Heating Behaviour in Ireland

Behavioural Insights for Policy series: Primary research

Year: 2025

Topic: Everyday energy behaviours

Methodology: Survey

Author: SEAI Behavioural Economics Unit
 

Summary

Space heating is the single most energy intensive activity that takes place in Irish homes, accounting for over half of annual energy use in the residential sector and is a significant contributor to Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions. Assumptions about heating behaviour are central to energy performance models, such as the Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) that underpins the calculation of a dwelling’s Building Energy Rating (BER). Measures of heating behaviours and the factors that underpin them are also needed to design and target interventions to reduce heat demand through behaviour change without negatively impacting on wellbeing.

In this report, we make use of the rich dataset generated by Ireland’s Behavioural Energy and Travel Tracker (BETT) to examine heating behaviour in more detail. Findings are based on data collected monthly throughout 2023, using a nationally representative sample of 1,000 people for each wave.

This report adds to existing evidence that commonly used energy performance models significantly overestimate heating demand. The report also highlights several factors that affect heating behaviour, which may in some cases warrant separate model assumptions, or at least caution in interpreting model predictions. These findings should also guide policy interventions to reduce heating demand through behaviour change.