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Heat My Home - Season 1 Episode 4
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00:00engineer for nearly 30 years. I get asked all the time, how do I save money on energy costs?
00:07Well, retrofitting is all over the news lately, and in this series, I'm traveling around Ireland
00:13checking out homes that are getting energy upgrades. That dark blue is the coldest.
00:18This is typically what I'd expect to see in an old house. With prices only going up and the planet
00:24under pressure, more and more people are saving money and energy in their homes by taking on the
00:30retrofit challenge. I'll be showing you what's actually doable and what kind of grants are out
00:35there to help. From heat pumps to HVAC, I'll break down the technical jargon and make sense of all
00:41the retrofit lingo so it's easy to follow. You're just bamboozled with all the decisions that need
00:45to be made. So, come with me as we retrofit Ireland and discover how you can reduce your energy costs.
00:53This is Heat My Home.
01:02Today, I'm on my way to County Tipperary, where I'm meeting up with Emma and Michael Morrissey.
01:08They live just outside Clamell in this four-bedroom bungalow, which they built in late 2003 and moved
01:15into in early 2004. They are hoping to upgrade it from its current BER rating of D1 to the
01:23A3 rating. They have enlisted the help of a one-stop shop who have planned to complete all
01:29the works in just a couple of days and get Emma and Michael back into the home of their dreams.
01:34It was the dream house because we lived in a corporation house beforehand and sure it was
01:40lovely to actually get the opportunity to build our home. We did have the attic insulated and the
01:46walls pumped about two years ago and recommendations kind of came out of that. So, we started saving
01:53again and we kind of would hear a lot of the grants that are available and we kind of thought
01:59it was a good time. There is a draft we noticed in the house. We could be sitting here at night time and the
02:05door would kind of pop open or if I go close curtains at night time, I can feel a draft coming in the windows.
02:11So, with all of that and the prices of energy is, you know, the electricity is going up and solid fuel has taken a big jump this winter, we notice.
02:19And it's a good time to actually start changing for the next generation. It will just be an advantage, one little advantage that we can make it to change.
02:28And we have a new grandchild coming the first week in April, end of March, so it's a new generation in our house. So, it's kind of a new change all the way around.
02:37So, we really have no worries apart from the upheaval within the house for the few days that it's all been done.
02:43Before the upheaval starts, I can see that Emma and Michael have kept their home in the very best of order, which makes me wonder what they're hoping to achieve with their planned retrofit.
02:55As I look at the house, it's in, it's in pristine condition, isn't it?
03:00You know yourself now, it would take a bit of work, but the bones of the house need to be kind of upgraded a bit.
03:05Just the heating and all that, and that's what brings us here kind of today.
03:09Well, it sounds like a very exciting journey ahead. Will you show me the inside?
03:12I will, yeah, come along. Thank you.
03:14No colour.
03:16What a wonderful kitchen. Thank you very much.
03:19And are these the original windows? Yes, you see everything is original in the house and now we feel it's time for the house.
03:25It's time to kind of change.
03:26When you look at the windows, like they're in such good condition, you think that they are, that they'll see.
03:30It's just the telltale signs. All these little drafts kind of make, you know, for a cooler house and we're hoping that the work we'll have done will kind of sort all this out.
03:38Emma and Michael have chosen triple glazing over double glazing because it provides an extra layer of glass, which reduces heat loss more effectively.
03:47This means better energy efficiency and lower heating bills.
03:51Triple glazing can also improve soundproofing and reduce outside noise.
03:55And you're getting a new heating system. Tell me about the heating system.
03:58The heating system we're getting in is the air to water heat pump.
04:01We have at the moment an old Firebird internal boiler. So that's coming to the end of its life now.
04:06And we're getting new radiators and a new tank and system is going into the hot press then as well.
04:12So what is an air to water heat pump? Think of a domestic fridge. It extracts heat from inside the unit to keep food cold and you can feel that heat being released from the back.
