THE COST OF SWITCHING TO A HEAT PUMP IN IRELAND: 2026 REPORT
HeatPumpInstallation.ie · Published 14 October 2026
Full report: https://heatpumpinstallation.ie/research/irish-heat-pump-cost-report-2026/

KEY FINDINGS
1. Oil was the main space heating fuel in 34% of Ireland's 1,367,605 BER-rated dwellings, level with mains gas (34%). Highest county shares: Donegal 72%, Mayo 68%, Roscommon 67%, Leitrim 65%, Cavan 64%. (CSO, Domestic BER Q2 2026.)
2. 15% of BER-rated dwellings had a heat pump. (CSO, Domestic BER Q2 2026, Table 14.)
3. SEAI's median price for a heat pump in a semi-detached or end of terrace house was €16,741 (detached €17,000, mid-terrace €16,000, apartment €9,025), from grant-funded jobs paid January to June 2026. (SEAI.)
4. Since 6 October 2026 the SEAI grant for a house is up to €14,500: €10,500 for the heat pump, plus up to €2,000 where new radiators are needed and €2,000 for removing a qualifying boiler or heating system. Not every home gets every part, and the grant never exceeds the cost of the works.
5. For a typical 1978-1999 oil-heated semi-detached house, our model puts a heat pump's yearly running cost at €450–€660 if it performs at SPF 4.0 and €720–€1,060 at SPF 2.5, against €1,030–€1,210 for oil now. A poorly performing system can cost about the same as oil to run. (HeatPumpInstallation.ie model using SEAI fuel prices of 1 July 2026.)

HOW TO DESCRIBE THE COUNTY FIGURES
Write "X% of BER-rated dwellings in County Y", not "X% of homes". BER records cover dwellings rated since 2009, not every home.
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford combine CSO city and county rows; those county figures are our approximations.

SUGGESTED CITATION
Source: HeatPumpInstallation.ie analysis of CSO Domestic Building Energy Ratings Q2 2026 and SEAI data (https://heatpumpinstallation.ie/research/irish-heat-pump-cost-report-2026/)

County data and charts: https://heatpumpinstallation.ie/research/heat-pump-statistics-by-county/
Media resources and downloads: https://heatpumpinstallation.ie/research/media-centre/
Contact: hello@heatpumpinstallation.ie

CSO statistical information is reused under CC BY 4.0. Our tables and charts may be reused under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.