All language subtitles for Heat.My.Home.S01E01.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PiG30N_track3_[eng]

♪ (Upbeat music) ♪

I'm Ciaran Mccarthy,

and I've been working as a building
engineer for nearly 30 years.

I get asked all the time,

how do I save money on energy costs?

Well, retrofitting is all over
the news lately,

and in this series,

I'm travelling around Ireland,

checking out homes that are getting
energy upgrades.

That dark blue is the coldest.

This is typically what I'd expect to
see in an old house.

With 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.

I'll be showing you what's actually
doable

and what grants are out there to
help.

From 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.

You're just bamboozled with all the
decisions that need to be made.

So come with me as we retrofit
Ireland

and discover how you can reduce your
energy costs.

This is Heat my Home.

♪ (Cheery guitar music) ♪

Today, I'm on my way to meet Sylvia
Thompson,

a retired speech and language
therapist living

in Ballymacelligott, County Kerry.

The Limerick native moved into this
very solid

1950s bungalow in the mid '90s

and now wants to upgrade it from an F
to an A3 BER rating.

Sylvia is no newcomer to the
sustainability revolution,

as she is a long-time member

of the Kerry Sustainable Energy
Cooperative.

In 2015, I became a member.

Now I'm the secretary.

I'm hoping to be able to say,

I too have taken the measures that
I'm suggesting to you.

It has always been a dry house.

But for me, I would have to say it's
a cold house.

Even in the hottest summer day,
it's very cold.

Now, sometimes, when we have a lot
of heat,

it's very nice to have a cold house.

But a cold house in the winter, it
wasn't really suited my needs.

So I would use heat, such as plug-in
heaters,

and then I had central heating added
to it.

But there wouldn't have been a lot
of ventilation, but there probably

was ventilation in the form of what
we might call draughts.

But unfortunately, as one gets
older,

little things begin to happen to the
old body,

so it's good to have a place that's
warm and welcoming

and warmer than what it is at the
moment.

I was visiting my sister who lives
in a house with a heat pump,

and I realised I didn't have to grit
my teeth to kind of move from

the warm room to the cold room.

Sometimes I have little dreams
of what it will be like,

and I'll be walking the talk.

I'll be more environmentally
friendly in my own life

in the way I'm living in my home.

And even though there is still a
little car outside

that uses petrol,

at least my home will be zero
emissions, I hope.

♪ (Cheery guitar music) ♪

I've arrived at Sylvia's house,
and straight away,

I can see that she's worked hard
over the years

to keep this building in very good
nick.

The thing about 1950s cottages

is that it can be hard to keep the
heat in and the damp out.

Hopefully, this is about to change in
the very near future.

When you look at the outside
of the building,

the building looks well kept.

The windows are in quite good
condition.

I'd like to think I've kept it
fairly well,

and I like the shape of it.

How much attachment do you have
to the old house

before the builders get going?

I'm not so attached to that,
really, because at this point,

I'm probably more interested in
comfort.

Okay. I haven't changed the inside
shape of it very much.

Well, look, do you want to show me
inside?

Yeah. Great. Thank you.
You're very welcome.

♪ (Buoyant piano music) ♪

Now, the place, as you can see,
is a bit of a mess.

This stuff has to move out,

but this is a lovely sunroom in the
summer.

How are the builders dealing with
this room now?

Well, this room is considered
outside.

But as far as I understand, the
cladding or the wrapping

will just come as far as the edge.

Okay, well, that's unusual now,

because the cladding would be
like an external installation.

So that's your wrap on the external
of the building.

All of this external insulation will
help form what's called

a thermal envelope around Sylvia's
house

that will basically keep heat in and
the cold out.

So now another room full of...
Oh, yeah. Okay.

It's kinda cold in here, isn't it?

I'm very glad I have my coat on.
Yeah, likewise.

A few layers on underneath.

So what building works will be
happening in this room?

What's the big thing?

Well, the biggest thing for the
whole house is that all

the floors are being dug up,

including this one.

There is little or no insulation
currently under these floors.

It's going to be a major job to dig
down there and put in hard core,

a radon membrane, concrete slab,

insulation, lay-under-floor heating
pipes,

and complete with a concrete screed.

Hopefully, the end result will make
it all worthwhile.