04:24A heat pump works in a similar way, but in reverse. It pulls in air from outside, extracts heat and uses a refrigeration process to raise the temperature.
04:35That heat is then transferred into water, making it hot enough for your heating and your showers.
04:41To finish off my tour of the interior of the house, Michael and Emma show me to the attic where they've taken the first steps towards a warmer home.
04:51Tell me, you've already had some insulation work done here already?
04:54We've had. The floors are done. They've brought up the insulation.
04:58There was formal, but then, as you know, regulations changed and all that. They had to bring it up again.
05:03So they've all new insulation between your seating joists?
05:06Yes.
05:07And tell me, what works are happening up here now when the builders arrive?
05:10Well, mainly the ventilation system is going to come up through here.
05:14There's ventilation going into all the rooms and it's going to be plumbed up into the eaves here.
05:18The benefit of living in a bungalow is you have a full ventilation unit going in.
05:22So you've ducts coming from all the habitable rooms and rather than looking for a route for all those ducts,
05:28they can go straight up to the ceiling into the attic, criss-cross and meet up with the ventilation unit.
05:33If you were living in a two-storey house, it would be a bit trickier. Doable, but trickier.
05:37Yeah. Yeah. So you have all the benefits of the bungalow anyway.
05:39Yeah.
05:41That's it for the interior for now.
05:43And I want to head out to the driveway to have a look at the roof, where Michael has plans for seven solar panels.
05:49This is a south-facing house, so we will get most of our light during the day will be the front of the house.
05:56And the great thing about solar is you're going to create a lot of electricity, particularly in the late spring,
06:02all during summer, right up into late autumn, you'll be creating a lot of electricity.
06:07A bit less in the winter, clearly, but of course, all the savings you'll have in the summer,
06:11you can use to kind of generally offset some of the higher expenditure you'll have in the winter.
06:15So on an annual basis, you'll definitely be using less electricity, a lot less electricity.
06:19And that's a big benefit.
06:21The Morrissey's are aiming to have this project done and dusted in two working days.
06:26I want to have a look at some of their costings, and more importantly, the grants that are available for the retrofit.
06:32You better get the paperwork out.
06:34We will.
06:35The torture bit.
06:36Let's see where it all lands.
06:39So, the total cost of the retrofit before grants is 48,700 euros.
06:45Now, in fairness, that is a huge sum of money.
06:48It's a big bite.
06:49When you put it all together, like, looking at things individually, no.
06:52When you put it all together, you end up with a big figure like that.
06:55That must have shocked you when you first saw it.
06:57It is a shock.
06:58Yeah, but we'll be pleasantly surprised when you see the grants that have come in.
07:01All right.
07:02I'm ready.
07:03Off you go.
07:04So, the total cost of the retrofit after grants, 24,740.
07:09That's half price.
07:10That's amazing, isn't it?
07:11It's way under what we expected initially to have to pay out.
07:15That must have been a huge relief.
07:16It was, and the grants were available to us were fantastic.
07:19Yeah.
07:20So, you can see now why we went for everything at the one go.
07:23It makes sense.
07:24It did, yeah.
07:25Get in all the builders in one go, get all the works done, and get all the benefits then.
07:30Yeah.
07:31And one of these days, quite soon, we'll close our front door and we'll have a lovely, cosy
07:35home.
07:36Everything will be done.
07:37And there'll be no dresser on the front door.
07:38Absolutely.
07:43All right.
07:44We'll see you soon.
07:45Take care.
07:46Okay, folks.
07:47Take care.
07:48Bye-bye.
07:49Bye-bye.
07:50Bye-bye now.
07:51The next week.
07:52The great work here ahead for Emma and Michael.
07:53This house has been their family home for over two decades.
07:57And now, with the kids grown and the savings in place, they're determined to transform their
08:00home into a warm, energy efficient haven that they've always wanted.
08:04But will the timescale prove too much?
08:06We'll have to wait and see.
08:09The clock is ticking on this project,
08:11and the contractors are on-site in numbers.
