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Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 4 2025

Over 160,000 dwellings received BERs in 2025, 6% more than in 2024

Online ISSN: 2009-7441
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • A total of 162,799 Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates were awarded to new and existing dwellings in 2025. This was 6% more than in 2024, and the most of any year for the period 2009-2025 (See Table 1).

  • By the end of 2025, over one quarter (26%) of the 1.3 million dwellings with BER ratings had at least one source of renewable energy presentan increase in proportion compared with the same quarter of 2024 (23%) and 2023 (19%) (See Table A and Figure 1).

  • Solar energy, both thermal and electric, was present in 15% of BER rated dwellings by Q4 2025, or over 195,000 homes (See Figure 1, Table A and Table 13).

  • Heat pumps were installed in 14% of all BER rated dwellings, or over 180,000 homes. Newer builds were more likely to include heat pumps, including 85% of those built since 2020 (See Table 14).

  • A ratings were received by 99% of dwellings built from 2020-2025, compared with 18% of the total rated stock (See Figure 2 and Table 2).

  • Electricity was the main space heating fuel for 94% of all rated dwellings built from 2020-2025, compared with 26% of the total rated stock (See Figure 3 and Table 9).

  • Mains gas and heating oil were the most widely reported space heating fuels, at 35% of BER rated dwellings each. (See Figure 3 and Table 9).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 January 2026) published Domestic Building Energy Ratings (BER) for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2025.

Commenting on the release, Kevin Hunt, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: The number of domestic BER assessments reported in 2025 was 162,799, an increase of 6% over the total for 2024 (See Table 1). 

Number of Dwellings with Building Energy Certificates

The total number of audits published from January 2009 to December 2025 was 1.7 million, including dwellings with multiple assessments (See Table 1).  

Of the 1.3 million unique dwellings to receive a BER since 2009, 18% received an A rating in their most recent assessment (See Table 2).

Proportion of Rated Dwellings with Renewable Energy 

Of the BER rated households where the main space heating fuel can be identified, 26%, or over 343,000, had at least one source of renewable energy present when considering heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and solar photovoltaic panels. This was 23% higher than the 278,000 audits reported at the end of 2024 (See Table A and Figure 1). 

Energy from solar electric panels or solar thermal collectors was present in 15% of rated dwellings by Q4 2025.  This proportion was highest in detached houses (24%) and lowest in apartments (5%) (See Table 13). By county, the highest proportion of dwellings with solar energy was 23% in Meath, 21% in Kildare and 21% in Dublin County (See Table 13).

A heat pump was present in 14% of rated dwellings where the main space heating fuel could be identified (See Table 14). This proportion was highest in newer builds, with heat pumps present in 85% of dwellings built from January 2020 to December 2025 (See Table 14).

Energy Ratings by Period of Construction 

Newer builds were more energy efficient than older stock. A ratings were awarded to 99% of audited dwellings built from 2020-2025, and to 94% of those built between 2015-2019. In comparison, 38% of dwellings built between 2010-2014 and 5% of the dwellings built from 2005-2009 received an A rating (See Figure 2 and Table 2).

Main Space Heating Fuel 

The most common main space heating fuel in audited dwellings was mains gas (35%), followed by heating oil (35%) and electricity (26%). For dwellings built since 2015, electricity was the most common space heating fuel. Dwellings constructed from 2020-2025 were 94% electrically heated (See Figure 3 and Table 9). 

Dwellings with Improved Energy Ratings

Among those dwellings which have received more than one BER assessment, 210,112 saw an improvement of at least one full letter category over their initial energy ratingOf these, 50went from a C rating or below in their first rating to an A or B in their most recent assessment (See Table 15).

Energy Ratings by County and Dublin Postal District 

The highest proportions of A rated dwellings were in Kildare (29%), Meath (28%) and Dublin County (28%), while the lowest were in Leitrim and Cork City (both 6%). The highest proportions of G rated dwellings were in counties Roscommon (11%) and Leitrim (11%) (See Table 4).  

In the Dublin postal districts, the highest proportions of A ratings were in Dublin 18 (44%), Dublin 13 (31%) and Dublin 20 (28%) (See Table 5)."

Editor's Note

A new open data table on changes in the numbers of dwellings with renewables by quarter is now available: EBQ01.

The category of solar energy used in this release includes both solar thermal installations for heating and solar photovoltaic installations for electricity generation. 

The actual number of renewable energy installations will likely be higher than those counted in this release. Not all dwellings have received a BER assessment, and among those that have, a renewable energy source may have been installed after their most recent BER assessment. 

Please refer to the Background Notes for more details on definitions and coverage.

