SEAI Grants on an Old Cottage: What the Energy Grants Pay in 2026, a Guide for Dublin Buyers

SEAI grants pay fixed amounts towards insulation, a heat pump, heating controls, windows, doors and solar panels on a home that was built and occupied before 2011 (before 2021 for the heat pump and solar grants), and an old cottage qualifies like any other house. For a detached cottage in 2026 the big figures are up to €12,500 for a heat pump, €8,000 for external wall insulation or €4,500 for dry lining, €4,000 for windows and €1,800 for solar panels, and none of it can be claimed twice under the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.

If you live in Dublin and you are looking at a stone cottage in Meath, Wicklow or further west, or at a tired pre war house on the north side, the energy grants are the second pot of money after the refurbishment grant, and the one most people under count. This guide sets out what the SEAI grants pay on an old house in 2026, the age rules, the two ways to apply, the pilot for solid wall houses, the loan that closes at the end of this year, and what Ivy Cottage, the Roscommon cottage our founder restored, taught us about the order of the work. Every figure was read on 14 November 2026 on seai.ie, gov.ie and the SBCI's loan page; the grants change, so check the page for each measure before you sign anything.

What SEAI grants pay on a detached cottage in 2026

The SEAI publishes a fixed amount per measure and per house type. A cottage on its own is a detached house, which is the highest band in every table. These are the figures on the SEAI's own pages on 14 November 2026.

"Built and occupied before" is decided by the date the electricity meter went in, so a cottage that has stood empty for a decade still passes if the meter was connected before the cut off. Each type of works is funded once per house, although the SEAI's news page says a second wall measure became available from 2 March 2026, so ask before you rule it out.

Two ways in: the individual grant or a One Stop Shop

On the individual grant route you apply for each measure on seai.ie, wait for approval, hire a contractor from the SEAI's register for that type of work, have the BER done afterwards and claim. The approval must be in place before the work starts, you have 30 days to accept an offer and eight months to finish and draw down, and the money comes to you. It suits a cottage where you are managing the trades yourself in stages.

A One Stop Shop takes on the whole house: it assesses it, applies for every grant, deducts them from its invoice, manages the contractors and arranges the final BER. The condition is the result: a minimum B2 BER at the end, with either a heat pump installed or a primary energy improvement of 100 kWh per square metre a year. That rules out a half measure but suits a derelict cottage being rebuilt from the walls in, and the One Stop Shop tables add measures the individual route lacks, including floor insulation at €3,500, a home energy assessment at €350 and project management at €2,000 for a detached house.

The Traditional Homes Pilot for solid stone walls

A stone cottage is not a 1990s semi with a cavity, and insulating it like one can trap moisture in the walls. The SEAI launched a Traditional Homes Pilot in October 2024 for houses built before 1940 with solid masonry walls, single glazed windows and no damp proof course. It runs through a registered One Stop Shop, a traditional building professional oversees the project, the house must have a BER of B3 or lower, and there is no BER target: the SEAI's own words are to do as much as you need to do, with lime plaster and hemp insulation where they fit and a heat pump or triple glazing where they do. For a Dublin buyer taking on a pre war cottage, or a pre war red brick in Drumcondra, it is the route to ask about first.

Beside the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

The refurbishment grant and the SEAI grants are run by different bodies and you can hold both. The Department of Housing's August 2026 FAQ on the refurbishment grant says an SEAI Better Energy Homes grant may be available in combination with it, that the works covered by the SEAI should be separate from those applied for under the refurbishment grant, and that the council must satisfy itself that no proposed work is claimed under any other grant. So the insulation, the heat pump, the windows and the solar panels go on the SEAI forms, and the structure, the roof, the floors, the kitchen, the bathroom and the services go on the council's form. Our complete guide to the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant has the figures gov.ie confirmed on 22 October 2026, up to €50,000 on a house empty for two years and built before 2008, and our derelict property grant guide covers the €20,000 top up that takes a structurally unsound cottage to €70,000.

Two timing points matter. The refurbishment grant gives you 18 months from the approval letter, and since 1 December 2024 it no longer pays for a standalone fossil fuel boiler, which is why the SEAI heat pump package is now the natural heating route on a grant funded cottage. Keep the receipts for the two schemes apart from the first invoice: the free renovation tracker Kieran built for Ivy Cottage has a tab for each category on the council's form, so give the SEAI measures a tab of their own.