08:15The plan is to complete all major works within two days,
08:19which is a tight turnaround,
08:21but it's not going to phase plumbing contractor Warren.
08:25It is a lot to get done in the time frame,
08:27but from the moment we get here,
08:29everybody is doing exactly what they should be doing,
08:31when they need to do it,
08:33and we all work really hard on the days we're doing these
08:36to cause minimal disruption to the customers.
08:39Today we'll be taking out the oil boiler,
08:41we'll be taking out the old radiators,
08:43the old cylinder and the hot press.
08:45We'll be fitting a new cylinder,
08:47and we'll be fitting new radiators.
08:50We're going to have a new rad coming into the room here,
08:52and there is no pipework for it,
08:54so we will use the pipework on the other side of the hallway,
08:58where there's an existing rad already.
09:00So we will put the rad here,
09:02where it'll come straight through,
09:04and we'll be able to come straight through,
09:05so the only bit of pipework you'll have is literally up to the rad,
09:08and there'll be no other extra pipework or anything.
09:10Working alongside the plumbers on-site,
09:12the window contractors are on a tight schedule.
09:15They only have a few hours to swap out the old for the new,
09:18and they're just in time,
09:20because the existing windows leave a lot to be desired.
09:24The old windows, they were leaking a lot of air.
09:26The insulation detail around the window itself wasn't great,
09:29so any air that came in through the cavity
09:31was then starting to come in at the side of the window.
09:34You can generate all the heat that you like
09:36and try and keep it at a constant temperature,
09:38but if you can't hold that inside in the house,
09:40you're trying to heat the whole world,
09:42like, it's not going to work.
09:43So, yeah, the new windows will get rid of all that,
09:45so that will make the whole house a lot more efficient.
09:48We're heading for the end of day one here at the Morrissey's.
09:52Emma and Michael are dropping by to check up on progress,
09:55and Emma is nicely surprised by what she sees.
09:58I love the door.
10:00Oh, yeah, it's nice.
10:01That's exactly what I wanted.
10:03Oh, the windows are lovely, aren't they?
10:05They're good, solid frame.
10:07They look good, solid, heavy windows.
10:08They did a lovely job on them.
10:10Will we open one up?
10:11Yeah, open her up there and we'll see.
10:12Oh, wow.
10:13Yeah, it's lovely.
10:14Oh, yeah.
10:15Isn't that nice?
10:16Yeah.
10:17Oh, it's lovely, isn't it?
10:18God, it really puts a bit of light in, doesn't it?
10:20It does.
10:21Even with the blind.
10:22You'd be surprised with the blind open.
10:23And they're really tidy, the tiles and everything.
10:25They didn't...
10:26There's no marking on the tile or nothing.
10:29Because it's all been done together,
10:31we can see the benefits really quickly.
10:33Like, in one day, to pull out one, two, three, four, five,
10:36six windows and have them replaced and a front door.
10:39That's great going on.
10:40Yeah.
10:41We've had really no hiccups at all.
10:43And it changes the house.
10:44I think it changes the house.
10:45It looks very different.
10:46Yeah.
10:47You know, but then it's something now that we'll get used to.
10:50I'm sure we won't probably even notice it now in a couple of weeks.
10:52But for now, it's like everything else.
10:54Once you get something new, it'll be lovely now coming into the summer.
10:57Yeah.
10:58And I have to go back painting.
10:59Yes.
11:00Today, I'm on my way back to Tipperary to catch up with Emma and Michael Morrison,
11:10who are carrying out a full retrofit on their modern bungalow.
11:14This project is an unusual one, in that all the works are to be completed in just two days.
11:22This is a big ask of the contractors involved, so I'm very excited to see how it's all going
11:27and to hear what's still left to be done.
11:30Michael, good morning.
11:31How are you?
11:32Emma's at work today, so Michael is flying solo.
11:35There's a lot done since I was here last.
11:37Yeah.
11:38You'd be amazed, like, what can be done in a day or two, do you know?