Please God, please God.

Even though the last room was a
little on the cold side,

this room is colder again.

But I suppose you have more external
walls here,

and you have a level of dampness
here.

Because you have next to no
insulation,

you're getting a level of
condensation.

Now, you have the new external
insulation on the outside,

so that will deal with the insulation
issue,

so the walls will be a lot warmer,

so that will dramatically improve it
anyway, you know?

♪ ♪

Making my way through the rest
of the cottage,

I'm discovering a few trouble spots
that could be culprits

for Sylvia's heat loss.

So I decide to carry out a test with
my thermal imaging camera.

What it'll actually do is it'll show
you where the cold spots are

in the house, which I'm assuming is
a a lot of the house

and where the warmer spots are.

So what we'll do is we'll shine this
on some of the existing walls.

So obviously, the dark blue is the
coldest,

which is on the outside wall.

You can see the curtains in the
beginnings of the window.

So you're seeing huge variations in
the temperature.

So I'll be back with this little
gizmo now in a few months,

once all the builders have finished
the installation works to make sure

there's no more navies and there's
a lot more greens, yellows,

and hopefully some reds as well.

And I'll be able to take the scarf
off.

Yeah, we'll both be in T-shirts.

(Laughter)

I've had a good look at the floors,
walls, windows,

and exterior of Sylvia's cottage,

and there is a lot of work to be
done on this retrofit project.

Sylvia has hired a one-stop shop
retrofit company

who take care of all of the grant
applications

and carry out all of the work
involved.

And the cost?

Bear in mind, there are substantial
grants available

for most of the improvements Sylvia
has lined up.

But even with those grants,

we're still looking at a pretty big
outlay.

Okay, hold your breath.

You've probably already seen this
figure.

I'm holding my breath.

Total cost of retrofit works before
the grants, 100,980.

You kinda wonder, should you be

looking at the property prices
nearby? But anyway.

Somebody told me,be better to knock
my house down.

I was not happy with that comment.

So the total cost of the retrofit
works after the grants, 71,380.

Dramatic improvement, still a high
figure.

I mean, one can see why people
don't go down this route,

except that I've had my life
savings

and da-da, da-da. all of
that.

You are doing a lot for the
environment as well.

You're removing all the fossil fuels

and you're bringing the house
into the 21st century,

which I know is very important to
you.

I think you'll be a new person when
you move back in.

Between the warmer house
and the decluttering

and just a fresh outlook in life.

It will be a new you, we hope.

That's what I hope, too.

When you come back, you'll see the
dark circles have all disappeared.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is going to be a massive
challenge.

We're going from a BER F up to,
hopefully, an A3.

I admire Sylvia's bravery,

knowing that the builders are just
around the corner

and they're going to be taking apart
your house.

It's a huge job.

I just know that when she moves
back in to a beautiful, warm,

insulated home with no fossil fuel,

it will make all the difference to
her.

It's day one of Sylvia's project,

and the crew are getting in early
to start on this massive job.

The project manager from the one-stop
shop is Sean,

and he's here to give Sylvia the low
down on what's happening next.

The excavator is going to come
in through the front door.

We're going to excavate the
concrete,

and we're going to lift the
suspended timber floor inside here,

and we're going to place a radon
barrier,

a radon on sump, build back up a
grade,

and then we're going to put your
150 millimetre of insulation.

We're then going to run your under
floor heating.

The excavator is here,

and its first job is to remove
the living room floor.

But getting it into the living room
is proving to be a challenge.

We're having an issue because on the
count of the hallway

being so narrow, we can't actually
turn the excavator.

So we're removing some doors
and door frames initially with

an attempt to turn the excavator.

Issues such as this wouldn't be
uncommon,

especially in more traditional homes
where hallways are narrower,

rooms are tighter, door frames are
smaller.

Hopefully now they'll get it around
the door.

It's a tight squeeze and a progress
is inch by inch, but finally,

the crew managed to get the excavator
through the narrow door

and can begin to dig up the floors.

Just watching this man try to get
in through that door

was something else. You know what I
feel?

I'm in good hands here.

What's your name? Sorry.

James. James.

Oh, the same as your dad? Yeah.

What's it like to work for your
father?

Is he good? Hope he's nice to you.

Is he? No, no comment.

