall insulation
Cavity walls that are not insulated, or only partially insulated can be upgraded using cavity wall insulation. Cavity wall insulation is pumped into the cavity using machinery. It is an easy, cost effective way to reduce heat loss.
external wall insulation
Where no cavity exists, external wall insulation is the preferred option. External wall insulation can also be used in addition to cavity wall insulation to further increase cavity wall performance. External wall insulation involves wrapping the building envelope in a layer of rigid insulation. Insulation is fixed to the walls, reinforced with mesh and rendered to provide a weather proof finish.
internal wall insulation
Internal wall insulation is generally used when cavity or external insulation is not recommended or possible. Internal insulation involves fixing insulated boards to the inside face of external walls, covering with a vapour control layer and then plastering. Use of internal wall insulation results in reduced internal space. Use of internal wall insulation is not as effective as it is difficult to mitigate cold bridging.
attic
insulation
As much as 30% of a homes energy can be lost through the roof. Insulating an attic can drastically reduce heat loss and improve the lifespan of your home.
Correct use of attic insulation reduces internal condensation from the roof space, reducing the likelihood of damp in the winter. Correct use of attic insulation also reduces the likelihood of passive heating of living spaces during summer months. Over-heated buildings is a common side effect of poorly implemented insulation and building design, especially in A rated homes.
It is also possible to insulate pitched and flat roofs.
With new insulation, it is always important to correctly install ventilation to ensure good air circulation in the roof space. This helps to maintain the correct temperature and reduce moisture build-up and condensation.
Condensation reduces the effectiveness of insulation and is a common cause of damage to roof spaces.
Floor
insulation
As much as 10% of heat loss in a building can occur through the floors. As with other surfaces in a building, this can largely be mitigated by using appropriate insulation to retain heat inside the home.
Upgrading floors with insulation however is not always straight forward and simple, and in many cases is not possible at all without major disruptions.
Depending on the existing floor type, different approaches will be needed based on whether you have a solid ground floor, a suspended concrete floor or a suspended timber floor. In some cases insulation will be installed on top of existing construction, while in others insulation might be fixed to the underside of the concrete or timber structure.
Our assessors will advise you on whether or not it is possible to upgrade existing floors and where possible the best approach to achieve the best performance.
window & door
upgrades
Roughly 10% of your homes heat can be lost through windows and doors. This is particularly relevant with older windows and doors, especially where other upgrades have been carried out. As stated previously, every project is unique and requires a specific solution. When a home with old doors and windows is upgraded with attic or wall insulation, the heat loss through the doors and windows is increased. As a result it is generally acknowledged that doors and windows should be upgraded with every retrofit.
Our assessors will measure doors and windows to be replaced and provide a specification and dimensions to manufacturers.
There is generally a lead time of approximately 4-5 weeks from the date of order for doors and windows to be delivered.
ventilation
systems
Proper ventilation improves air quality, which is important for the the buildings health as well as the occupants. Deep retrofit projects result in dramatically improved airtightness, this requires proper mechanical ventilation or demand control ventilation to ensure an adequate exchange of fresh air to replace stale air inside the building. Mechanical ventilation or demand control ventilation is also required for controlling condensation in the building as a result of reduced natural air exchange. Mechanical ventilation systems in Ireland come with heat recovery to improve energy efficiency of the building further.
Whats the difference?
- Proper ventilation removes stale air and odours, ensuring a fresh supply of air is circulated throughout the building at all times.
- Your home will not be cold or draughty as warm air is fed through vents into the home. In some instances you may be able to hear air coming in through the vents.
heat
pumps
Old gas and oil fired boilers are incredibly inefficient and waste energy, making them costly to operate. A considerable amount of fuel is needed to maintain comfort in the home.
In contrast heat pumps make use of waste energy so are more efficient and therefore more cost effective. This has the knock on effect of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
There are a number of different types of heat pumps systems; air source, ground source and water source. Air source heat pumps are the most common in use, do not require additional piping for heat recovery and are the simplest to install..
Water source are a popular choice being able to distribute heat through radiators or underfloor and produce hot water. Water source heat pumps may require radiators to be replaced with low temperature ones.
These systems come with a range of controls and zoning built in. Many modern systems sync with other devices to enable convenient use and control.
