One year ago – Natural Gas Shutoff

The Carbon Tax in Ireland

After many years of talk and conjecture, the Irish Government have introduced a carbon tax on transport (Diesel and Petrol) and thermal (heating) fuels. This year the rate set is €15 per tonne. This is about the middle of the rates that I had heard suggested.

Electricity isn’t included because all electricity generators are already included in a scheme called the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

“But I don’t burn CO2… so why would I care?” you say! Sorry but when you use a fuel such as coal, gas or petrol, it emits CO2. Different fuels emit different amounts, with Coal being very bad and Natural Gas being not as bad.

The Carbon Tax was added to transport fuels the day after the budget (December 10^th)

The tax will come into effect on oil and gas in May

It has yet to be decided when it will take effect on solid fuels (coal and turf). I expect this is because it will be the hardest to implement.

So how much is this €15/tonne in reality? Well here is a rough idea –

	Fuel commonly sold in quantities of	Which would cost €	Tax will lead to an increase of	So that increase in % terms
Petrol	Litre	1.19	4.2cent	3.5%
Auto-Diesel	Litre	1.10	4.9cent	4.4%
Kerosene	1,000 Litres	516	€ 43.14	8.4%
Market Gas Oil	1,000 Litres	539	€ 46.87	8.7%
LPG	1,000 Litres	720	€ 27.97	3.9%
Fuel Oil	1,000 Litres	600	€ 52.15	8.7%
Natural Gas	M3 (13,750kWh)	800	€ 47.86	6.0%
Peat Briquettes	Bale	3.85	39cent	10.1%
Coal	Bag (40kg)	16.20	€ 1.79	11.1%

As a greenie… I’m in favour of this. In theory the money (330million they say) should be spent on projects to reduce emissions and save us from “the Climate Change”. So that should mean more grants for light bulbs, planting trees and buying boats! I’ll keep you posted on it!

Dublin Bikes

I signed up the other day for the new dublin bikes service. Generally its a very good service. Pay €10 annualfee and you can use bikes to cycle around the city centre.

Dublin Bikes

My Comments however

1. More please. I have seen manyempty stations already. That would reck my head if I went to get one, and the station was empty

2. Better management please. I’ve already seen stations that are full. Imagine how annoyed you would be if you went to drop back your bike and the station was full!

3. More stations please. I don’t like to walk a long way

4. Cover a larger area please. I live far too far out of town!

5. Make the map of where stations are a bit easier to access on the website. If you are using your mobile, accessing google maps embedded into a website is really slow. Not to worry… I’m going to put a jpg version of the map right here on this post.

Dublin bikes map

Pizza book

The truth is I’ve been doing a bad job of this for years… but isn’t that the way of all great inventions… I could have done that… Yeah but you didn’t!

 

Earth hour 09

Go on… switch off for an hour this evening at 8.30

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

Airlocks and how to bleed a radiator

Airlocks are a major problem in many radiator systems. When new water is added to a central heating system, a certain amount of air also enters the system. The action of the pump also draws out dissolved air from the water while slight leaks also allow air to slowly enter the system. Finally open systems (other than apartments, most systems are open systems) which are supplied with water from a tank small in the attic can cause problems where the tank is allowed to run dry for some reason, allowing air to leak into the system.

As air is lighter than water, it rises to high points in the system, this is especially noticeable within radiators. Air in radiators mean less water in the radiator and so can be detected as points which provide less heat and so are cooler to the touch, When the system is switched on, feel the top and then the bottom of the radiator – if the top is noticeably cooler than the bottom, there is a good likelihood that there is air in the radiator.

In very severe cases, the whole of the radiator may be filled with air so no difference in temperature between the bottom and the top, though the radiator in question will be cooler than the others.

 

How to bleed a radiator

• If the central heating system is an open type, ensure that the water supply tank for the system in the attic has not run dry
• If the central heating system is a sealed system, check the pressure and, if necessary, top it up as required. This is a bit more complicated so check out here for more advice.
• When the system has heated up, switch it off completely. If you do not switch off the system, particularly the pump, there is a good chance more air will be drawn into the system while you are bleeding.
• A “bleed key” is used to open the bleed valve. The bleed valve can be found at the top at one end of the radiator. A bleed key to fit the valve can be purchased in any good hardware shop.
• Loosely wrap a piece of old cloth around the key to catch any expelled water. If you are careful there should be no need for a pot to catch water, but if it’s your first time, it might be prudent to have one just in case.
• Slowly open the bleed valve by about half a turn anti clockwise. You should hear a hissing sound
• When water starts to dribble out, close the valve. They are generally quite easily damaged so take care not to over tighten.

