BER Rating

All about Eve

Does anybody know if a BER Rating of D1 is in any way good? Would it mean a cold house.
Currently looking at a 7 year old house to rent , we love it but BER D1, just not sure what that means exactly.
We are nervous because of the bad winters we have been having

Aprilmay

It depends on the size of the home and the age but 7 years it should be better than that. We are selling our house I got my BER cert and I was talking to the guy telling him the size of house almost 2000sq feet and its detached -he told me a house of that size are usually D ratings because of the fact they are detached too. Anyway we got it done and to our surprise the house got a C2 rating which is very high. So depending on the size of the house it can affect the rating and because you haven't said the type or size of the house -D1 is a low rating but then again there is lower

highgiant1985

All about Eve wrote: »

Does anybody know if a BER Rating of D1 is in any way good? Would it mean a cold house.
Currently looking at a 7 year old house to rent , we love it but BER D1, just not sure what that means exactly.
We are nervous because of the bad winters we have been having

you can read about the BER ratings here

http://www.commercialenergyratings.ie/faq.html


D is by no means great you can see from the list yourself its middle of the road. A is the best with G being the worst.

I live in a D place at the moment and find during winter the heating's on all the time (because of my housemate) personally I'd just throw on a jumper and leave the heating off.

so basically might mean you pay extra in heating bills.

odkm

I have worked on plenty of refurbishment properties where despite heavily insulating the external walls, floors and roof of a house, new heating system, energy saving bulbs etc we have only got to a B rating therefore unless you are building from scratch an A rating is pretty difficult to achieve.A D rating does seem pretty low for a seven year old house however with the amount of stuff knocked up in the 2000's it is hardly surprising. Personally if it is the right house for you at the right price it should not put you off renting the house but I would only be signing up for a one year lease just in case you find it cold this winter - you shouldnt but you never know

Riskymove

All about Eve wrote: »

Does anybody know if a BER Rating of D1 is in any way good? Would it mean a cold house.
Currently looking at a 7 year old house to rent , we love it but BER D1, just not sure what that means exactly.
We are nervous because of the bad winters we have been having

does it have an open fireplace?

All about Eve

Riskymove wrote: »

does it have an open fireplace?

Yes it does. are you allowed post links to properties on daft here and i could post the link?

Riskymove

All about Eve wrote: »

Yes it does.

thats key

we got a lot of stuff done to our house; windows, insulation, new boiler etc and the highest we could get was C1 due to the open fireplace

odds_on

Also check out the following where it gives estimated costs for heating different BER ratings

http://www.seai.ie/Your_Building/BER/

Riskymove

All about Eve wrote: »

are you allowed post links to properties on daft here and i could post the link?

I dont see why not

All about Eve

Riskymove wrote: »

thats key

we got a lot of stuff done to our house; windows, insulation, new boiler etc and the highest we could get was C1 due to the open fireplace

why is that does heat escape through the chimney? just a bit scared cos we are in a freezing damp house at the moment with no BER rate . big mistake but our year of hell is almost over. really want a warm house. dont know what to do ! the house is gorgeous. sitting on the shannon. 7 years old and everything is decorated and furnished to a high standard

All about Eve

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1071476

Here is the house.
Mods am i allowed post it , im new so sorry if i shouldnt.

Riskymove

All about Eve wrote: »

why is that does heat escape through the chimney?

pretty much

just a bit scared cos we are in a freezing damp house at the moment with no BER rate . big mistake but our year of hell is almost over. really want a warm house. dont know what to do ! the house is gorgeous. sitting on the shannon. 7 years old and everything is decorated and furnished to a high standard

the BER rating is not necessarily about hot or cold but the cost to keep it warm (on an annual basis)

just because its D1 does not mean you will be cold in winter, but you will likely have to have heating on longer etc as more heat will be lost (or lost more quickly) as oppossed to a higher rating house

we have an open fire but the room is very warm when we have a fire lighting

who what when

Riskymove wrote: »

thats key

we got a lot of stuff done to our house; windows, insulation, new boiler etc and the highest we could get was C1 due to the open fireplace

While its true that an open fireplace is not as good as a stove its very possible for a house with an open fireplace to achieve as high B1. In some rare occurences even A3 may have been achieved.
You cannot put a poor BER rating down to a single factor, its always a variety of factors.

Riskymove

All about Eve wrote: »

Here is the house.

I dont see obvious issues (although for all I know there are problems)

if the house has an open chimney and oil fired central heating they would be factors in the rating

Aprilmay

D1 would be normal for a detached house our assessor told us that most detached do have this rating and most of these homes have open fires and he said your exposed on all sides too-so its probably not that bad -as I said I was expecting the worst with ours but thrilled with the C2 given size and type. I've seen a house a lovely semi D in Knocklyon and it was rated E which is terrible rating for a house of the size and type.