The excitement is over for now,

and the work can get properly
underway.

Outside, the window installers have
also arrived on a mission to bring

this cottage up to date and up to
spec.

They're just replacing the older
double-glaze windows

with new triple-glaze with a U-Value
of 0.9.

When you say UV...?

it's a performance indicator for a
window

or indeed any terminal element
within the house,

be it a wall or a roof.

So that's how they assess.

So with your windows, we have a U
value of 0.9

versus your previous double
triple-glazed windows.

What forecast do you value?

Because we had in the certification
of about 3 or 3.2.

That'd be toasty.

You'll be very warm, yeah, for sure.

And then there's trickle vents on
the windows as well.

Those vents are adequately greatly
sized for each room

to ensure sufficient airflow
through.

Ventilation is obviously a very
important factor for any retrofit,

particularly older, more traditional
houses such as this one.

I'm delighted to hear that my
windows,

my new triple-glazed windows,

will be three times more efficient
than my previous windows.

I thought my previous windows were
quite good,

but in order to keep in the heat

that is going to be generated by the
heat pump,

you have to have the fabric of all
parts of the house in good nick.

So that made sense to change all
the windows and the doors.

And they fit in with the character
of the house.

And the back of the house will look
much better because, of course,

the oil tank will have gone, which
is really ugly-looking thing.

♪ (Cheery music) ♪

Today, I'm back on the road to Kerry

to check in with retiree Sylvia
Thompson,

who's in the middle of a full
retrofit on her 1950s cottage.

Sylvia has faced some challenges
along the way,

but the project is making good
progress,

and over the last few weeks,

her home has experienced some
dramatic changes.

Whoa, your house is taken apart.

It was really reduced to a shell.

I couldn't understand that.

They said you would have a new
house.

It's certainly a new house.

And I suppose the main feature
here, of course,

is your beautiful new under floor
heating. I know.

Unlike radiators,

which concentrate heat in one spot
and run at higher temperatures,

under floor heating uses lower
temperature water

flowing through a much larger network
of pipes laid under the floor.

A device that distributes water,

called a manifold,

directs warmth to each part of the
house as needed,

helping to maintain a steady,

comfortable temperature.

Once the pipes are laid,

a thin layer of concrete secures
them in place

and spreads heat evenly across the
entire floor.

What the lads are doing here is
they're screeding,

and they're just getting it roughly
into place.

And now they have a screed rail,

and they're getting a better level
again.

It's a work of art.
Isn't it just?

It's like synchronised swimming

when all the crew arrive with their
barrels and they start burying it in.

And of course, as soon as that goes
into the barrels,

you're on the clock and it's starting
to go off.

You got to get it down, get it
approximately level,

get it screeded, get it finished
before it goes hard.

The great thing about on the floor
heating

is when you have an air to water
system,

they tend to work at a lower
temperature.

So you need a bigger expanse area
of heating to compensate,

which is the ideal scenario when
you've underfloor heating,

because then the whole ground floor

of your house is your heating
element.

There's still a way to go before
Sylvia can set foot

on her new warm floor,

so I'm leaving the crew to carry on
their work

as I look at other ways of heating
your home.

Solar panels have become much more
popular and affordable over

the last few years,

and I want to find out more about how
they work.

So I'm heading to Ennis, County
Clare

to meet up with Darren O'Connor,

who has found himself becoming
an expert on the subject.

Over the past few years,

Darren has installed a vast array
of solar panels on his property.

So I hear you have a keen interest
in solar photovoltaic.

So what's going on over here?

I run a business from the home,

and I was hit with a massive bill,

and I said, Right, this needs to be
solved,

and we have the facility to be able
to solve that problem.

I went and I put up, initially, 28
solar panels.

Then I had beautiful south facing
garage,

so I put another 12 on that south
facing roof.

And now I'm building a solar fence,

and there's plans to go further.

So these will pick up a lot of the
sun during the middle of the day.

Yeah, we're not far off 12:now.

East and West will be working,

but they won't be working at high
efficiency,

whereas this south facing roof will
be

pumping out massive amounts of
power.

Where is all this power going?

I can show you.
Alright, let's go.

♪ (Bouncy music) ♪

Right. Quick little operation. What
do you do here?

So ultimately, I make chocolate.

