Ireland is in the middle of a retrofitting boom. Thousands of homeowners are upgrading insulation, fitting heat pumps, and installing solar panels. SEAI grants have made it genuinely affordable.
But there’s a conversation most contractors aren’t having with you. Fire safety for energy-efficient homes looks very different from fire safety in a traditional Irish house. The changes that make your home warmer can quietly introduce new fire risks.
This article covers exactly what those risks are. You’ll learn what to check, what to fix, and how to protect your home without undoing your retrofit.
Why Retrofitted Homes Behave Differently in a Fire
A traditional Irish home has gaps. Around window frames, under doors, in the attic. In a fire, those gaps actually slow things down.
A properly retrofitted home is airtight. That’s the whole point. But in a fire, it changes how quickly toxic gases build up.
Airtight homes trap carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide faster than older buildings do. A person can lose consciousness before any visible flame appears. This isn’t scaremongering. It’s physics.
The Irish Building Regulations (Part B) set out fire safety standards. They apply mainly to new builds. A deep retrofit doesn’t automatically trigger a full Part B review.
Many homeowners make significant changes to their home’s fire behaviour without any formal fire safety assessment. That’s the gap worth closing.
Fire Safety for Energy-Efficient Homes: Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam insulation became popular for attic conversions across Ireland in the 2000s and 2010s. It’s highly effective as a thermal barrier. It’s also a serious fire concern.
Most spray polyurethane foams burn readily. Once ignited, they produce dense toxic smoke and spread flame rapidly along roof timbers. The fire service in Ireland has attended fires where spray foam significantly accelerated roof space fire spread.
There’s also a practical problem for firefighters. Spray foam bonds to roof timbers and slates. Firefighters find it extremely difficult to access and ventilate foam-filled attic spaces.
If your home has spray foam insulation in the roof space, get it assessed by a passive fire protection specialist. In some cases, removal and replacement with mineral wool or PIR board is the right call. PIR board carries a better fire performance rating than most spray foams.
New Penetrations Through Walls and Floors
Every retrofit introduces new holes through your walls, floors, and ceilings. Heat pump pipework runs through external walls. Solar inverter cabling runs through floors.
Each one of those penetrations is a potential fire pathway.
Fire compartmentation divides a building into sections that contain a fire for a set period. Typically, that’s 30 or 60 minutes. When you drill through a fire-rated wall to run pipework, you break that compartment.
An untreated hole the size of a 22mm pipe can allow fire and toxic smoke to travel room to room in under five minutes. The fix is fire stopping. Intumescent collars, fire-rated sealant, and fire-rated duct wraps expand in heat to seal the penetration.
But fire stopping only works if someone installs it. Most heating engineers and solar fitters are not fire protection specialists. Many installations are complete with no fire stopping in place at all.
Heat Pumps: What Irish Homeowners Need to Check
Air-to-water heat pumps are now in tens of thousands of Irish homes. They’re excellent pieces of technology. They’re also electrical systems with significant power draw and real fire risk if something goes wrong.
Heat pump fires are relatively rare, but they do occur. The most common causes are electrical faults in the outdoor unit, incorrect installation, and moisture ingress into control boards. A unit that catches fire externally can ignite surrounding cladding or timber framing.
Here’s what to do. Get your heat pump installed by a SEAI-registered contractor. Position the outdoor unit at least 1 metre from combustible cladding or vegetation.
Have the system serviced annually. A professional service catches early warning signs of electrical faults. Budget roughly €100 to €150 per year for a qualified service visit.
Check that your fuse board has a correctly rated MCB for the heat pump’s current draw. Incorrect fusing is a genuine fire risk. Your electrician can verify this in under an hour.
Solar Panels and Battery Storage: The Emerging Risk
Approximately 80,000 Irish homes now have solar PV systems. Battery storage is the next wave. Both carry fire risks that most installers don’t discuss at the point of sale.
Solar panels carry risk from DC arc faults. Direct current electricity doesn’t extinguish itself the way AC electricity does. A fault in a DC circuit can produce an arc that starts a fire in your roof space.
Solar installers should fit arc fault protection devices (AFPDs) as standard. Ask your installer specifically about this if you’re getting a system. Retrofitting an AFPD costs approximately €150 to €250 fitted.
Battery storage carries a bigger risk. Lithium-ion batteries can experience thermal runaway. This is a self-sustaining chemical reaction that generates enormous heat. Temperatures can exceed 700°C.
Thermal runaway releases toxic gases, and standard fire extinguishers prove largely ineffective against it. Position battery storage in a garage or outbuilding where possible. Keep it away from the living envelope of the house.
Check that your battery unit carries IEC 62619 certification. This is the international standard for stationary battery storage systems. Any reputable supplier will confirm this upfront.
Smoke Detection in Airtight Homes
Building regulations require a minimum of one mains-wired smoke alarm per floor in new builds. In a 1970s semi-detached, that gave you reasonable warning time. In a heavily retrofitted airtight home, it may not.
Airtight homes contain gases more efficiently. Smoke can build to dangerous concentrations in one room while another room’s alarm stays silent. Interconnected alarms change this completely.
When one alarm triggers, all alarms sound simultaneously. In a two-storey home, fit a minimum of three interconnected alarms. Place one in the downstairs hallway, one on the upstairs landing, and one in any room with heat-generating equipment.
If your home has an MVHR ventilation system, the risk increases. MVHR systems circulate air through ductwork connecting every room. In a fire, smoke travels through those ducts to every room in the house.
Fit a heat detector in the MVHR supply plenum. This is the central distribution point for your ductwork. Ask a fire safety specialist about fire dampers within the ductwork that close automatically when heat builds up.
A Practical Fire Safety Checklist for Your Home
Work through this list. Tick off what’s done and act on what isn’t.
Get your penetrations checked. A passive fire protection specialist can survey your home and identify any unsealed holes through walls, floors, or ceilings. A domestic survey typically costs €150 to €300.
Upgrade your smoke and heat alarms. Fit interconnected mains-wired alarms throughout. Replace any battery-only standalone units. Add a heat detector in the kitchen and any utility space with heat-generating equipment.
Assess spray foam in your attic. If you have older polyurethane foam, have it surveyed. A specialist can advise on removal, encapsulation, or treatment.
Ask your solar installer about arc fault protection. If your system has no AFPD fitted, have one retrofitted. Budget €150 to €250 for supply and installation.
Position battery storage carefully. If you haven’t installed it yet, plan for external or garage positioning. If it’s already indoors, ensure the room has detection and keep combustibles away from the unit.
Book an annual heat pump service. A qualified engineer checks electrical connections, refrigerant levels, and control board condition. Factor in €100 to €150 per year.
Protecting the Investment You’ve Made
You’ve put real money into your home. SEAI retrofit grants for a typical semi-detached can amount to €15,000 to €25,000 in support. Many homeowners top that up with significant personal investment.
Fire safety for energy-efficient homes isn’t separate from the retrofit. It’s part of the same job. The decisions made during installation determine how your home behaves if the worst happens.
A fire safety survey by a passive fire protection specialist is the most useful step you can take. It takes a couple of hours and gives you a clear picture of exactly where you stand. Firestoppers work with homeowners across Ireland to assess passive fire protection and identify where intervention is needed.
Get the survey done before your next phase of retrofit work. It’s far cheaper to seal a penetration correctly during installation than to retrofit fire stopping afterwards. Your BER rating matters. So does knowing your home will protect your family if a fire breaks out.
If you’re planning a retrofit or have recently completed one, speak to a qualified passive fire protection specialist before sign-off on any works.