11:41So what's happening outside today, Michael?
11:42So we have the heat pumps going in, a few radios to be hung in the house itself,
11:47and three windows going in at the back.
11:49There's a lot going on here today, and I'm interested to see how work is progressing
11:54on the heat pump setup.
11:56What they're effectively doing here is they're attaching the outdoor unit to these rubberoid legs.
12:01There's a tiny bit of vibration as the fan goes around, so you don't want that kind of vibrating
12:06so it's a modified rubber to dampen the noise, really, and the vibration.
12:10With the outdoor unit installed, indoors, Nigel is programming the heat pump system.
12:16So the heat pump would have been designed for 45 degrees to the radiators
12:20at minus three outdoor temperature.
12:22These are steel rods which work fine with a heat pump, as long as they're sized correctly.
12:26Yeah, so it's an intelligent system.
12:28Exactly, yeah.
12:29It isn't like, gone are the days when you walk into the house, the house is freezing,
12:31you turn on the heating system, these systems are already monitoring the outside temperature
12:36and the inside temperature, and they're aligning the heat then to work with that.
12:40Exactly, yeah.
12:41The heat pump will soon be up and running.
12:43Up in the attic, I want to have a look at the demand control ventilation system
12:47that works in conjunction with the new heating setup.
12:50The interesting thing here is Mr Reisman is lagging the extract pipes from the demand control ventilation unit
12:56to stop any condensation because these pipes will be coming into a cold attic
13:00and the last thing you want is the warm air condensing in the cold attic.
13:03That's why you're lagging the pipes here.
13:05It's not just domestic setups that can benefit from demand control ventilation systems.
13:14They can also be used in a wide variety of commercial applications.
13:18I'm paying a visit to Enesgeri, County Wicklow to sit down with cafe owner Peter Norton
13:24to find out more about the measures he has put in place to make his business more energy efficient.
13:30So Peter, tell us about your cafe and how you got fascinated by energy saving.
13:36Fascinated is probably the correct way, whatever.
13:38But no, I bought here in 2001 and we traded as normally and whatever
13:43and I just figured it could be done better and more efficiently.
13:47And we basically looked at it, we started off with the solar thermal
13:51which are the solar tubes that generates the water
13:54and then when we could afford it, we went another bit and another bit and another bit.
13:58Obviously, running a coffee shop like yours, you have to be very cost efficient.
14:01What was the initial cost in all these works? How did that work?
14:04The solar thermal, that costs about 5,000. The heat pump costs about 6,000.
14:09The big one was obviously the solar PV because unlike people's houses where they don't pay that,
14:15you have to pay that on it. There's also, it's a three phase inverter we use as opposed
14:19from a single phase inverter, so that's obviously more expensive as well.
14:22So that cost us 19,100. And then the monitor was about 1,000 on top of that.
14:27But the monitor is brilliant.
14:29Behind the scenes, Peter's taking me to see the engine that is driving the reduction
14:34of his energy bills in the cafe.
14:36This is the heat pump and it takes the hot air out of the kitchen,
14:40which is the other side of the wall, takes all the heat out of it.
14:43It also helps us save on energy because we don't have to use the extracts in the kitchen as often.
14:47This replaced our immersion, so it's brilliant.
14:50So that's basically taking heat from the warm air that you're expelling in the kitchen
14:54and creating a hot water store for all your indoor hot water needs.
14:58Yes.
14:59You're getting heat from waste, really.
15:01It does.
15:02Which is really what it's about.
15:03I mean, this is a real circular movement here in terms of energy efficiency.
15:06Yep, 100%.
15:07We used to have one big oven and what we did is replace it with two smaller energy efficient ovens.
15:12The main benefit of this, obviously, is the fact that different things are cooked at different temperatures,
15:17so therefore you can maximise the energy efficiency of it.
15:20So we're reducing it by non-consuming it, if you know what I mean.
15:25Outside of the facts and figures, what is the overall benefit to your business?