I make chocolate from cocoa
bean into chocolate bar.

And then my wife has a chain
of health food stores,

and she sells my chocolate.

This is how we make a living.

So you got your first instalment of
solar.

You saw the savings you were
beginning to make.

Month one, halved the electricity
bill.

And then as the summer rolled on,
my bills went to zero.

Now, when you come into the
wintertime,

I will have a small electricity
bill,

but are still sub 200,

which for me, running a business
is a very affordable cost.

So, Darren, you're clearly a massive
solar fan.

What money would you expect
a reasonably

good system to start off with?

And how long is your payback time on
a system like that?

So we're actually really lucky in
Ireland.

There's zero VAT on a solar
installation,

and we also have the SEAI grants.

So for an average home,

I would be expecting a 10 to
12-panel system,

somewhere in a region of 7,500 to
9,500 euros,

depending on whether you're adding
a battery or not,

and then minus off your SEAI grant.

So you could, in theory, get a solar
installation anywhere

in and around 5,500 to 6,500
quite comfortably.

Then we're looking at a return on
investment,

sometimes of three and a half to
four and a half years,

depending on how far into that
investment you go.

So this shows the value of solar.

Not only can you generate enough
electricity for your house,

But even in the depths of winter,

you can generate enough electricity
to make a big dent on your ESB bills.

Back in Ballymacelligott, County
Kerry,

the retrofit of Sylvia Thompson's
1950s cottage

is moving along at a blistering pace.

Over the last couple of weeks,

the heat pump has been installed.

Today, the attic insulation is being
fitted

while the finishing touches are
applied

to the brand new external insulation.

Sylvia is calling by for one of her
regular inspections,

and she's getting comfortable
with all the technical jargon

that comes with the retrofit.

The external wall insulation is part
of what they call

this thermal envelope.

Note my good and appropriate
use of all the terminology.

So they put what they call boards
all the way around the house.

And then, of course, there's little
lines of cracks in between them.

So then they put three layers of
plastering on top of them.

So it has to be completely sealed
all the way around.

So they've been very busy.

Inside, work on the attic is moving
along quickly,

and Sylvia is looking forward to
getting the details

from project manager Sean.

What kind of insulation is going?

So the insulation we use here,
it's a mineral wool.

So unlike, I suppose, traditionally,

it would have been fibreglass
insulation

that would have went up into these
addicts,

and obviously it has varying
implications, not most, I suppose,

in terms of health and environment,
but mineral wool,

it's a lot more natural.

It's a natural fibre, and the
thermal conductivity

is just as good as any fibre
insulation

that would have went in the past.

And the rafters then, I think the
rafters are

to be insulated as well.

No, not in this instance.

We're insulating on the joist here.

So this is what we call a coal roof.

So a coal roof would be the actual
main area of the roof is cold.

So that's all sufficiently
ventilated around.

But the insulation sits on the
joist, so it keeps the house warm.

So if you think about the thermal
envelope of the house,

again, it finishes here.

We're pretty much at this ceiling.

So the heat is retained within this
area rather than heating the roof.

And what about the way I personally
don't,

but some people store other things
up in their attic,

but you wouldn't put things on top
of this?

No, you wouldn't.

It's advised that you wouldn't throw
it on the top of the wool

because it'll compress the wool

and that will have an Impact then on
the thermal value.

And we're actually putting in a
walkway from the attic hatch,

which will be going in afterwards,

over to the cold water tank.

So that's a requirement in order
to service it afterwards.

So we're not, I suppose, anybody's,

not trampling on top of the
installation.

♪ (Cheery music) ♪

Over the last few months,

Sylvia's retrofit project has seen
her home taken over by builders

who have installed a big a range of
energy-saving systems and kit.

I'm back to check on the final
result.

Even with all the retrofit bells and
whistles,

the exterior still looks like a
traditional 1950s cottage.

So, Ciaran.

Hello, Sylvia.
Welcome back.

Great to see you.
Good to see you.

Thank you very much.
Welcome back to my new house.

It looks like a new house.

There's so much work done
since the last time I was here.

Yes.

And how are you? Are you recovering?

I'm recovering and enjoying it, and
it's great.

Now that the sun has come through
the clouds,

I can see your beautiful external
installation.

Yeah, I mean, that's amazing.