Riskymove

who what when wrote: »

You cannot put a poor BER rating down to a single factor, its always a variety of factors.

Oh I agree, I am just trying to point out to the OP that something like that could be the reason for D1 as oppossed to meaning the house is cold or damp etc

Aprilmay

Nice house by the way it has a great view:)

Wildebrian

The ventilation (including open fires) building regs that applied at the time of construction vis a vis insulation,boiler efficiency and heating controls (rooms stats Trvs etc)have the most effect on the rating for a house of this age.Sheltered sides and exposed walls also impact.There are a number of factors taken to account but I would think that the level of insulation in the roof space,the boiler efficiency and heating controls are most likely the reason for the D1 rating

Gatica

I'm new to Boards.ie, hope someone can answer my question.

We're supposed to be moving to a different house in about a week. I asked if they have a BER cert, and turns out they don't. We've paid the deposit and received the paperwork. Can I ask to defer signing of the lease until such time as a BER cert can be provided?

rcdk1

Gatica wrote: »

I'm new to Boards.ie, hope someone can answer my question.

We're supposed to be moving to a different house in about a week. I asked if they have a BER cert, and turns out they don't. We've paid the deposit and received the paperwork. Can I ask to defer signing of the lease until such time as a BER cert can be provided?

Welcome. You probably should have started a new thread but in answer to your question, any house for sale or rent is legally required to have a BER cert. You are within your rights to ask for one and I would imagine you would be entitled to get your deposit back if they don't produce one. The fact that they put a house up for rent without a BER puts them in a bad position.

Gatica

Sorry, you're probably right. I thought I could come in under a similar heading rather than starting a short new thread.
I hope we can get landlord to do the rating without having to "threaten" with legal consequences etc... but wouldn't like to sign lease without having at least an idea as to heating costs, in case it's drastic enough to make us move next winter.

rcdk1

Gatica wrote: »

Sorry, you're probably right. I thought I could come in under a similar heading rather than starting a short new thread.
I hope we can get landlord to do the rating without having to "threaten" with legal consequences etc... but wouldn't like to sign lease without having at least an idea as to heating costs, in case it's drastic enough to make us move next winter.

No worries, I shouldn't be back-seat modding either

You're right that threatening legal action wouldn't be the best way to start a lease but I would firmly but politely ask for the BER cert to be done. I had one done recently for €127 and within 3 working days, so it's not a big deal.

chrisoc09

as already mentioned a ber is down to many factors and is an estimated rating on the house, it will never be exact and it is important to note that it is estimated based on the various characteristics of the house, i.e. heating system and its controls, ventilation, construction, geometry etc., a D isnt necessarily a poor rating and energy usage is largely dependent on the householder. also, unless you are building a house from scratch and aiming for anywhere in the high B's or A's - i woulnt worry about achieving this standard.

Ray Palmer

BER rating is pretty useless to the average Joe as they don't know how to read it. The overall rating doesn't tell people much either way. It is assumed it is like a washing machine rating but house can have varying size. So it doesn't really tell you the cost of running a house.
Add what the rating is based on it makes less sense and tells the end user less again. A lot of cheaply trained people doing it you really have not got a very reliable system. To recoup some of the costing to bring up the rating it will take decades. It still doesn't tell you the comfort of a house which is really the important thing.

An old radiator will be based on its factoring new rating while it may give out only a quarter of that heat due to the system not being clean, layers of paint and leaking valve.

You really need a good person to do the audit and tell you what to do to actually improve the property comfort not the BER rating

chrisoc09

the overall aim of the ber system is admirable, i.e. reduce carbon emmissions from domestic dweelings, build towards passive housing etc., however the system i think has let the integrity of the scheme and assessors down. i agree that not only do you need a good ber assessor but they must be practical when it comes to advice on old heating systems and modern system controls etc. or else the rating will never be understood by people not familar with this area.

AMG86

From Jan 2010 to June 2011 the energy ratings of new houses that have had BER certs issued are much better than existing houses as expected. 72% of new houses have an A or B rating whilst 9% of existing houses have been rated A or B. 27% of existing houses are at E or lower. See SEAI press release
http://www.seai.ie/News_Events/Press_Releases/2011/Building_Energy_Ratings_now_issued_to_over_200,000_homes.html.

See detail http://www.seai.ie/Your_Building/BER/BER_FAQ/FAQ_BER/General/Monthly_stats_report.pdf