All language subtitles for Heat.my.Home.S01E05.1080p.RTE.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoRN_track3_[eng]

# #

I'm Kieran 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.

Look at the walls.

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 it makes 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.

# #

Today, I'm on my way to Dublin
to meet up with John

and Isabelle Fallon, who are getting
ready to carry out

an extensive retrofit on their 1930s
mid terrace house

in Clontarf.

The couple carried out some
renovations on the house

when they bought it back in 2003,

but now they want to improve
the energy rating

of their home from a C2 to a very
healthy A3.

They have enlisted the help of a
one-stop shop contractor

to take on the task of completing all
of the work.

We didn't want to rush the project.

We wanted to make sure that we were
comfortable

with what was being done.

It's a pretty large investment
in the house,

and that allowed us to do that.

When we got the house, we did what
was appropriate at the time,

but there was no sense of energy
efficiency,

and things have moved along so much.

And we're really looking at this
house and what is needed

to maintain that and looking
ahead for the next 20 years.

Yeah, and we want the house to be
cosy for ourselves,

but we also want to do a bit for the
environment.

Like most people,
we have a gas boiler,

and even a good few years ago,

we actually replaced the gas
boiler,

and we're looking ahead and going,

Well, we'd like to remove gas from
the equation.

We'd like to be able to move to
electric.

And the nice thing is it is
possible,

even in an old house like this,

to bring it up to modern standards

and actually get to an A-rated
house.

We're very attached to the house

and really the neighbourhood and the
area that we live in.

It has all the amenities that we
want.

We're close to the city, so we
really enjoy the house,

and we both work from home,

and you'd like it to be that little
bit cosier.

In the wintertime, it's fine to put
on an extra layer or to know,

Oh, that room is going to be really
cold in the morning.

It'll warm up later in the day.

But I think there's really no real
reason why the house can't be

that bit cosier and that bit warmer
and that bit more comfortable.

And we're looking forward to that at
the end of the project.

The exterior of this house which is
a classic 1930s red brick finish.

Although it's not a protected
structure,

John and Isabelle are making no
alterations

to the road-facing façade,

and I'm curious to hear their plans
for this cracking period building.

So this is your beautiful home in
Clontarf.

Yeah, this is the house.

The brick is the first thing you
see, isn't it? It is stunning.

And of course, when you're doing
a retrofit job on a house like this,

you want to keep all the old
character. Absolutely.

And even when we did the original
renovations,

we didn't really want to change the
character the house.

So the challenge for ye is to bring
it from a C up to an A

whilst maintaining the old features
and staying in the house for as

long as you can while the works are
happening.

Yeah, I think that's it.
Very good.

Well, I think we've seen enough here.

Will you show me inside?
Yeah, great.

I'll follow you, I'll you.

# #

This is a fine room, isn't it?

This is your day-to-day living room,
I guess, is it?

Yeah, this is one of the biggest
features of the house

is to have this double living room

and a little bit of height in the
ceilings and the nice bay window.

What's the plan here?

I'm conscious that on the external
wall,

you have the red brick on the
outside.

How are you insulating the wall here?

Yeah, the big thing here is that
we're going to need

to insulate on the inside of those
walls.

So that's going to bring things in a
little bit.

And we've got a additional
complication where

part of this wall in here is
actually facing the exterior.

So we're going to have to insulate
all the way up,

even to this wall here.

And so this is the kitchen living
space.

Yeah, and this is actually
a west-facing room,

which is lovely in the evening.

But in the morning, this is one
of the colder spots in the house.

And what changes are you making in
this room?

Well, the big change here is we're
going to visually see,

is going to be the windows and the
doors.

So we're going to move to aluminium
windows and doors.

Isabel, are you sad to say goodbye
to the French doors?

No, I like those doors,

but I'm looking forward to even
more light coming

with just two big doors and then
having the easier

entry/exit point when we leave the
house.

Well, these are the benefits of
upgrading a house by deep

retrofitting that you get all these
opportunities to upgrade little

parts of the house that were good but
could be better in the future.

Another area that's up for a future
upgrade

is outside at the back of the house,

which John is targeting for external
installation.

So I suppose what we're seeing
here, you have an old rough cast

render, and that's where the new
external installation

will be going.
Yes.

