This release combines the CSO Domestic Building Energy Ratings (BER) and Metered Electricity Consumption statistical releases. See Energy Statistics for more detailed information on these releases.
The main purpose of this release is to examine how electricity consumption varies by type of dwelling and by energy rating. Only dwellings that used electricity as their main space heating fuel in their BER audit have been included in the analysis. The CSO October to December 2023 quarterly Domestic BER release showed that electricity was the main space heating fuel for 90% of dwellings built during the period 2020 to 2023.
Total floor area is taken into account by publishing an indicator on mean kilowatt hours per square metre.
Similar analyses will be published combining non-domestic metered electricity consumption with non-domestic building energy ratings.
The CSO obtained access to the microdata for statistical purposes only under the Statistics Act, 1993.
The BER microdata were obtained from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. A Building Energy Rating is an indication of the energy performance of a dwelling (represented in units of kWh/m2/year). The BER certificate indicates the annual primary energy usage associated with the provision of space heating, water heating, ventilation, lighting, and associated pumps and fans. The energy use is calculated on the basis of a notional family with a standard pattern of occupancy.
The consumption data were received from the Electricity Supply Board (ESB Networks). It includes all connections to the mains electricity network. The data are expressed in kilowatt hours. A kilowatt hour is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power sustained over an hour.
This analysis was restricted to BER audits using electricity as their main space heating fuel. Dwellings with less than 10 square metres of total floor area were excluded. Dwellings using less than 1 or more than 250 kWh per square metre in a year were excluded.
The electricity Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) was used as the matching variable between the building energy ratings and electricity consumption files. The MPRN is collected as part of the building energy ratings audit process.
The building energy ratings file contained audits that were undertaken in 2009 to 2023. Only dwellings with electricity as their main space heating fuel and a total floor area of 10 or more square metres were used. For dwellings with more than one energy audit, only the latest was used.
There were 216,572 BER records matched compared with 248,215 audits with electricity space heating in the Q4 2023 Domestic Building Energy Ratings release.
The analysis does not take into account any household characteristics such as number of occupants, household income, or labour force status. Some households may use other fuels for supplementary heating - this was not taken into account.
No adjustment was made for variations in the annual temperature. A cold Winter may cause an increase in electricity consumption.
No adjustment was made for variations in the retail price of electricity. For information purposes, the Consumer Price Index for electricity is available here.
The figures are subject to revision.
The median can be regarded as typical usage as it is not influenced by outliers in the same way that the mean or average is.
This release will be published on an annual basis.
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