The number of rated dwellings with renewable energy technologies increased by 23% in 2025

Of the BER rated households where the main space heating fuel can be identified, 26%, or over 343,000, had at least one source of renewable energy present when considering heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and solar photovoltaic panels. This was 23% higher than the 278,000 audits reported at the end of 2024 (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: Total Number of BER-rated Dwellings with Renewable Energy Installations Q4 2021–Q4 2025
Table A: Total Number of BERs with Renewable Energy Installations Q42021-Q42025

Number of Building Energy Rating certificates by quarter of publication

The number of domestic Building Energy Rating (BER) audits published in Q4 2025 was 42,996A total of 162,799 Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates were awarded to new and existing dwellings in 2025. This was 6% more than in 2024, and the most of any year for the period 2009-2025In total, 1.7 million BER audits have been published from 2009-2025 (See Table 1).

Table 1 Domestic BER Certificates (2009-2025)

Building Energy Ratings by Type of Dwelling and Period of Construction

Newer builds were more energy efficient than older stock. A ratings were awarded to 99% of all audited dwellings built in 2020-2025, and 94% of those built between 2015-2019. In comparison, 38% of dwellings built between 2010-2014 and 5% of the dwellings built from 2005-2009 received an A rating (See Figure 2 and Table 2).

ABCDEF-G
1700-19773921221727
1978-1999315412893
2000-2004321551641
2005-200954244720
2010-201438546100
2015-20199460000
2020-20249910000
2025-202910000000
Table 2 BERs by Period of Construction (2009-2025)

Table 3 BERs by Type of Dwelling (2009-2025)

Building Energy Ratings by County and Dublin Postal Districts

The highest proportions of A rated dwellings were in Kildare (29%), Meath (28%) and Dublin County (28%), while the lowest were in Leitrim and Cork City (both 6%). The highest proportions of G rated dwellings were in counties Roscommon (11%) and Leitrim (11%) (See Table 4).

In the Dublin postal districts, the highest proportions of A ratings were in Dublin 18 (44%), Dublin 13 (31%) and Dublin 20 (28%) (See Table 5).

Table 4 BERs by County (2009-2025)

Table 5 BERs by Dublin Postal District (2009-2025)

Main Space and Water Heating Fuels used by dwellings with Building Energy Ratings

The most common main space heating fuel in audited dwellings was mains gas (35%), followed by heating oil (35%) and electricity (26%). For dwellings built since 2015, electricity was the most common space heating fuel. Dwellings constructed from 2020-2025 were 94% electrically heated (See Figure 3 and Table 9).

Mains GasHeating OilElectricity
2000-2004393720
2005-2009433320
2010-2014403521
2015-201943650
2020-20256094
Table 6 BERs by Main Space Heating Fuel (2009-2025)

Table 7 BERs by Main Water Heating Fuel (2009-2025)

Table 8 Main Space Heating Fuel by County (2009-2025)

Table 9 Main Space Heating Fuel by Period of Construction (2009-2025)

Table 10 Main Space Heating Fuel by Type of Dwelling (2009-2025)

Type of Dwelling and Floor Area by Period of Construction

The average floor area for all rated dwellings was 117 m2. The dwelling type with the largest average floor area was detached houses (168 m2) while the smallest type was basement apartments (63 m2) (See Table 12).

Table 11 Type of Dwelling by Period of Construction (2009-2025)

Table 12 Average Floor Area by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling (2009-2025)

Presence of Solar Energy and Heat Pumps by County, Type of Dwelling and Period of Construction

Energy from solar electric panels or solar thermal collectors was present in 15% of rated dwellings. This proportion was highest in detached houses (24%) and lowest in apartments (5%). By county, the highest proportion of dwellings with solar energy was 23% in Meath, 21% in Kildare and 21% in Dublin County (See Table 13).

A heat pump was present in 14% of rated dwellings where the main space heating fuel was identified (See Table 14). This proportion was highest in newer builds, with heat pumps present in 85% of dwellings built in 2020-2025 (See Table 14).

Table 13 Percentage of BERs with Solar Energy by County, Dublin Postal Districts and Type of Dwelling

Table 14 Percentage of BERs with Heat Pumps by County, Dublin Postal Districts and Period of Construction

Dwellings with Improved Building Energy Ratings

Among those dwellings which have received more than one BER assessment, 210,112 saw an improvement of at least one full letter category over their initial energy ratingOf these, 50% went from a C rating or below in their first rating to an A or B in their most recent assessment (See Table 15).

Table 15 Dwellings with Multiple BERs (2009-2025)

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