Ruairi Kay - West Cork People

The efficiency of simplicity

Ruairi Kay April, 2025

This month we are focusing more on new build, looking into the efficiency of house design and how this can influence our energy use. If you are thinking about building a new home from scratch, it’s not just the insulation and heating system specification that will dictate how much energy […]

Case study: Vacant property upgrade and navigating the grant process

Ruairi Kay March, 2025

Following on from last month’s article on the vacant and derelict property grants, Ruairi Kay speaks with Paul Deane about his experience with the grant in upgrading his home in Clonakilty I first met Paul in May of 2024, when I completed a home energy assessment for him under the […]

Vacant and derelict property grants

Ruairi Kay February, 2025

As part of the government’s ‘Housing For All’ plan, in July 2022 the Vacant Property Refurbishment grant was launched, aiming to enable ordinary people to bring vacant properties back into use as homes. After a slow initial take up, the remit of the scheme was expanded and the grant increased […]

The importance of ventilation

Ruairi Kay January, 2025

Following on from the last two instalments on insulation, this month I’m going to talk about ventilation. Ventilation is an important part of any retrofit but I find it is often overlooked and misunderstood. Hopefully, I can help dispel it here! A key part of any retrofit is reducing drafts, […]

Advanced insulation for homes

Ruairi Kay December, 2024

Last month we covered the basics of insulating your home and the low hanging fruit that can be tackled relatively easily; insulating your attic, pumping cavity walls and draught-proofing. However, we are not all fortunate enough to live in homes that are that easy to upgrade. On my trips around […]

Solar PV panels are a sensible investment

Ruairi Kay October, 2024

The installation of solar panels on roofs around West Cork has become more popular in the last few years. It is a regular upgrade that my clients consider; either as a stand-alone job or as part of a larger retrofit. Back in June, we decided to go ahead and fit […]

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