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