15:31I personally believe that a business owner has a duty to the community, their employees,
15:37and we are very sustainable.
15:40We're a lot more profitable than we used to be.
15:43And then even from our staff and our customers' point of view, they love what we're doing.
15:47There is some customers who come here specifically because of what we do.
15:51Bye.
15:52Bye.
15:53Peter's Cafe is proof that even small businesses can take control of their energy use.
15:58With the right upgrades and planning, savings on energy use can be real and measurable.
16:04It's about using energy smarter, and that's something we can all do, whether it's a business or at home.
16:11Back in County Tipperary, and the two-day retrofit of Emma and Michael Morrissey's three-bedroom bungalow is entering its final stages.
16:25The last major works to be carried out is the installation of seven solar panels to the south-facing elevation of the roof.
16:32This is a straightforward process, but Michael does have some questions for Supervisor Lewis.
16:39The installing of them and the fact, like, you know, damage and leaks and that.
16:43We get a lot of questions about that.
16:45We obviously use a tried and tested mounting system, and how it works is it makes a very small hole in each part of the roof.
16:52That small hole is then filled and covered over by plastic flashing, and then the original slates go back in.
16:58So the roof is entirely watertight after that.
17:00You'll never hear a panel rattle and they'll never move.
17:02Right.
17:03And in terms of the integrity of the roof, it's almost better than before we started.
17:07And the panels themselves, what's the lifetime kind of, you know, guarantee lifetime?
17:11Depending on the panel manufacturers, the panels generally have 20 to 25 years warranty standing over them.
17:16The mounting systems are similar.
17:17I think the inverters are 10 years off the top of my head.
17:20Obviously, it's still fairly new technology, but if they're willing to put 25 years on it, then obviously they're confident it's going to last that long.
17:28Before the contractors finish the job, Lewis has some maintenance tips for Michael to ensure the solar panels work their best.
17:37The actual panels themselves, they've got self-cleaning glass.
17:39All we'd recommend is once every one or two years as service of the electrical side on the inside.
17:43Apart from that, it's just once the lads are finished here today, plug it in and go, and then you're fine.
17:47You said about self-cleaning glass now. How do you mean?
17:49Yeah, so the glass has tiny little grooves in the glass.
17:52And the water, as it comes down from the rain, gathers in those little grooves and pulls all the dirt out.
17:56And that's how it works.
17:57If something did land on it or whatever, you'd have to really obscure quite a large percentage of the panel before it was affected.
18:02So once they're up there, leave them up there and let them do their job.
18:11Just 48 hours ago, Emma and Michael Morrissey's dream home that they built in 2003 was invaded by a host of different contractors who were given the task of carrying out a retrofit that aimed to improve the home's BER rating from its current D1 to a much cozier A3.
18:28It was a huge endeavour for the one-stop shop to coordinate, and I'm back for one final visit to see how it all finished up and to find out about Emma and Michael's experience of the whole process.
18:42The amazing thing about your project was it only took a few days.
18:46I know.
18:47How was the whole process?
18:49It was busy. It was very quick, very busy, but we were only exhausted for a couple of days.
18:54But I suppose you would have had as much of people if you had to move out and take your gear out of the house.
18:58Oh sure, I think we would have had more upheaval, to be honest. We just continued on with work and life went on.
19:05And so your original BER was a D1.
19:08That's right.
19:09And we all remember from school that D1 was never a great result to get. And I know you were hoping to get into the A's.
19:15Yes.
19:16What did you get in the end?
19:17A2.
19:18Great.
19:19Yeah.
19:20So we were really chuffed.
19:21That's an amazing result.
19:22It is, yeah.
19:23It has just brought new life to the house. Yeah, and we're really finding the benefits of it now.
19:28Well, having spoken about the house so much and your new A rating, I'm dying to see what it's like inside.
19:33Will you show me around?
19:34Lovely. Thanks.
19:39But the one thing I'm noticing about this from straight away is there seems to be a lot more light than when I first saw it.