You can see that it's hollow.

People are often asking me, How
durable is it?

If you know the old, as you say,
sliotar.

I wouldn't see you damaging with a
sliotar.

But if you did, or a sharp object or
something, if you did,

the plastering company can come
back and they can repair it.

Then good as new.

Last time I was here, we were in our
coats and scarfs indoors.

I can't wait to see what the
temperature is like inside now.

Wow.

Total transformation,

particularly in terms of the heat.

I mean, it's so much warmer, isn't
it?

Yeah, I mean, certainly don't need
your coat. Definitely.

You won't be needing jackets inside
here, I can tell you.

If you remember, Sylvia,

this was an area that I was a bit
concerned about

because of the cold bridging detail
around the edges.

But they've done a lovely job.

They've insulated the wall here

and they've curved it nicely towards
the reveal of your window

and then curved it out again outside.
They've done a lovely job here.

Well, they were a hard-working crew.

Well, Sylvia, this room is totally
transformed, isn't it? Yeah.

And of course, you have your

underfloor heating with your new
floors.

The stove is back in.

Its rightful place.
With a new frontage.

Compared to the olden days,

maybe this time last year
in the autumn,

would you have had the heating system
on much now at this time?

Well, I would have needed it on

because even in the middle
of the summer,

when you came into the house,

the house was really cold.

Or else you wear lots of clothes.

You were putting on the insulation
onto yourself,

and now the house has its own
insulation.

One room that really interests me

is where all the high tech heating
gear is located.

This is my favourite room in the
house

where you get to see all the
artillery.

This big box, which looks a bit
like a fridge,

is actually what they call your
indoor air to water unit.

So now, instead of you controlling
your heating system

like you did in the past,

you turn it on and off depending on
whether it's cold or not inside,

now the thermostat does all that work
for you.

So if you set the thermostat to 18
degrees or 20 degrees,

that thermostat will call your
motorised valves,

which will call hot water from your
indoor unit here,

depending on the temperature in the
room.

So it does all the thinking so you
don't have to.

The transformation of Sylvia's house
is amazing.

What was once a cold cottage is now a
cosy home.

How cosy? We're about to find out.

So if you remember the last time I
was here, Sylvia,

I had this thermal imaging camera.
I remember that.

We were seeing a lot of blues and
dark blues,

and we were trying to get rid of
those.

So let's have a look at the walls
now and see where they go.

Yeah, I mean, straight away here,
now, we were looking at the walls.

That's a huge improvement.

You can see all that navy and blue
are gone compared

to what we saw the last time.
It's chilly today.

It's not particularly warm.

It was great to see the installation
doing its work. Good.

Seeing all the blue the last time
made me feel blue

I'm delighted to see the blue has
gone.

An encouraging view.

Of course, you went to the extra
length, Sylvia,

of doing all the floors,

and they should be dramatically
better than your old floors.

Straight away there, that's exactly
what you want to see, isn't it?

All greens and yellows.

Greens and yellows again there now.

And you can see the benefit

when you look at the thermal imaging
camera,

the benefit of doing all that work.

After my personal tour, it's time for
Sylvia's friends

to have their first look at the new
warmer pad

and see how it all works.

That's all the technology.

The temperature is very good.

comfortable in the house.

It's quite remarkable, the
difference.

It's balmy warm, whereas before,

it was a house that was hard to
heat.

Oh wow.

I'm delighted for her because her
house is now warm, it's bright,

it's spacious, and for the next few
years of her life,

it's going to be great.

So I'd like to congratulate you,
Sylvia,

and you went from being an F up to an
A3.

So you have first-class honours.

(Applause)

I would recommend it.

It's a big undertaking.

Some people said you're mad to be
doing it.

You're mad to be doing it at your
age,

which... I'm not really particularly
interested in age.

So you have to ignore all of that.

If this is something you want to do,
go and do it.

And other friends who've had
retrofits done said,

later and later and later, you keep
just enjoying the comfort of it.

What's been amazing about this
house is, of course,

homeowner Sylvia, in her retirement,

to take on a project like this on her
own,

but with a great team around her who
really helped bring it together.

And now she has a wonderful,
newly retrofitted

and renovated home to enjoy for many
years to come.

Subtitling
RTÉ 2025.