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00:00engineer for nearly 30 years I get asked all the time how do I save money on energy costs
00:06well 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 this
00:18is 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
00:29the retrofit 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
00:56today I'm on my way to Dublin to meet up with John and Isabel Fallon who are getting ready to carry
01:05out an extensive retrofit on their 1930s mid-terrace house in Clontarf the couple carried out some
01:12renovations on the house when they bought it back in 2003 but now they want to improve the energy
01:18rating of their home from a C2 to a very healthy A3 they have enlisted the help of a one-stop shop
01:25contractor to take on the task of completing all of the work we didn't want to rush the project wanted
01:32to make sure that we we were comfortable what was being done you know it's a pretty large investment
01:36in the house and that allowed us to do that when we got the house we did what was appropriate at the
01:43time but there was no sense of energy efficiency and things have moved along so much and we're really
01:48looking at this house and what is needed to maintain that and looking ahead for the next 20 years yeah
01:53yeah and we want the house to be cozy for ourselves but we also want to do a bit for the environment
01:59like most people we have a gas boiler and even you know a good few years ago we actually replaced the gas
02:04boiler and you know we're looking ahead and going well we'd like to remove gas from the equation we'd
02:09like to be able to move to electric and the nice thing is it is possible even in an old house like
02:14this to bring it up to modern standards and actually get to an a-rated house we're very
02:20attached to the house and really the neighborhood and the area that we live in it has all the amenities
02:24that we want we're close to the city so we really enjoy the house and we both work from home and you'd
02:30like it to be that little bit cozier you know in the winter time you know it's fine to put on an extra
02:34layer or to know oh that room is going to be really cold in the morning it'll warm up later in the day
02:39but i think there's no really no real reason why the house can't be that bit cozier and that bit
02:43warmer and that bit more comfortable and we're looking forward to that at the end of the project
02:53the exterior of this house features a classic 1930s red brick finish although it's not a protected
02:59structure john and isabel are making no alterations to the road facing facade and i'm curious to hear
03:06their plans for this cracking period building so this is your beautiful home in clontarf yeah this
03:11is the house the brick is the first thing you see isn't it it is stunning and of course when you're
03:16doing a retrofit job on a house like this you want to keep all the old character absolutely and even when
03:20we did the original renovations we didn't really want to change the character of the house so the
03:25challenge for ye is to bring it from a c up to an a whilst maintaining the old features and staying in
03:32the house for as long as you can while the works are happening yeah i think that's it very good
03:36well i think we've seen enough here will you show me inside yeah great i'll follow you i'll follow you
03:45what is the final isn't it this is your day-to-day living room i guess is it yeah this is one of the
03:49biggest features of the house is to have this double living room and you know a little bit of height in
03:53the ceilings and the nice bay window what's the plan here unconscious that like on the external
03:58wall you have the red brick on the outside how are you insulating the wall here yeah the big thing
04:02here is that we're going to need to insulate on the inside of those walls so that's going to bring
04:06things in a little bit and we've got a sort of additional complication where part of this wall
04:11in here is actually facing the exterior so we're going to have to insulate all the way up even to
04:15this wall here and so this is the kitchen living space yeah and this is actually a west-facing room
04:22which is lovely in the evening but in the morning this is you know one of the colder spots in the house
04:27and what changes are you making in this room well the big change here is going to we're going to
04:31visually see is going to be the windows and the doors so we're going to move to aluminium windows
04:35and doors isabel are you sad to say goodbye to the french doors no no i like those doors but i'm looking
04:41forward to even more light coming with just two big doors and then having the easier entry and exit
04:48points when we leave the house well these are the benefits of upgrading a house by deep retrofitting
04:54that you get all these opportunities to kind of upweigh little parts of the house that were you
04:58know good but could be better in the future another area that's up for a future upgrade is outside at
05:04the back of the house which john is targeting for external insulation so i suppose what we're seeing