19:44There is, yeah, because we always really had light here because of the four windows, but with the extra plain pane of light, we do see a difference, definitely.
19:53And the room is so quiet. Like we have a reasonably busy road aside and you can't hear a thing.
19:58The actual window, the triple glazed windows have done the job. We would hear noise to a certain extent, but it has kind of reduced it.
20:06So now your living space has been renovated. You have a much more efficient house. What's it like to live in?
20:12It's very comfortable, very cozy, very quiet. It's lovely. We have the ventilation system then over the cooker.
20:20So it kind of takes out all the smells, the steam from cooking. And we have no condensation on windows. All that helps.
20:28The ventilation system helps with that. And we have that throughout all the rooms. No drafts anymore.
20:34At the back of the house is the outdoor unit of the air to water heating system, which I know can be the source of a low level humming noise.
20:42Would you be that conscious of it now in the summer if you're setting out? No.
20:46I think initially the first few times and the first, maybe first coming into the summer that we set out, but then you don't hear it anymore.
20:52It's a noise that you get used to. It's not particularly intrusive. No.
20:56The interesting thing about a heat pump is it needs a very efficient envelope because it doesn't send a phenomenal amount of heat into the house.
21:04So what it does send in, it needs to stay there, which is why you've got all the work done on the envelope of your house.
21:10I know in the past you've had the walls pumped and you've got extra insulation in the attic.
21:14So you've a very efficient envelope now, which works particularly well with the heat pump, but you'd need it.
21:18You can't just replace an oil boiler with a heat pump.
21:22Not unless you have the efficiency work done on the envelope of the house.
21:25It's kind of a package deal then, isn't it?
21:27Yeah, effectively. It is exactly.
21:29The transformation here is just great and the A2 rating is an absolute bonus.
21:35But I'm curious to hear about the final part of the retrofit package.
21:40So Michael, how is the solar working out for you?
21:43Good, yeah. Most of the work was done upstairs in that.
21:46I actually have an app on the phone. You can see here your savings for the year, your savings for the month and your daily savings.
21:53It all tallies up at the end of the day.
21:55It simplifies it then.
21:56Great. And of course, when you can track it then, you can kind of improve it a little bit on like what time you do your cooking and all that sort of things to coincide with better rates and all that.
22:04Even time of the day, you know. And the great thing about the solar panels is our electricity bill was nearly 300 before we got the solar panels in.
22:12But our August bill was €114.
22:16That's a huge difference.
22:17We were really surprised. So things are working and we're beginning to see the benefits.
22:22It's time for Emma and Michael to show off their new energy efficient house.
22:28Friends and neighbours are here to see how the Morrissey's heat their home today.
22:32But guest of honour for the grand tour is their first grandchild, Ellie.
22:37It's lovely.
22:39It's really nice, isn't it?
22:40The windows make huge difference.
22:41Yeah, definitely.
22:42That's really compact, isn't it?
22:43Yeah, it's fabulous.
22:44It's cosy, fabulous, yeah. Just amazing looking. Huge difference, yeah. It's like a constant steady heat, which is lovely.
22:54You've done a fantastic job. The house was great before the works were done, but it's even better now.
23:01It's been a long road in some ways, but it was great to have it done. We have almost like a brand new house, we feel.
23:10It took us a little while to get used to how it works, but we really enjoy it now.
23:15It has changed the house, changed the heating, changed the atmosphere in the house.
23:19It's lovely. I'd really recommend it to anybody. Don't be afraid. And it's a great experience.
23:25My bit of advice would be to get your project manager and to hand it over to them.
23:30Emma and Michael's house was already immaculate on day one, but within just a few days, it's become warm, modern and energy efficient.
23:38It just goes to show you that you don't need to dig up floors or uproot your life to transform your home.
23:43And with our new grandchild now, part of the picture, it's the perfect, cosy, healthy space, just in time to share it with a new member of the family.
24:08We'll see you next time.
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