Heating a Dublin home: BER, energy bills and bins

Australian homes are built to keep heat out. Dublin homes need to keep it in, and many of them don't.

The short version

Every rental ad in Ireland must show the home's Building Energy Rating (BER), from A (best) to G (worst) [1][2]. It's the best clue you'll get about future heating bills.
Irish households paid 40.42 cent per kWh for electricity in the second half of 2025, the highest in the EU and nearly 40% above the EU average [3].
You can switch electricity and gas supplier using the MPRN or GPRN on your bill, and switching at the end of a contract is free [4].
Landlords must provide controllable fixed heating in every room and a home free of damp [6]. Your local council enforces this.
Bins are collected by private companies, and charges are based on weight or lifts, not flat fees [7].

Why heating catches Australians out

In Sydney or Brisbane you might switch on a split system a few weeks a year. In Dublin the heating season runs roughly from October to April, and plenty of the housing stock is old: Georgian and Victorian terraces, 1930s semis, and 1970s and 80s estates built before modern insulation rules.

The result is a home that's cold and damp unless you heat it steadily. Unless you've rented in the ACT, where energy ratings must appear in rental ads, you've probably never been shown an energy rating before signing a lease. In Ireland it's the law.

Reading a BER before you rent

What the rating means

A BER rates a home's energy performance on a scale from A to G. A is the most efficient, G the least [1]. The full scale runs from A1 down to G, and ads must show the rating, the BER number and the Energy Performance Indicator (EPI) on a listing's details page [2]. The EPI is the home's estimated energy use per square metre per year. Lower is better.

The landlord is responsible for getting the certificate, and you can ask for a copy of the certificate and its Advisory Report [2]. You can also check a BER number on SEAI's National BER Register [2].

BER band	What it usually means in Dublin	Likely heating experience
A1–A3	New-build apartment or deep-retrofitted house, often with a heat pump	Warm, low bills, good ventilation system
B1–B3	Newer apartment, or an older house with solid upgrades	Comfortable with moderate heating
C1–C3	Typical 1990s–2000s home	Fine, but bills climb in a cold snap
D1–D2	Older semi or terrace with partial upgrades	Draughty rooms, heating on a lot
E1–G	Unimproved older house or period flat	Cold, condensation, big winter bills

The band descriptions are our rule of thumb, not an official definition. The rating and EPI are what to compare.

Questions to ask at the viewing

What's the BER and the BER number? If it's missing from the ad, ask. Missing BERs can be reported to the local Building Control Authority [2].
How is the home heated? Gas boiler, electric storage heaters, heat pump or oil.
Who pays the bills? In most Dublin lets the tenant does, in their own name.
Is there a working extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen?
Any signs of damp? Look in wardrobes, behind furniture, at window corners and on bathroom ceilings.
How was the place heated last winter, and roughly what did it cost? A good landlord or outgoing tenant will tell you.

Gas vs electric heating

Dublin homes generally fall into one of four set-ups.

Gas central heating with radiators. Common in houses and older apartment blocks. You'll have an electricity bill and a separate gas bill. Learn to use the timer and thermostat; short daily bursts beat cranking it up once the house is freezing.
Electric storage heaters. Common in apartments built in the 1990s and 2000s. They charge overnight on a cheaper night rate and release heat the next day. They're only economical if you're on a day/night or smart tariff and set the input and output dials properly.
Heat pumps. Standard in newer A-rated apartments and retrofits. They run best low and steady rather than on and off.
Oil. Rare in the city, more common in rural Ireland.

With prices this high [3], the tariff matters as much as the heater. If you have a smart meter, ask suppliers about time-of-use plans, and run the washing machine and dishwasher in the cheaper hours.

Setting up and switching energy suppliers

Moving in

Take a meter reading the day you move in, then set up an account with a supplier [5]. Each property's electricity meter has an MPRN (Meter Point Reference Number), and gas has a GPRN. Both are printed on the bill [4][5]. If you're renting, your landlord may need to contact the supplier for you [5]. Suppliers can ask a new customer for a deposit, which should come back on a later bill, usually after 12 months [5].

ESB Networks owns the electricity grid. Call them, not your supplier, about outages and meter faults [5].

Switching

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) sets out the process [4]:

Find your MPRN or GPRN and a current meter reading.
Check your contract end date. Leaving a fixed-term contract early can cost a fee; switching at the end of it doesn't [4].
Ask your current supplier for a better deal. Retention offers are common.
Compare plans on a free price comparison website [4].
Sign up with the new supplier. You have 14 days to cancel without penalty, or 30 days for some distance and doorstep contracts [4][5].
Watch for the final bill from the old supplier and the welcome letter from the new one [4].

Tenants paying bills in their own name can switch. Tell your landlord, and leave the account details for the next tenant when you go.

Damp and mould

Damp is the problem Australians complain about most in Dublin rentals. A mild, wet climate plus older buildings plus clothes drying on radiators is a recipe for black mould.

What the landlord must provide

Under the minimum standards for rented homes, landlords must make sure [6]:

each room has a fixed heater that provides enough heat and that the tenant can control
every room is adequately ventilated
the home is free of damp and structurally sound

If your landlord won't fix a damp problem, tell them in writing first. Then contact the local authority (Dublin City Council, Fingal, South Dublin or Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown). It can issue an Improvement Notice, and then a Prohibition Notice stopping the landlord re-letting until it's fixed [6]. The RTB handles tenancy disputes, which our renting guide covers.

What you can do

Open windows for ten minutes a day, even in winter.
Use extractor fans when cooking and showering.
Keep a gap between furniture and outside walls.
Dry clothes outside or in a dryer where you can. A dehumidifier is a common Dublin purchase.
Photograph any mould early and report it. It's easier to show it started before you'd been there long.

Bins and broadband

Bins

Dublin's four councils don't collect household bins. Private companies do, and charges are a matter between them and the customer [7]. The government has phased out flat-rate fees. Plans now include a variable element, such as a service charge plus a fee per lift or per kilo [7]. That rewards sorting your recycling properly.

Where you live	Who usually sorts the bins
Apartment in a managed block	The management company, paid through the landlord's service charge
House share	Often the landlord, sometimes the tenants. Check the lease
House rented on your own	Usually you, by signing up with a collector that serves your street

Expect a general waste bin, a recycling bin and usually a food or garden waste bin. Contaminated recycling bins can be left uncollected.

Broadband and Eircodes

Every Irish address has a seven-character Eircode. Broadband providers check what's available at your address by Eircode, so get it from your landlord before you move in and order early. Fibre is widely available across Dublin, but older apartment blocks can lag. Ask the outgoing tenant which provider worked for them.

Budgeting your first winter

There's no single "average bill" worth quoting, because a sealed A2 apartment and a G-rated Victorian flat are different worlds. What we can say is that Irish electricity prices were the highest in the EU in late 2025 [3], so your BER and heating type matter more here than they ever did at home. Budget generously for November to February, set up a direct debit, and read your meters monthly.

Want to know what people actually pay in your area? Ask in Cooee Ireland, our Facebook group for Australians in Ireland. Someone will have lived through a winter in the same kind of flat.

Heating a Dublin home: read the BER before you rent, then tame the bills