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Key Findings

In 2023, dwellings with F/G ratings used 36% more gas per square metre than those with A/B ratings

Online ISSN: 2811-5848
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Key Findings

  • In 2023, among households using natural gas for heating, the mean rate of gas consumption for F/G rated dwellings was 94 kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m2). This was 36% higher than the mean of 69 kWh/m2 consumed by A/B rated dwellings (See Infographic, Table A, and Table 5B).

  • Dwelling type had the biggest impact on consumption levels. Detached houses used 12,411 kWh of natural gas in 2023, 87% more than the 6,653 kWh consumed by apartments (See Infographic, Figure 1, and Table 2A).

  • Within each type of dwelling, the more energy efficient buildings had larger total floor areas. Detached houses rated A/B had a mean floor area of 191m2, compared with a mean floor area of 124m2 in detached houses rated F/G (See Figure 2 and Table 4A).

  • The larger A/B rated dwellings consumed 8% more gas in 2023 in total than the less efficient F/G rated dwellings (9,032 kWh compared with 8,387 kWh) (See Figure 1 and Table 2B).

  • Compared with 2022, gas consumption in 2023 fell by 10% in dwellings rated A/B. Similar reductions were seen among dwellings with C ratings (-10%), D ratings (-11%), E ratings (-12%), and F/G ratings (-11%) (See Table 2B).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (03 September 2024) released Household Gas Consumption by Building Energy Ratings 2023.

Commenting on the release Kevin Hunt, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "This analysis combines Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) data on domestic Building Energy Ratings (BER) with Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) data on Networked Gas Consumption. It includes only those households with a BER audit where networked gas was the main space heating fuel.

Trends in Household Gas Consumption

Gas consumption decreased in 2023 compared with 2022 in all categories of dwelling: apartments (-11%), mid-terrace houses (-11%), end-of-terrace houses (-11%), semi-detached houses (-11%), and detached houses (-10%) (See Table 2A).

A similar reduction in consumption from 2022 to 2023 was seen across energy ratings: in A/B rated dwellings (-10%), C rated dwellings (-10%), D rated dwellings (-11%), E rated dwellings (-12%), and F/G rated dwellings (-11%) (See Table 2B).

Household Gas Consumption by Energy Rating

Gas consumption per square metre in 2023 was lower in dwellings with higher energy ratings: 69 kWh per square metre (kWh/m2) for A/B rated dwellings, 78 kWh/m2 for C rated dwellings, 86 kWh/m2 for D rated dwellings, 91 kWh/m2 for E rated dwellings, and 94 kWh/m2 for F/G rated dwellings. Buildings with F/G ratings consumed 36% more gas per square metre than buildings with A/B ratings in 2023 (See Table A and Table 5B).

Higher rated dwellings had larger floor areas on average, leading to greater levels of total consumption. Dwellings with A/B ratings consumed 8% more gas overall in 2023 than F/G rated dwellings (9,032 kWh compared with 8,387 kWh) (See Infographic, Figure 1, and Table 2B).

Household Gas Consumption by Type of Dwelling

There was a wider range in gas consumption across dwelling types than across energy ratings (See Figure 1, Table 2A and Table 2B). Detached houses used the most gas of any dwelling type in 2023, with mean consumption of 12,411 kWh. This was 87% higher than the lowest consumption by dwelling type, 6,653 kWh in apartments (See Infographic, Figure 1, and Table 2A).

Household Floor Area by Energy Rating

More energy efficient dwellings had higher mean floor areas. For the largest category of dwelling, detached houses, those with A/B ratings had a mean floor area of 191m2, while those with F/G ratings averaged 124m2. Similarly, in the smallest category of dwelling, apartments with A/B ratings had a mean floor area of 91m2, with apartments rated F/G averaging 73m2 (See Figure 2 and Table 4A).