05:11here you have an old rough cast render and that's where the new external installation will be going yes
05:16we're going to have that paired down a blast down some way and then we'll have more of a smooth render on top
05:22external wall insulation involves fixing a layer of rigid insulation to the outside of a building
05:29then plastering with two layers of reinforced base coat and sealing with a weather resistant finish
05:35this system significantly reduces heat loss through poorly insulated walls it also helps prevent internal
05:43condensation and mold occurring as the wall is protected from external elements like wind rain and cold
05:49temperatures the fallons plan is an ambitious one and i've been juggling some numbers to see what this
05:56retrofit is going to cost right let's have a look at these figures so the total cost of retrofit works
06:04before grants is a significant 102 116 euros yeah it's a large number so hopefully you get to the number
06:13after the grant but that's not the money you're paying today the total cost of retrofit works after
06:19grants is well down at 81 716 euros still a very considerable sum so you'll be looking at the payback
06:27time to get value out of this investment yeah for us it's a it's a long-term investment i don't know
06:32that we're looking directly at the payback we're looking at like all the comfort factors and other
06:36factors and what we're doing for the environment and i'm looking forward to my super cozy house and
06:42i'll be feeling sometimes like i am in france although i'm in the depth of winter in in dublin
06:48that'll be a pleasant change
06:53clearly this is a beautiful old house with period features there'll be a lot of care and attention
06:58needed by the contractors when they're fitting all the new deep retrofit measures we know we're fitting
07:03internal dry lining behind the front elevation wall with the red brick when this dry lining's been
07:08fitted we have to take care of all the old cornice works and of course all the architrave works around
07:13the original doors and windows we also know on the rear elevation there's external insulation and
07:18we'd be very careful how all that's dealt with so it's a big challenge it's a unique beautiful house
07:24and i'm looking forward to calling back to make sure all this works out okay
07:27it's day one of john and isabel's retrofit festival in clontarf and the contractors are the headline act
07:39they're replacing the old plastic framed windows with new aluminium triple glaze units to help keep
07:45the heat in and the noise out the retrofit crew are a well-oiled machine and for john all of this
07:52sudden activity is a bit of a shock to the system a little bit nervous yeah because you know it's the
07:57house you're living in you know you've all your personal belongings all your stuff there and we've
08:02been planning this for months and months and now it's actually the first day that there's real work
08:06starting on the house as you see there's quite a lot of things happening in one go we've done as
08:10much preparation as we can but it's really we're handed over now to the crew to do their job and hopefully
08:15it goes really well today john may be worried about his windows but project manager david has done this
08:22countless times in the past window fitting is such a big job people think it's going to take days on
08:29end for them you can be in and out of a project within a day mainly in this house they're all
08:34mechanically fixed so it's four screws holding them in and a little bit of silicone which we're able to
08:38strip out quite quickly the fitting takes a little bit more time because we have to get them plumb and
08:43level and nice and neat and then the finishing off of the windows sealing them and stuff like that
08:49takes a bit longer in the process alongside the windows the front door is also being upgraded to
08:55a hardwood model that replicates the style of the original which includes a unique feature that was
09:01isabel's idea a pair of specially commissioned stained glass panels yeah we kind of felt that was the only
09:09piece where we got a bit of freedom so we worked with a designer in mead and we gave them the brief and
09:17that's what he came up with and we kind of had different iterations where first we thought we
09:21might have the same image in the two panes and then we thought we'd we'd want kind of an extension
09:26of it but it looks beautiful like on the ground floor the patio doors are going in up on the roof
09:33they're preparing for the arrival of the first of the solar panels the solar sort of the icing on the
09:38cake really when it comes to a house like this because you're getting a payback you're actually generating
09:42electricity we put the heat pump in and our hope is that the solar is going to really
09:47help us to be able to run that heat pump very cost effectively and it's one of those things we're
09:50going to see a benefit of most quickly and the nice thing is with solar panels is there's no planning
09:56involved and it's becoming more normal as you just glance across any of the houses across the
