Reinvest your SSIA in renewable energy technologies and save even more money!

If you are an SSIA holder, why not capitalise on your investment by reinvesting your money in new energy efficient choices for your home and car.

Doing so could save you money, and help the environment at the same time.

Below are a number of suggestions showing the long-term benefits of reinvesting your SSIA in clean green products.

Greener Homes Scheme

Under the Greener Homes Scheme, Sustainable Energy Ireland is offering a number of grants to homeowners for the installation of energy-efficient home heating solutions. The scheme is of particular interest to people who wish to switch from oil or gas-fired boilers to wood pellet/chip stoves and burners, heat pumps or solar panels to heat their homes and generate warm water.

1. Heat pumps

Heat pumps harness the heat available in the ground, air and water around your house for heating and supplying hot water at a very low cost. The system ‘pumps up’ heat from a low temperature source (e.g. the ground under your garden) and releases it at a higher temperature into your central heating system. There are three main types of heat pump available: those that take heat from the ground, from water or directly from the air.

Heat pumps are an excellent way to save money and energy: every unit of electricity used to power the heat pump generates 3-4 units of heat.

- Cost of purchase and installation: ?12,000 to ?21,000.

- Grant Available: ?6,500

2. Wood-Pellet/Wood-Chip Stoves and Boilers

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Woood burning systems offer the warmth and comfort of wood heating but are highly efficient, clean burning and totally automatic, saving you time and money. They do emit carbon dioxide but, as the wood fuel is cultivated, it absorbs the exact same amount of carbon dioxide as it releases. Therefore, it does not add to the CO2 in the atmosphere. The systems can be used for heating a single room, hot water or a whole house.

Wood-pellet and wood-chip systems demand a higher capital cost but once they are installed your fuel price is much lower. This means you get a payback within a few short years and thereafter real savings on your bills. These savings are set to increase as oil prices continue to rise.

Cost of purchase and installation:

?6,000-?16,000 for a central heating boiler:

?2,000-?5,000 for a stove

?4,000-?8,000 for a stove with back boiler

Grant Available: e.g ?4,200 for a wood pellet stove

3. Solar Panels

Solar panels are fitted to the roof of a building and collect the sun’s heat to warm water, which passes through the panel. The water is then channelled to a water tank and helps provide hot water or central heating for the building. One square metre receives an annual energy dose equivalent to 100 litres of oil. The panels can provide up to 70% of hot water requirements and up to 30% of your heating needs.

- Cost of purchase and installation (5 bedroom house): ?4,500-?6,000.

- Grant Available: ?3,600

Home Improvements

- Invest in Buying A-Rated Appliances

Investing in A-Rates appliance can save money and energy. Upgrading from a C-Rated to an A-Rated fridge alone can save from ?14 a year and over the life of the product may cover the price of its replacement.

- Insulation

Cavity Wall Insulation: Up to 33% of the heat in your home is lost through uninsulated walls. Insulating cavity walls will create an even temperature in your home, help prevent condensation on the walls and ceilings and can also reduce the amount of heat building up inside your home during summer hot spells. The cost of cavity wall insulation will vary depending on the width of the cavity, but the average payback period is between 4 to 7 years.

Average annual savings: ?100 – ?160

Attic Insulation: The roof accounts for up to one-third of heat lost in the home. Attic insulation can pay for itself within 2 years.

Average annual savings: ?270

Lagging Jacket A lagging jacket for your hot water cylinder can pay for itself in energy savings within months.

Average annual savings: ?69

Draught-proofing: Badly fitted windows and doors can account for up to 15% of heat lost in the home. Draught-proofing is one of the cheapest ways to reduce heat loss and save on your energy bills.

Average annual savings: ?72

Switch to CFL Bulbs Energy saving bulbs are more expensive to buy but cheaper over their lifetime. Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) use 80% less electricity than ordinary bulbs and last up to ten times longer.

Average annual saving per bulb: ?37

Investing in a New Green Car

According to Irish Life some 12-15% of SSIA account holders will invest their payment in a new car. When deciding what car to buy, bear in mind that fuel economy and CO2 vary greatly between models. Investing in an energy-efficient car can reduce your petrol bill as well as CO2 emissions. For example, you can save approximately ?300 on fuel in a year by choosing the Toyota Prius hybrid car over other similar petrol-engined cars in its class, based on an average mileage of 12,000 km per year. The table below shows the ten best petrol cars in terms of C02 emissions.

Urban Cycle

The urban test cycle consists of a series of accelerations, steady speeds, decelerations and idling. The maximum speed reached is 50km/hr and the average speed is 19km/hr. A total distance of 4km is covered during the test.

Extra-Urban Cycle

The tests for the extra-urban cycle are conducted immediately after the urban cycle. The test consists of approximately half steady speed and driving with the rest consisting of accelerations, decelerations and idling. The maximum and average speeds are 120km/hr and 63km/hr and the distance covered is 7km.

Combined Fuel Consumption Figure

The combined fuel consumption figure represents an average of the two tests with a weighting for the distance covered in each part.

For more information on a wider range of cars visit www.simi.ie