We're going to have that paired
down, a blast down some way,

and then we'll have more of a smooth
render on top.

External wall installation involves
fixing a layer

of rigid insulation to the outside of
a building,

then plastering with two layers of
reinforced base coat

and sealing with a weather-resistant
finish.

This system significantly reduces
heat loss

through poorly insulated walls.

It also helps prevent internal
condensation

and mould occurring as the wall is
protected from external elements

like wind, rain, and cold
temperatures.

The Fallon's plan is an ambitious
one,

and I've been juggling some
numbers

to see what this retrofit is going to
cost.

Right, let's have a look at these
figures.

So the total cost of retrofit works

before grants is a significant
102,116 euro.

Yeah, it's a large number.

So hopefully, you get to the number
after the grant.

But that's not the money you're
paying today.

The total cost of retrofit works

after grants is well down at 81,716
euro.

Still a very a considerable sum.

So you'll be looking at the payback
time

to get value out of this investment.

Yeah, for us, it's a long-term
investment.

I don't know that we're looking
directly at the payback.

We're looking at all the comfort
factors

and other factors and what we're
doing for the environment.

And I'm looking forward to my super
cosy house,

and I'll be feeling sometimes like I
am in France,

although I'm in the depth of winter
in Dublin.

That'll be a pleasant change.

# #

Clearly, this is a beautiful old
house with period features.

There'll be a lot of care and
attention needed

by the contractors when they're
fitting

all the new deep retrofit measures.

We know we're fitting internal
drylining behind

the front elevation wall with the red
brick.

When this drylining is being
fitted,

we have to take care of all the old
cornerst works and,

of course, all the architrave

of works around the original
doors and windows.

We also know on the rear elevation,
there's external insulation,

and we need to be very careful
how all that's dealt with.

So it's a big challenge.

It's a unique, beautiful house,

and I'm looking forward to calling
back

to make sure all this works out
okay.

It's day one of John and Isabelle's
retrofit festival in Clontarf,

and the contractors are the headline
act.

They're replacing the old plastic
frame windows with new aluminium

triple-glaze units to help keep
the heat in and the noise out.

The retrofit crew are a well-oiled
machine, and for John,

all of this sudden activity is a bit
of a shock to the system.

A little bit nervous, because
it's the house you're living in.

You have all your personal belongs,
all your stuff there.

And we've been planning this
for months and months,

and now it's actually the first day
that there's real work

starting on the house.

As you see, there's quite a lot
of things happening in one go.

We've done as much preparation as
we can,

but we're handed over now to the
crew to do their job,

and hopefully it goes really well
today.

John may be worried about his
windows,

but project manager David has done
this countless times in the past.

The window fitting is such a big
job.

People think it's going to take
days on end,

but you can be in and out of a
project within a day.

Mainly in this house, they're all
mechanically fixed,

so it's four screws holding them
in and a little bit of silicone,

which we're able to strip
out quite quickly.

The fitting takes a little bit more
time

because we have to get them plumb
and level and nice and neat.

And then the finishing off of the
windows,

sealing them and stuff like that
takes a bit longer in the process.

Alongside the windows,

the front door is also being
upgraded

to a hardwood model that replicates
the style of the original,

which includes a unique feature
that was Isabelle's idea,

a pair of specially commissioned
stained glass panels.

Yeah, we felt that was the only
piece

where we got a bit of freedom.

So we worked with a designer
in Meath,

and we gave them the brief,
and that's what it came up with.

And we had different iterations,

where first we thought we might

have the same image in the two
panes,

and then we thought we want an
extension of it,

but it looks beautiful.

On the ground floor,
the patio doors are going in.

Up on the roof, they're preparing
for the arrival

of the first of the solar panels.

The solar is the icing on the cake,
really, when it comes to a house

like this because you're getting a
payback.

You're actually generating
electricity.

We put the heat pump in,

and our hope is that the solar is
going to really help us

to be able to run that heat pump
very cost-effectively.

And it's one of those things

we're going to see a benefit of most
quickly.

And the nice thing is with solar
panels is

there's no planning involved,

and it's becoming more normal as you
just glance

across any of the houses across
the neighbourhood,

you're going to see probably one in
10 houses

now have solar panels up,

and that's increasing all the time.