Our assessors will design and select the correct system for your home to ensure maximum comfort and performance
thermal
collectors
Solar thermal collectors transform energy from the sun into hot water. Thermal collectors are one of the most common renewable technologies in use in Ireland today.
The amount of hot water the system is able to provide depends on the size of the system and the use demand on the system.. A typical system correctly installed is able to provide approximately 60% of the hot water needs of a household over the course of a year. Solar thermal collectors can also partially meet space heating demands, although this is typically very small. In general, there are two types of thermal collector available.
flat plate collectors
These collectors have a box-like structure, are heavy, rigid and robust. They can be positioned on or in roof and typically cost less than their counterparts. The hot water produced by flat plate collectors is typically lower in temperature than their counterparts.
Evacuated tube collectors
These collectors are lightweight by design, consisting of individual tubes mounted on a frame. As a result of their structure they can only be positioned on roof. Compared to flat plate collectors they will provide 20% more hot water per m2 of aperture area, are known to demonstrate better efficiencies at lower radiation, enabling them to perform in cloudy conditions but have a higher cost than their counterparts.
Investing in a thermal collection system will lower your household costs, increase the health and comfort of your home and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
DOWNLOAD THE SEAI HOMEOWNERS GUIDE TO SOLAR THERMAL FOR HOT WATER
solar
photovoltaic
Photovoltaic (Solar PV) panels are solar modules that produce DC electricity when exposed to light. There are other electrcity generating solar technologies but the Irish climate is only suited to the use of Solar PV. Solar PV is currently the fastest growing renewable technology in terms of installed capacity.
How does it work?
A solar PV panel is constructed of particular semiconductor materials that are capable of generating an electrical charge when exposed to light. There are a growing number of materials suited to this but silicon is the most commonly used material today.
Solar PV products
Solar PV products cover a range of different applications, including;
- Solar panels or modules. These are the most common in use today.
- Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV). BIPV describe building products such as roof tiles, glass and cladding that have solar PV materials embedded in the product.
- Consumer electronics. Electrical devices such as calculators have incorporated solar PV for decades. Today even more devices exist.
whats the advantage
Conventional solar PV can meet a good portion of your household energy needs, for example;
- 1 sq.m of silicon panels will generate 150w of power on a clear sunny day. This is enough power for a laptop.
- A home PV system of 20sq.m would generate 2,600kWh of electricty a year. Thats 40% of the average electrical demand of an Irish home.
- PV systems will function on a cloudy day but with diminished capacity.
- The cost of solar PV is plummeting, conversely the performance per sq.m is increasing. This trend will continue until very soon, solar PV will be more competitive than traditional energy sources.
The amount of electricity a solar panel can generate depends on the following factors;
- The quality of the hardware chosen.
- The size of the system designed.
- Geographical location.
- The orientation of the panels to the track of the sun.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SOLAR PV PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING SEAI GUIDES
CONDITIONAL PLANNING EXEMPTIONS
energy
storage
Energy storage systems can play a crucial role in the future of a more efficient and environmentally friendly electricity grid. Interlinked battery storage solutions could solve many of the challenges faced by producers, providers and consumers today.
how it works
In a grid integrated system your renewable energy and storage are connected to the national grid. This in theory enables electricity generated or stored by your system to be fed directly to the grid where other customers can access it.
Storage also enables the homeowner to store energy generated from renewables or energy purchased from the grid during off peak times. This energy can be used on demand during peak energy times saving the home owner money.
In addition the entire system can be linked to an electric vehicle giving the home owner more flexibility, enabling them to store, use and supply even more energy. Many of these systems are fully digital and have a variety of controls, enabling homeowners to create personal plans for how they wish to use and manage their energy requirements.
things to be aware of
While storage is hugely beneficial overall to renewable systems, it is still quite an expensive technology and the storage technologies do not have the same life span as other components in the system. Some important details to note are as follows;
- Battery technologies are expensive
- For lithium ion based storage the average life span is approximately 10,000 cycles.
- Grid integration does not always provide advantages. In many countries, there are restrictions to exporting to the grid. This reduces the advantages of grid tied systems. In other countries they allow export to the grid but do not pay for energy exported.
- In countries where they allow and pay for exporting to the grid, you must have a bi-directional energy meter in order to receive any benefits.