Two of the biggest loads on a dairy farm run when the sun is up.
Refrigeration, water heating, vacuum pumps, ventilation and lighting.
Farming is energy-intensive in ways that don’t always show up until you look at a bill closely. Refrigeration running around the clock, water heating to wash-down temperature twice a day, vacuum pumps, ventilation, lighting, grain drying and increasingly the charging of equipment.
ENCON works across agricultural buildings and farmhouses — solar PV on shed roofs, insulation and heating upgrades in the house, and energy efficiency measures in the farm buildings themselves.
What makes farms different is the load profile. Most agricultural electricity demand happens during daylight hours, which makes on-site generation unusually effective. Dairy in particular has an almost textbook fit: the two biggest loads, milk cooling and water heating, both run when the sun is up.
And the farmhouse, which is usually the coldest building on the holding.
The measures that tend to pay on Irish farms:
The farmhouse is worth saying out loud. It’s frequently the coldest building on the holding and the last to get attention, and it qualifies for the same domestic grant support as any other home.
From insulation to heat pumps, ventilation and more. Improve comfort, lower bills and increase your BER rating.
New builds, extensions and deep retrofits, fully managed from design and planning through to construction and completion.
High-quality solar panel systems for homes, farms and businesses. Lower energy costs and gain energy independence.
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Farm buildings aren’t domestic buildings and shouldn’t be surveyed like them. Roof sheeting age and condition, asbestos, structural capacity, corrosive atmospheres from slurry and ammonia, and three-phase supply arrangements all need checking before anything is designed.
We also plan around the calendar. Calving, silage, harvest and slurry spreading don’t move for a contractor, so the works go around them.
The Non-Domestic Microgeneration Grant supports solar on farm buildings, and agricultural investment schemes have supported energy measures at various points. The farmhouse itself falls under the domestic SEAI schemes. We’ll confirm what currently applies across both sides of the holding.
Because we work on farm buildings and houses, a single programme can cover the shed roof array and the farmhouse retrofit — rather than two separate procurements and two sets of paperwork.
Not directly. The asbestos has to be dealt with first, and that’s specialist work with its own regulations. We’ll set out the options.
Usually a combination of plate cooling and heat recovery with solar sized to the parlour load. The survey confirms the order.
Yes. It’s a home like any other and the standard SEAI domestic schemes apply.
No. We schedule around milking times and the wider farming calendar.
Not at all — most farm installations are three-phase and it’s straightforward.
Call 051 850722. Shed roof and farmhouse in one programme, rather than two separate jobs.