So it's becoming just
a normal feature.

So remind me now,

I'm going to get morning sun

in here because I've got this
really direct coming

on onto this roof.
Exactly.

And then I'm going to have some
more panels on the back, isn't it?

More panels on the back.

So we have panels on the existing
roof on the back,

and then we have some on the
extension as well.

So we have plenty there.

Originally, when we were looking
at this,

we were initially only thinking we'd
put the panels

on the back of the house
because

we have west-facing, which gets a
lot of sun,

and we have a South-facing slope.

And then subsequently, you guys
suggested

we also put some panels here in the
front.

We didn't even know you could
split the panels around.

They were so flexible.

So that was a big plus for us.

A straightforward roof would be
ideal that you can have

all the panels in one row.

But in a intricate house like this,

where we can split it between
three separate roofs, it's great.

But we've got the maximum
we could get here.

Even in a terraced house with an
unusual roof,

we've managed to get 10 panels up,

which is going to give us
quite a bit of power, actually.

Definitely. Yeah.

# #

Today, I'm back in Dublin to catch
up with John and Isabelle Fallon,

who are in the middle of an extensive
retrofit

to their 1930s mid-terrace house in
Clontarf.

The house has seen a parade of
contractors

on site getting stuck into the
various elements of this big project.

And I have to say I'm impressed.

Isabelle. Good morning, Kieran.
John.

Hi, Kieran. How are you?
Yeah, very good. You're flying it.

We really are, yeah.

I think we're only 10 days in, but
It's been team after team,

and we seem to be making
enormous progress.

I can hear lots of activity on the
outside anyway,

so I'm very excited to see what's
happening.

Will you show me around?
Yeah, sure.

Lead the way. Let's go in.
Lead the way.

Well, they have an awful lot done
here, haven't they?

I see all the dry lining is up

running and plastering and and all
complete.

Yeah, I mean, this is the room that
probably has

the most change because we've got
dry lining here to the front,

but we also had some exterior wall
over here.

So we had to dry line both of those.

And now we're looking at the
dimensions.

But actually, the room supports it
well,

and the guys have said that they're
going to be able to match

in the doorway as well as a bit of a
finish.

And it's actually starting to look
like our room again.

Moving through the house,

I can't help noticing there have
been a few

very significant changes since my
last visit.

Are these new radiators, Isabelle?

Yeah, they're all new radiators in
the house.

They had to be changed to be in
compliant with the whole UV value.

And we really liked our previous
one,

so I'm happy to see that they're
generally similar.

They're quite sleek-looking,
aren't they?

Yeah.

At the back of the house,

they are on the home stretch with the
external insulation.

They have the bulk of the main wall
insulation in place.

But now you get to all the finessing
details.

The thing about external insulation

is it's not that complicated a
process.

I mean, you're putting on 100,
125 millimetres of insulation

onto the outside face of your wall.

But in reality, if you don't have it
all carefully considered

around all these tricky details
around your sliding doors

and all that things. It would look
like a dog's dinner.

But it's a relief to see that they
really have worked it carefully

around here because that's what
will show up at the end of the day.

The work continues in Clontarf,
and I'm taking the opportunity

to head back to Cork on a visit to
the

HQ of the Irish Guide Dogs for the
Blind.

Over the past couple of years,

and with the aid of available
grants,

the organisation has upgraded its
energy systems

to be more efficient and
cost-effective.

I'm meeting CEO Tim O'Mahony

to find out more about their retrofit
journey.

Tim, thanks for inviting me around.
You're very welcome.

Tim, tell me, where are we right
now

and what amazing work have you done
recently?

So We're here at Irish Guide Dogs
for the Blind,

where we enable people with vision
impairment and families of children

with autism to live more independent

and mobile lives through our dog
services.

What drove you to take a new
approach to the buildings?

We have clients here that stay
with us when they're on class,

and so their rooms would go from the
extreme when the heating

was on to the very cold when the
heating was off.

So there was plenty of opportunity
to look at bringing a more

consistent environment for everyone.

I'd love to see the inside and see
how it all works.

Do you want to show me around?
I will indeed.

I'll lead the way.
Thank you.

This is a client bedroom.