Household Gas Consumption by Period of Construction

Newer buildings used less gas on average than those constructed in earlier periods. Dwellings constructed between 2005-2023 had a mean consumption of 73 kWh/m2. This was 14% less than the 85 kWh/m2 used by buildings built between 1900-1966, which had the highest mean consumption among construction periods (See Table 5C)."

Editor's Note

This release combined networked gas meter consumption with Building Energy Ratings (BER). Only dwellings that had a BER audit and that used natural gas as their main space heating fuel were included in the matching process. The matching of both datasets was done using the Eircode. The analysis is based on 253,082 dwellings (See Table 1A).

Tables and Graphs

Table A Mean Gas Consumption per square metre by Year and Energy Rating 2023
Mean kilowatt hours per square metre
YearA/BCDEF/G
201589100111121122
20168798109119120
20178596107115118
201896107119127129
20198899110118120
202092104115122124
202190101113119121
2022768697103105
20236978869194
Table 1A Domestic BER Audits in Analysis by Year and Energy Rating 2023

Table 1B Domestic BER Audits in Analysis by Type of Dwelling and Energy Rating 2023

Table 1C Domestic BER Audits in Analysis by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling 2023

Detached houses consumed more gas on average in 2023 than other types of dwelling

Detached houses had mean consumption of 12,411 kWh in 2023, the most of any dwelling type in 2023 (See Figure 1 and Table 2A). Dwellings rated A/B consumed 9,032 kWh of gas in 2023, 8% more than the 8,387 kWh consumed by F/G rated dwellings (See Figure 1 and Table 2B).

Mean Gas Consumption
A/B9.032
C8.465
D8.639
E8.836
F/G8.387
0
Apartment6.653
House (mid-terrace)6.897
House (end-of-terrace)7.725
House (semi-detached)8.88
House (detached)12.411
Table 2A Mean Gas Consumption by Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 2B Mean Gas Consumption by Year and Energy Rating 2023

Table 2C Mean Gas Consumption by Year and Period of Construction 2023

Table 2D Median Gas Consumption by Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 2E Median Gas Consumption by Year and Energy Rating 2023

Table 2F Median Gas Consumption by Year and Period of Construction 2023

Table 3A Mean Gas Consumption by Energy Rating, Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 3B Mean Gas Consumption by Period of Construction, Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 3C Median Gas Consumption by Energy Rating, Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 3D Median Gas Consumption by Period of Construction, Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Detached houses with A/B ratings were 54% larger than those rated F/G

Detached houses with A/B ratings had a mean floor area of 191m2, 54% more than the mean 124m2 of those with F/G ratings. Apartments with A/B ratings were 25% larger than those with F/G ratings (91m2 compared with 73m2) (See Figure 2 and Table 4A).

A/BF/G
Apartments9173
Detached Houses191124
Table 4A Mean Floor Area by Type of Dwelling and Energy Rating 2023

Table 4B Mean Floor Area by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 4C Mean Floor Area by Period of Construction and Energy Rating 2023

Dwellings with F/G ratings consumed 36% more gas per square metre than dwellings with A/B ratings

Gas consumption per square metre in 2023 was lower in dwellings with higher energy ratings: 69 kWh per square metre (kWh/m2) for A/B rated dwellings, 78 kWh/m2 for C rated dwellings (13% more than A/B), 86 kWh/m2 for D rated dwellings (25% more than A/B), 91 kWh/m2 for E rated dwellings (32% more than A/B), and 94 kWh/m2 for F/G rated dwellings (36% more than A/B) (See Table 5B).

Table 5A Mean Gas Consumption per square metre by Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 5B Mean Gas Consumption per square metre by Year and Energy Rating 2023

Table 5C Mean Gas Consumption per square metre by Year and Period of Construction 2023

Table 6A Mean Gas Consumption per square metre by Energy Rating, Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

Table 6B Mean Gas Consumption per square metre by Period of Construction, Year and Type of Dwelling 2023

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