10:01neighbourhood you're going to see probably one in ten houses now have solar panels up and that's
10:05increasing all the time so it's becoming just a normal feature so remind me now i'm going to get
10:10morning sun in here because i've got this really direct coming on onto this route exactly and then i'm
10:15going to have some more panels on the back isn't it more panels on the back so we have panels on the
10:20existing roof on the back and then we have some on the extension as well so plenty there originally
10:27when we were looking at this we were initially only thinking we put the panels on the back of the house
10:31because we have a west facing which gets a lot of sun and we have a south facing slope and then
10:35subsequently you guys suggested we also put some panels here in the front yeah we didn't even know you
10:40could sort of split panels around they were so flexible so that was a big plus for us like a
10:45straightforward roof would be ideal that you can have all the panels in one row but in a sort of
10:50intricate house like this where we can split it between three separate roofs it's great you know
10:55but um like we've got the maximum we could get here and even in a terrace house with unusual roof we've
11:01managed to get yeah 10 panels up which is going to give us quite a bit of power actually definitely yeah
11:07today i'm back in dublin to catch up with john and isabel fallon who are in the middle of an
11:18extensive retrofit to their 1930s mid-terrace house in clontarf the house has seen a parade of
11:25contractors on site getting stuck into the various elements of this big project and i have to say i'm
11:32impressed isabel morning kieran john how are you yeah very good you're flying it you really are
11:38yeah i think we're only 10 days in but it's been team after team and we seem to be making enormous
11:44progress i can hear lots of activity on the outside anyway so i'm very excited to see what's happening
11:49uh will you show me around yeah great lead the way lead the way lead the way
11:56well they have an awful lot done here haven't they i see all the dry lining is up and running and
12:00plastering and all complete yeah i mean this is the room that probably has the most change because
12:04we've got dry lining here to the front but we also had some exterior wall over here so we had to dry
12:10line both of those and now we're looking at the dimensions but actually the the room supports it
12:14well and the guys have said that they're going to be able to match in the doorway as well as a bit of
12:18a finish and it's actually starting to look like our room again moving through the house i can't help
12:24noticing there have been a few very significant changes since my last visit are these new radiators
12:30is about yeah they're all new radiators in the house they had to be changed to be compliance with
12:35the whole uv value you know so and we really liked our previous one so i'm happy to see that they're
12:42generally similar you know they're quite sleek looking aren't they yeah at the back of the house
12:47they are on the home stretch with the external insulation they have the bulk of the main wall
12:54insulation in place but now you get to all the finessing details the thing about external
12:59insulation is it's not that complicated a process i mean you're putting on 100 125 millimeters of
13:05insulation onto the outside face of your wall but in reality like if you don't have it all carefully
13:10considered around all these tricky details around your sliding doors and all that sort of things it
13:14would look like a dog's dinner but i mean it's a relief to see that they really have worked it carefully
13:19around here because that's what will show up at the end of the day you know the work continues in
13:25clontarf and i'm taking the opportunity to head back to cork on a visit to the hq of the irish
13:31guide dogs for the blind over the past couple of years and with the aid of available grants the
13:37organization has upgraded its energy systems to be more efficient and cost effective i'm meeting ceo
13:44tim o'many to find out more about their retrofit journey tim thanks for inviting me around you're
13:50very welcome tim tell me where are we right now and what amazing work have you done recently so
13:55you're here at irish guide dogs for the blind where we enable people with vision impairment and
13:59families of children with autism to live more independent and mobile lives through our dog services
14:05what drove you to take a new approach to the buildings with clients here to stay with us when
14:09they're on class and so their rooms would go from the extreme when the heating was on to the very
14:14cold when the heating was off so there was plenty of opportunity to look at bringing a more
14:18consistent environment for everyone i'd love to see the inside and see how it all works do you want
14:22to show me around i will indeed lead away thank you this is a client bedroom our clients stay here
14:30when they're on site for classes the main upgrades that were here was the building management system
