Oil and gas boilers were installed in less than 5% of new houses in 2023, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said.
The latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that electric heating systems, the majority of which were heat pumps, were used in 95% of new dwellings in the first nine months of last year.
Between 2010 and 2014, fossil fuel boilers were installed in 79% of new houses built across the country.
The significant drop in the use of such boilers in “new builds” is as a result of the Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) regulations introduced by the department in 2019.
These regulations have effectively phased out fossil fuel boilers in new homes.
Boilers
The European Union is currently planning to set more ambitious energy performance requirements for both new and renovated buildings throughout the bloc.
In December, the EU Council and the EU Parliament reached provisional political agreement on a proposal to revise the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
The proposals currently include the following measures:
- Phasing out of fossil fuel boilers by 2040;
- Establish a national trajectory for the progressive renovation of the residential building stock;
- Introduction of Minimum Energy Performance standards for the non-residential building sector;
- From 2030, new buildings will be zero emissions buildings (ZEB) where the very low amount of energy required is fully covered by renewable energy;
- Introduction of additional requirements for electric vehicle recharging infrastructure;
- Calculation of the life-cycle global warming potential of buildings;
- Deployment of suitable solar energy installations.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien said that Ireland already has a number of initiatives in place to help achieve these objectives.
He noted that fossil fuel boilers have now effectively been phased out in new dwellings.
“This significant shift towards renewable heating systems in new homes shows that Ireland’s ambitious building regulations under the Climate Action Plan are already working and they put us in a good place ahead of the proposed EU regulations that will be coming down the line.
“We welcome the recent outcome of the EU negotiations on this proposal and look forward to implementing these requirements in regulations over the coming months and years.
“Improving the energy efficiency of homes improves the health and comfort of those living in these homes and these regulations will enable us to build healthy, sustainable, and durable buildings suitable for the Irish climate both today and into the future,” he said.
The government is aiming to retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030, works were carried out in over 42,000 homes last year.