Our clients stay here when they're
on site for classes.

The main upgrades that were here was
the building management system.

It allows us to regulate the
temperature more closely

to ensure that there's less extremes
between hot and cold.

And what benefits have you seen
in these rooms now

from the measures that you've
already installed?

Our clients have commented that the
environment is more comfortable,

more consistent, and just less
extreme.

This is our kennel building.

It's one of the oldest buildings on
the site.

So there's been insulation installed
in the walls,

insulation in the roof, so it makes
it more of a cocoon

and more comfortable for our dogs
when they're here inside.

This is an autism assessment unit.

So when the child and their family
would come on site to consider

the suitability of a dog match, it's
in here, they would come.

So this is very child friendly.

So the child can relax and play and
be introduced

to their new potential pal.

It has also benefited from the
building management system,

which allows the temperature to be
regulated.

So you want to create the conditions
at home so

that the partnership can be as
relaxed as it would be

in a family environment.

You can measure the savings,

but you can't put a value
on the comfort for our clients

and for our staff and our dogs when
they're here on site,

which are absolutely far out
of the way,

probably the individual monetary
savings from a comfort

level and benefit to the
charity in the long term.

Tell me, what were your heating and
energy bills like before the works?

The gas and electricity costs here
before the upgrade works was

around 115, 120,000 per annum.

That is a staggering figure.

It was literally evaporating through
the roof

because
of the age of the building.

I suppose given our backgrounds,

we look to spend as much of our
resources on the front line.

We have a reduced carbon footprint,

reduced energy costs by 30 percent,

so It's a win-win on all fronts,
the environment, our clients,

the charity, and our future.

This place runs around the clock,
so making it warmer,

more energy-efficient,
and easier to manage

doesn't just help the environment.

It helps the people and the dogs who
rely on it every day.

Thanks to a full energy upgrade,

they can spend less on bills

and more on training dogs that change
lives.

Back in Clontarf, the retrofit of
John and Isabelle's

1930s red brick house is entering its
final stages.

The solar panels are in place and the
attic insulation is being

rolled out, so John is looking
forward to getting his house back.

The main construction work is
really behind us,

and what's happening today is we've
got plumbers and electrics being

closed out, so second fix of those
elements,

the heat pump getting ready for
commissioning,

and then the whole electrical
element, so all the neat electrics.

We did have some controls on the
house,

so we did have it fairly
well-controlled,

but I love to see the latest
technology.

So give me some of these techie
toys,

and I'm very much at home.

So I'll be learning a little bit
about those.

But again, I imagine they're going
super easy to use,

and they'll just run themselves.

To make sure John gets the most out
of his new tech toys,

electrical supervisor Jake is up in
the attic

connecting the indoor controls

that will run the new heating system.

This will control the outputs for
the motorised valves,

which will allow the hot water to
pass through to the specific zones.

So the house will be split into two
zones.

So we'll have an upstairs
zone and a downstairs zone.

This will be able to read then,
downstairs is at 20 degrees.

Your target temperature is 22
degrees,

so it will knock on the heat pump to
slowly heat

the rooms back up to 22 degrees
in that downstairs zone.

For us, we can see the progress,
which is really good.

The guys have been really good at
just keeping the project

on schedule, and it looks like,

fingers crossed, we'll be able

to move back in this weekend.
That's the hope.

At the start of summer, John and
Isabelle Fallon

began the retrofit on their 1930s red
brick house in Clontarf in Dublin.

They wanted to make it more
energy-efficient

and environmentally friendly whilst
also keeping its 1930s charm.

The installation of triplet-laced
windows, solar panels on the roof,

and internal and external wall
installation means the couple are

well on their way to achieving
energy independence.

I'm really looking forward
to seeing the results

of all all the hard work.

It's great to see your house looking,
I won't say unchanged,

because there is subtle changes.

Tell me, how has things been?

Well, we're delighted to be back in
and everything finished.

So it's a relief from our point of
view.

But yes, the front of the house was
very important to us to try to keep

the character of the house and to be
able to achieve what we

wanted to do from the retrofit.

And Isabelle, how are you
after the whole journey?

The whole retrofit went very well.

A few snags here and there,
but we're getting there.

Well, I'm really excited to see
how it looks on the inside.