14:34allows us to regulate the temperature more closely to ensure that there's less extremes between hot and
14:40cold and what benefits have you seen in these rooms now from the measures that you've already
14:45installed our clients have commented that the environment is more comfortable more consistent
14:49and just less extreme this is our kennel building it's one of the oldest buildings on the site so
14:57there's been insulation installed in the walls insulation in the roof so it makes it more of a
15:02cocoon and more comfortable for our dogs and they're here inside this is an autism assessment unit so when
15:08the child and their family would come on site to consider the suitability of a dog match it's in here
15:13they would come so this is very child friendly so the child can relax and play and be introduced to
15:18their new potential park it has also benefited from the building management system which allows the
15:23temperature to be regulated so you want to recreate the conditions at home so that the partnership can
15:28be as relaxed as it would be in a family environment you can measure the savings but you can't put a value
15:34on the comfort for our clients and for our staff and our dogs when they're here on site which are
15:39absolutely far outweigh probably the individual monetary savings from a comfort level and benefit
15:44to the charity in the long term so tell me what were your heating and energy bills like before the
15:50works the gas and electricity costs here before the upgrade works was around 115 hundred and twenty
15:55thousand per annum that is a staggering figure it was literally evaporating through the roof because
16:01of the age of the building and i suppose given our backgrounds we look to spend as much of our
16:05resources on the front line and we've reduced carbon footprint reduced energy costs by 30 percent so
16:10it's a win-win on all fronts the environment our clients the charity and our future this place runs
16:18around the clock so making it warmer more energy efficient and easier to manage doesn't just help
16:23the environment it helps the people and the dogs who rely on it every day thanks to a full energy upgrade
16:29they can spend less on bills and more on training dogs that change lives
16:37back in clontarf the retrofit of john and isabel's 1930s red brick house is entering its final stages
16:45the solar panels are in place and the attic insulation is being rolled out so john is looking forward to
16:51getting his house back the main construction work is really behind us and what's happening today is
16:56we've got a plumbers and electrics being closed out so it's sort of second fix of those elements
17:02the heat pump getting ready for commissioning and then the whole electrical element so all the neat
17:07electrics we did have some controls on the house so we did have it fairly well controlled but i'd love
17:12to see the latest technology so yeah give me some of these techie toys and i'm very much at home so i'll
17:18be learning a little bit about those but again i imagine they're going super easy to use and they'll just run
17:23themselves to make sure john gets the most out of his new tech toys electrical supervisor jake is up in
17:30the attic connecting the indoor controls that will run the new heating system this will control the
17:35outputs for the motorized valves which will allow the hot water to pass through to the specific zones
17:39so the house will be split into two zones so we'll have an upstairs zone and a downstairs zone this will
17:45be able to read then downstairs is at 20 degrees your target temperature is 22 degrees so it will knock on
17:50the heat pump to slowly heat the rooms back up to 22 degrees in that downstairs zone for us we can see
17:56the progress which is really good the guys have been really good at just keeping the project on schedule
18:01and it looks like fingers crossed we'll be able to move back in this weekend that's the hope
18:10at the start of the summer john and isabel fallon began the retrofit on their 1930s red brick house
18:17in clontarf in dublin they wanted to make it more energy efficient and environmentally friendly whilst
18:23also keeping its 1930s charm the installation of triplet laced windows solar panels on the roof and
18:30internal and external wall installation means the couple are well on their way to achieving energy
18:36independence i'm really looking forward to seeing the results of all the hard work so it's great to see
18:43your house looking i won't say unchanged because there is subtle changes tell me how have things
18:50been well we're delighted to be back in and everything finished you know so it's sort of a relief from our
18:55point of view but yes the front of the house was very important to us to try to keep the character of
18:59the house and to be able to achieve what we wanted to do from the retrofit and isabel how are you after
19:04the the whole journey the whole retrofit went very well a few snacks here and there but we're getting
19:12there getting there so well i'm really excited to see how it looks on the inside will you show me around