The loan that closes on 31 December 2026

The Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme is a government backed loan of €5,000 to €75,000 per property over one to ten years, at rates the SBCI describes as lower than standard, for works that carry an SEAI grant and lift the BER by at least 20%. The SBCI's page says loans are available up to 31 December 2026 unless the fund is used up first, that AIB stops taking applications from 27 November, and that an approved loan must be drawn down by 31 December; Bank of Ireland, PTSB, An Post Money and several credit unions are also on the list. If a heat pump and wall insulation are on your plan for this winter, the loan application belongs in November, not January. The Warmer Homes Scheme, which does the insulation free for an owner occupier on a qualifying payment in a house built before 2006, can take up to 24 months by the SEAI's own estimate, so it is not a scheme for a cottage you need next year.

Ivy Cottage: insulation first, then the heating that knows where you are

Ivy Cottage is the derelict stone cottage in Roscommon that Kieran McGuire, our founder, bought as a personal project and brought back as a home. He posts the renovation on Instagram as @myhomestead.ie; every photo here is his own.

When the cottage was stripped back to stone, new timbers and insulation went into the roof, stud walls framed out the rooms, and the first fix cabling went in while everything was open. That order is the point of this post: the insulation and the heating are decided in the same fortnight as the wiring, and the SEAI approvals come before any of the three starts. The cottage now runs on Crestron: lighting, heating, audio, CCTV and the alarm from one system, and, because it is a rural house on its own services, the water pump and the septic tank too. The pump turned out to be supplying three farms, the story on our rural property automation page.

One honest note, as in our other grant guides: Kieran did not claim a grant on Ivy Cottage. He paid from his savings and tracked every euro in the spreadsheet that became the free tracker. The grants above are what the next person can claim.

Heating controls on a grant funded cottage

The €700 heating controls grant and the heat pump package cannot both be claimed, but a heat pump without good control runs all day. On a small cottage what matters is zoning by room and by time, a thermostat that knows the house is empty, and a schedule you can change from the car. Our guide to heat pump controls explains the zoning, our solar panels guide for a Dublin house covers the panels the €1,800 grant pays for, and home energy management shows the heating, the panels and a battery working together. The cabling runs before the plasterboard, so read what to wire at first fix; smart home cost in Ireland gives honest figures, and every job starts with a survey and a design, as our process page sets out.

Questions we are often asked

Can I get SEAI grants on a cottage that has been empty for years?

Yes. The age rule is about when the house was built and occupied, which the SEAI reads from the date the electricity meter was installed, not about whether anyone lives there today. The house needs an MPRN, so a cottage with no meter needs a connection first.

How much is the heat pump grant in 2026?

Up to €12,500 on the individual grant route since 3 February 2026: €6,500 for the heat pump, €2,000 for the radiators and pipework and a €4,000 renewable heating bonus, plus €200 for the technical assessment and €50 for the BER afterwards.

Does an old stone cottage need the technical assessment?

Almost always. A house built before 2007 needs it unless a valid BER shows a Heat Loss Indicator of 2.3 W/(K.m2) or less, and a cottage with solid walls will not be there until it is insulated. The assessment tells you what to insulate first.

Can I claim SEAI grants and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant on the same house?

Yes, on different works. The Department's August 2026 FAQ says the SEAI grant may be combined with the refurbishment grant as long as the SEAI works are separate and nothing is claimed under two schemes.

Do I have to use a One Stop Shop?

No. You can apply measure by measure on the individual grant route and manage your own contractors, as long as they are on the SEAI register. A One Stop Shop is the route when you want the whole house taken to B2 in one project, and the only route for the Traditional Homes Pilot.

Is the low cost energy loan still open?

Until 31 December 2026, or sooner if the fund runs out; AIB stops taking applications on 27 November. It needs an SEAI grant on the works and a 20% improvement in the BER.

Sources, all read on 14 November 2026: the SEAI pages on heat pump grants, wall insulation, attic insulation, heating controls, solar PV, the One Stop Shop and the Warmer Homes Scheme, its news on the higher grant amounts of 2026, its posts on the windows and doors grant and the Traditional Homes Pilot; the Minister's release of 27 January 2026; the SBCI's Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme page; the Department of Housing's refurbishment grant FAQs of August 2026 and the grant page on gov.ie.

If you are leaving Dublin for a cottage that needs insulating from the stone out, or you want the heating, the lights and the pump of a rural house to look after themselves while you are at work in town, we would be glad to help.

Book a consultation or call our Dublin office on 01 906 9326.