Will you show me around?
Yeah, let's go.

Sure. Come on in.
Great.

So this room is actually the room
that's had the most

work done to it.

And yet when you walk into it, you
We didn't necessarily know that.

And the windows are the centrepiece
of it.

In terms of the windows, we've got
the bay.

We had all of that stripped back
to the brickwork,

and then with the insulation put in.

I see you have a radiator over here
in the corner.

Did it ever come up in conversation
as an to go

for under floor heating.

Yeah, I guess with our house, one of
the main features

of the house is that it's an old
house

and we got the original floorboards
here.

So for us to do under floor heating
would mean

destroying all of the floors and
taking them up,

and it would have turned a retrofit
project

into a a teacher construction
project.

But for us, the rads were taking up
the same space as we had before,

so there's no detriment from our
point of view to have the rads.

The first thing I'm noticing in your
kitchen

is there's so much more light.

Yeah, well, this is the area we've
had most glass and the new windows,

because they're all the slimmer
profile

and you get that more light in.

Isabelle, how do you find this
space to come in to

kow in the morning?
No, it's really nice.

Actually, the rads have barely been
on.

Even without them, the house already
felt cosy

and then the extra light makes it,
I guess, warming as well.

The solar panels are playing their
part in heating the home,

and there are other terrific external
touches.

Straight away on the outside,

I can see the beautiful blue
sliding doors,

but I'm also drawn to your external
installation.

It's barely noticeable.

Yeah, well, it's the whole back of
the house then.

It's got a refresh, I suppose.

So everything looks fresh and new,

and we've got a really clean finish.

When I see the outdoor unit of your
heat pump

is now raised up onto your side wall
of your extension.

We're getting used to the fact you
don't really see it there unless

you come back around the side of the
house.

And it's interesting that such
a unit is fitting neatly

in against the side of the house.

The transformation is amazing.

And now that the project is
complete,

there is one thing I'm really curious
about.

When it comes to the BER, you were
originally a C2, which,

as we all remember from our exam
days, was a reasonably good result.

Where are you now?

Yeah, well, our objective was to get
to an A rating.

Like anyone, you want an A rating,

you don't want something less than
an A rating,

but we didn't know where we would
land.

We were really delighted when we
got the cert back,

so we got an A1 rating, the highest
possible rating for the house.

Yeah.

That's incredible.

When you consider that you haven't
taken up the floors

and you haven't had to go to the
expense of really driving home

a high level of air tightness and all
that.

I was thinking it might be an A3,
maybe an A2, if you were lucky,

but to get an A1 is an excellent
result.

Yeah, from our point of view, to
take on the project and just,

I suppose, really to see that you
can, in an old house,

go from whatever the rating is
before

and get to an A1 rating without
destroying the house.

I think it's testament to the
materials

and the work that can be done these
days.

John and Isabelle's investment of
their time

and finances has paid off with a
well-earned A1 rating.

Today, it's time to throw open their
doors to family and friends

to share the new cosy home

they love and hope their guests will
love it too.

The house feels great, modern,
stylish, nice colours.

Very jealous of their heating.

And maybe their low-cost energy
bills from now on.

What's really lovely is there's a
lot of modern installation work

that's been done, a lot of retrofit
work,

but the original features are all
still here.

I'd like to congratulate John
and Isabelle

on their wonderful achievement.

They've brought their house up to an
A1 energy rating.

So congratulations, and I wish you
many happy

and energy-efficient years in your
new home.

Thank you very much, Kieran.

(Applause)

Relieved and actually chuffed now
that we can enjoy our cosy home.

We're doing a bit for the
environment,

and I guess it seems strange today
that everybody's saying, Oh,

but I don't see any difference, but
I guess that's a compliment.

Now that the weather is a bit
cooler,

we can see the heating starting to
come on a little bit.

We can feel how cosy the house is.

After living here for more than 20
years,

John and Isabelle knew
exactly what they wanted,

a warmer, more efficient home
that still felt like theirs.

Retrofitting a red brick terrace like
this was never going to be easy,

especially when the façade had to
stay exactly as it was.

But they made it happen.

The result is a comfortable,

low-energy home that's ready for the
next 20 years.

Subtitling
RTÉ 2025.