16/08/2026
This is something worth considering whether you’re building a new A-rated home or already living in one.
Air-to-water heat pumps can be a significant investment, primarily for heating. Air-to-air can offer a lower-cost route in many installations while giving you both heating and cooling.
And for existing homes, it can be a proper long-term solution to summer overheating — rather than relying on portable AC units and fans every time the temperature rises. ☀️
If your home is already highly insulated and airtight, the heat can be very difficult to get back out once it’s in.
Why not have one system that can heat your home in winter and cool it in summer?
It’s definitely something worth researching before making your decision.
For years, the logic behind Ireland’s drive to encourage the construction of more energy-efficient homes has been straightforward: better insulation means lower heating bills, fewer carbon emissions and warmer homes in winter. Energy efficiency is better for the environment and better for our bank accounts, so everyone wins.
But after a summer of sustained high temperatures, some occupants of highly insulated homes are discovering there is a price to pay for cosy winters when the hotter months roll around.
For one family living in an A2-rated home near Limerick, the contrast has been particularly sharp.
Shaun and Amy Martin renovated an old cottage 15 minutes outside Limerick city and added a new-build section using insulated concrete form construction: concrete enclosed by thick layers of insulation. They also installed underfloor heating and an air-to-water heat pump. The result, they say, is a comfortable and efficient house for most of the year.
“For the 11 months of the year when you don’t have 30-degree weather, it’s brilliant,” Shaun says. “In winter, when you come home and open the door at the end of the day, it’s like walking into a wall of warmth. It’s blissful.”
But during the recent hot spells, the very features that make the house efficient in winter have made it difficult to cool. “In summer when it’s 28 degrees outside, it’s like opening an oven door or walking into a sauna. Even with all the windows open, very little heat escapes.”
The family have relied on electric fans rather than air conditioning, which they regard as costly and potentially wasteful. “It’s been the longest month of the year,” Shaun says of the hot weather.
“We would love to get an air-conditioning system, but they’re notoriously expensive. Instead, we’ve got an elaborate system of portable fans we use to try to move air around, but for now the heat is something we just put up with.”
Read more at the link in the comments below.
