Rural home heating oil conundrum – high costs and lack of an alternative from Government

For many of the thousands attending the Ploughing Championships, there was a year’s worth of news to catch up on, but this year one topic dominated: the cost of living. “I’m hanging on for dear life,” says Patrick Duffy after a sombre conversation with a representative at the trade stand of Certa, the Portlaoise-based fuel company. The 75-year-old from Malahide in north Co Dublin had a third of a tank of home heating oil left and was regretting not filling it before prices soared again. It was an “absolutely helpless situation”, he says. READ MORE“Attacking the Government over it is fruitless. There’s nothing they can do, only debate the problem. They can’t solve the problem.” Taoiseach Micheál Martin wasn’t quite so resigned, telling media at the event the Government would “do something”. Three weeks out from a budget, “something” was taken to mean a support payment or tax cut, but anything that takes the edge off the 60 per cent increase in price this year would be welcome. But can the Government, despite Duffy’s doubts, “solve the problem”? For most of the 700,000 households dependent on home heating oil, there are no practical alternatives and no discernible plan from Government to help them abandon kerosene, or home heating oil.The issue is increasingly drawing attention as pressure grows to switch homes to clean, affordable and more secure heating. Those pressures apply to most of the country’s housing stock as only homes built since 2019 are required to have high energy efficiency standards. But homes reliant on kerosene are particularly problematic. Kerosene is not only high-cost but it produces more climate-harming emissions than gas which is used by a similar number of households. Long-term, the plan is to end gas use too and replace it with renewable electricity, but in the interim its emissions can be reduced by replacing some of it with biomethane – a low-carbon gas produced in anaerobic digesters from agricultural and food waste. The fact that most homes using gas are on a shared network also means they are better candidates for district heating schemes which also feature in the Government’s decarbonisation plans. [ Budget 2027: ‘Specific consideration’ for measures to tackle rising heating oil costsOpens in new window ]District heating schemes connect homes to a single source of renewable heating so that each household gets low-carbon heat without having to individually retrofit. Homes using gas also tend to be younger than oil-dependent homes as much of the gas network was only built in the 1990s, and younger homes are easier to retrofit to the high insulation standards needed for heat pumps. So there is at least a pathway to decarbonising gas-heated homes, even if progress on the journey is slow. Oil-heated homes by contrast tend to be older, rural and far removed from the gas grid. Alternatives for those homes are limited primarily to electric heat pumps, but heat pump installations are running years behind Government targets and even with grants, the cost is prohibitive. Naoise Ó Muirí, Fine Gael TD and chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate, addressed the issue at a recent Economic and Social Research Institute event where studies on barriers to decarbonising homes were discussed. For many of these homes there is no straightforward route to electrification— Naoise Ó MuiríHe says “practical and affordable” alternatives had to be found for kerosene-dependent households. “We cannot leave them exposed to volatile energy prices and uncertain supply chains indefinitely,” he says. “Equally, we can’t ignore the fact that for many of these homes there is no straightforward route to electrification today.” The discussions touched on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a low-carbon biofuel produced from waste food oils and specially grown crops. It can be blended with kerosene in home-heating systems with minor alteration to most modern boilers. But Ireland produces very little and what is imported is prioritised for blending with diesel to reduce transport emissions. The Department of Climate, Energy and Environment has no plans to change that arrangement. It cited a 2022 Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland study which concluded: “Bioliquids, such as HVO, are not an optimal option for heat in any sector.“Heat pumps are the optimal decarbonisation path for domestic heating systems, with district heating also identified as a competitive option that can be widely deployed,” the department said. “At this time there is no incentive planned for those interested in using HVO for domestic space heating.” Alan Farrell, spokesman for lobby group, Liquid Gas Ireland (LGI), takes issue with those statements. They appear at odds with the Programme for Government which commits to the objective: “Consider the use of sustainable biofuels to reduce emissions from existing home boilers where deep retrofits are not possible in the short term.” LGI completely agrees that electrification is central— Alan FarrellFarrell also says dismissing alternatives to kerosene because they are not “an optimal option” misses the point. “LGI completely agrees that electrification is central. Heat pumps are the gold standard,” he says. “But there are homes and businesses in rural Ireland today making the choice between perfection and nothing and they’re going for nothing.” LGI represents firms distributing liquid petroleum gas (LPG), the liquefied version of the gas that is piped around the grid. In liquid form, it can be delivered in cylinders to off-grid homes where it returns to gas form when released to boilers. [ Tenth of Irish renewable electricity lost in 2025 due to grid constraintsOpens in new window ]LGI wants the Government to support households with oil boilers to replace them with gas boilers so they can use liquid gas. That would expand LGI firms’ customer base but Farrell stresses it would also reduce emissions. “In 2022 we published a report that showed a standard 1970s bungalow in rural Ireland could be brought to a B building energy rating from a D with a modest internal retrofit – new windows and attic insulation – and installation of a boiler ready for renewable liquid gas for €12,000,” he says. He reckons the cost would be €20,000 now, still much less than a deep retrofit and heat pump, and for that, you would get a gas-heated home with 11 per cent fewer emissions. The reduction is modest but adds up when multiplied 700,000 times. Farrell has also thrown a key adjective into his pitch: “Renewable.”LGI says that, just as grid-connected homes will have low-carbon biomethane added to their gas, off-grid homes should be able to avail of low-carbon liquid gas such as bioLPG. BioLPG is not actually petroleum gas but is produced from used cooking oils, animal fats and other organic waste. Farrell says it cuts emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to kerosene. Already available in Ireland in limited quantities, LGI says Government backing for its wider use would support the business case for its expansion. Another potential alternative is renewable dimethyl ether (rDME), a liquid gas also made from organic waste but which consumes carbon in the process. Farrell reckons two or three rDME plants in the country would suffice, but they too would need Government supports. If the Government can plan for 200 anaerobic digesters to produce biomethane for the gas network, then, he says, it can surely consider a handful of alternative facilities for more dispersed homes. “We’re asking why isn’t Government enabling policies to level the playing field between the on-grid and the off-grid consumer,” he says.“Renewable liquid gas can plug a gap. It can operate as a transitional fuel. But it can also operate as a long-term, low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. “Our policy objective is for Government to recognise that there are multiple ways in which a person or business can achieve those [decarbonisation] aims.” However, EU regulations prohibit providing grants to buy new oil or gas boilers. Although modern boilers are more efficient than the old models limping along in many homes and would reduce emissions for a time, policymakers are reluctant to prolong fossil fuel use. Ó Muirí says the EU “may have to think a bit more creatively” about the issue. “There remains scope to explore pragmatic measures that can help households reduce emissions during the transition,” he says. “For example, the purchase and installation of modern efficient second-hand boilers [with grants] remains permissible and may provide a more affordable interim option for some households currently reliant on older, less efficient systems. “It’s just one example where we can try and make real but incremental progress for those households.” At the Ploughing, Micheál Ó hAithiarna, a 68-year-old from Midleton, Co Cork, and his wife had taken a more immediate approach. “We’re retired, so we wouldn’t be wasting energy at home and fuel. We’re very, very conscious of the cost,” Ó hAithiarna says. “We just haven’t been turning on the heat.”