Information on the government bike scheme

So… things are beginning to look a bit like spring, so isn’t it time for you to think about making use of the government bike scheme… here are the details…

The government have put in place a scheme for employers to buy bikes for their employees. Before tax. This means that if you are lucky enough to be on the top rate of tax, you can essentially get new bike at 45% off. You can also get reflectors, locks and other bike accessories.

 

Think of it like this, take the top €1,000 of your wages (the one over €35,400 and so in top rate of tax-41% plus 4% prsi, more if your a civil servant). When paying it to you the employer they give you €550 and the tax man €450. Instead your employer can spend €1000 on a bike, and give it to you. The shop owner still gets the €1000, but you only lose out by €550. The one who loses out? The taxman!

 

If you only pay the lower rate of tax, the same thing applies, but you will only be saving €250.

 

If you only want to spend a smaller amount, that’s fine too. Any number up to €1,000 is ok.

Whats the catch? New bikes only! And from a shop/supplier who is tax registered, and of your employers choosing. Most of the big bike suppliers have schemes in place to make it easy for your employer though.

 

Other points

You need your employer to administrate the scheme, and it is voluntary for them, so you have to explain to them that it won’t cost them a penny, just a bit of administrative hassle!

Your employer doesn’t have to pay employers PRSI on the money, so saving between 8.5% and 10.75% of the money spent.

You can only make use of the scheme once every 5 years.

Electric bikes are eligible. Electric bikes are limited to those with an electric motor with a maximum rated power of 0.25 kilowatts and a max speed of 25 km/h

You also need to use a bike shop who has registered for tax. No Swedish imports for you!

 

The Greens have put together a nice little website here

Raleigh have a good site here

 

Irish Government Home Insulation Grant Scheme

Well it’s official. The “Home Energy Saving Scheme (HES)” has gone national. I reported on the pilot scheme which ran in a few regions some time ago, but now here we are, with the national role out. The gist of the scheme is that it provides grants for home owners to improve the insulation and draft proofing levels in their homes.

So how much are the grants?
Grants are fixed for each type of measure as indicated in the table below. If the cost of the work (vat inclusive) is less than the fixed grant amount, the actual cost will be reimbursed. You can apply for one, some or all of these measures.

MEASURE	CATEGORY	GRANT *
Roof	Roof Insulation	€250
Wall	Cavity wall insulation	€400
	Internal Wall Dry-Lining	€2,500
	External wall insulation	€4,000
Heating Controls	High Efficiency Gas or Oil fired Boiler with Heating Controls Upgrade*	€700
	Heating Controls Upgrade*	€500
BER Assessment (Building Energy Rating)	A Before works and an After works BER assessment	€200

* Minimum requirement of: 2 zones (space and water) with 7 day programmer (time and temperature) control and boiler interlock, time and temperature control of electric immersion heater and either 1 more zone control or 3 TRV’s.

* There is a minimum grant amount of €500. The BER grant cannot form part of this €500 amount.

So what’s the catch (s)??
No DIY. All works must be completed by a contractor from SEI’s Registered List, which will be published when the scheme opens for homeowner applications. The list is being assembled as of now. If undertaking a BER, these must be completed by a registered BER assessor. A list of registered assessors is available on the SEI website www.sei.ie/BER

No grants for work you’ve already done.

Hold your horses!!!

The scheme is not open to home owners just yet. The plan is to put together a list of installers put together. ASAP. Then get going. As you need a grant approval before you start, you can’t start yet. Hold it now!!!

 

Want to know more? Check out www.sei.ie/hes

Curtains – Fair use policy

A little while ago I wrote a post about the Curtains stating that they are the best value for money energy efficiency measure. Well recently I visited a house that had thrown that out the window (no pun intended).

If your house has radiators under the windows like the one shown here, then take care that the curtains are not closed on the room side of them, trapping the heat they emit away from the room beside the window. This crazy set up happens a lot and means the heating system is mainly working to heat the earth, not your house. If your house has this problem, make sure to put the curtains between the radiators and the window, directing the heat into the room.

Niall Mellon Township Trust – Table Quiz

If there is an advertising value to this blog, we are pointing it firmly in the direction of the Niall Mellon Township Trust. So as we’ve never asked our readers to look at general… profitable… ads… Well not its time to pay up.

We are holding a table quiz in Madigans of Donnybrook at 8pm on Thursday 29th January. A fun night will be had by all and a better cause you will not find. 

So come on down, see you there