19:17yeah let's go come on so this room is actually the room that's had the most work done to it and
19:24yet when you walk into it you wouldn't necessarily know that yeah and the windows are the centerpiece
19:29of it so in terms of the windows we've got the bay we had all of that stripped back stripped back to the
19:34the brickwork and then with the insulation put in i see you have a radiator over here in the corner
19:39like did it ever come up in conversation as an option to go for underfloor heating yeah i guess
19:43with our house one of the main features of the house is that's an old house and we've got the
19:47original floorboards here so for us to do underfloor heating would mean destroying all of the floors and
19:52taking them up and it would have turned a retrofit project into a major construction project but for us
19:58the rads were taking up the same space as we had before so there's no detriment from our point of
20:02view to have the rads the first thing i'm noticing in your kitchen is there's so much more light yeah
20:09well this is the area we've had most glass in and the new windows because they're all sort of slimmer
20:13profile and you get that more light in isabel how do you find this space to come into now in the morning
20:18no it's really nice and actually the rads have barely been on even without them the house already
20:24felt cozy and then yeah the extra light makes it i guess warming as well the solar panels are playing
20:32their part in heating the home and there are other terrific external touches straight away on the
20:38outside i can see the the beautiful blue sliding doors but i'm also drawn to your external insulation
20:43i mean it's barely noticeable yeah well it's the whole back of the house then it's got a refresh i suppose
20:48so everything looks fresh and new and we've got a really clean finish and i see the outdoor unit
20:55of your heat pump is now raised up onto your side water of your extension we're getting used to the
21:00fact you don't really see it there unless you come back around the side of the house and it's
21:03interesting that such a unit is just sort of fitting neatly and against the side of the house
21:08the transformation is amazing and now that the project is complete there is one thing i'm really
21:14curious about when it comes to the ber you were originally a c2 which as we all remember from
21:20our exam days was a reasonably good result where you know yeah well our objective was to get to an
21:27a rating that was you know like anyone you want an a rating you don't want something less than an a
21:31rating but we didn't know where we would land we're really delighted when we got the cert back so we
21:35got an a1 rating the highest possible rating for the house that's incredible when you when you consider
21:41that you haven't taken up the floors and you haven't had to go to the expense of really driving
21:47home a high level of air tightness and all that i was thinking it might be an a3 maybe an a2 if you
21:52were lucky but to get an a1 is an excellent result yeah from our point of view you know to take on
21:58the project and just i suppose really to see that you can in an old house go from whatever the rating
22:03is before and get to an a1 rating without destroying the house i think it's testament to the materials
22:09and the work that can be done these days john and isabel's investment of their time and finances has
22:18paid off with a well-earned a1 rating today it's time to throw open their doors to family and friends
22:26to share the new cozy home they love and hope their guests will love it too
22:31the house feels great modern stylish nice colors you know you had the brick very jealous of their
22:40heating and maybe their low-cost energy bills from now on what's really lovely is there's a lot of
22:46modern insulation work that's been done a lot of retrofit work but the original features are all
22:50still here i'd like to congratulate john and isabel on their wonderful achievement they've brought their
22:56house up to an a1 energy rating so congratulations and i wish you many happy and energy efficient
23:04years in your new home congratulations thanks very much
23:09relieved and actually chuffed now that we can enjoy our cozy home we're doing a bit for the environment
23:16and i guess it seems strange today that everybody's saying oh but i don't see any difference but i guess
23:21that's a compliment now that the weather is a bit cooler we can see the heating starting to come on a
23:26little bit we can feel how cozy the house is after living here for more than 20 years john and isabel
23:33knew exactly what they wanted a warmer more efficient home that still felt like bears retrofitting a red
23:40brick terrace like this was never going to be easy especially when the facade had to stay exactly as it
23:46was but they made it happen the result is a comfortable low energy home that's ready for the next 20 years
23:56so
23:59you
24:01you
24:03you
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24:07Transcription by CastingWords
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