1. home and garden
2. home improvement and repair
3. plumbing

Case Study Example
80 YEAR OLD TWO-STOREY SEMI
South Co. Dublin
An eighty year old, two-storey semi in south Co.Dublin was horribly cold and
damp, thermally inefficient and expensive to run. A Kingspan Retrofit survey found
uninsulated cavity walls, drafty windows & doors, a heating system in need
of upgrade and a loft with very little insulation.
The home owners wanted their house
to be warm and cosy, while being energy
efficient. They contacted Kingspan Retrofit
who were able to recommend a local
contractor, EcoThermal Home Ltd.
The contractor contacted the homeowner
directly and arranged a site visit to provide
an assessment of the property and a
quotation based on the homeowners
budget and requirement.
The house, which was built in the 1930’s
and extended some 50 years later needed
a deep and diverse retrofit package
taking into account different construction
methods. The entire exterior of the
property received External Insulation
works with a new render finish to match
the existing style of the exterior of the
house. 100mm of Kingspan EPS Platinum
insulation was installed to give a U-Value
of 0.27w/m² K. New room ventilators
where also installed as per the SEAI’s
Better Energy Homes Scheme.
The property also benefited from a
pumped Cavity Fill insulation for the
extension. The cavity was filled with
Kingspan Ecobead which is an EPS
Platinum Bonded Bead which was placed
into the 40mm cavity in the walls at
the rear of the property.
The house required a full over haul on
the heating systems. The old boiler and
six radiators where removed and replaced
and the entire system was power flushed,
cleaning all the existing pipe work. A new
highly efficient 30kw Glowworm Flexicom
wall mounted gas boiler was installed in
the Kitchen. Six new high output radiators
with thermostatic values where fitted
to size as per the heat requirements for
each room. Also fitted was two channel
seven day programmer, two motorised
values, room and cylinder thermostat to
control heating and hot water separately.
This allows the home owner to really take
control of the home heating system.
In winter the home owners heating bills
had previously ranged anywhere
from €400 - €900!
Also on the list were three new hardwood
timber windows and a new back door.
The house also received complete attic
insulation works. 125mm Kingspan TP10
rigid insulation boards where installed
in the attic section of the new extension
and crawl spaces of the original attic.
Also installed was 82.5mm insulation
backed plasterboards which where skim
coated and left ready to paint. All the
existing attic fibre glass insulation was
removed to avoid future condensation risk.
The home owners felt that the house
became much easier to heat and cheaper
to run straight away. All the old draughts
were also gone providing a new level of
comfort in their home. They were also
happy to discover that all the new retrofit
measures had added to the future value of
their home. They are now planning on the
upgrading their holiday home as they are
so impressed with the results.
The home owner paid tribute
to Kingspan Retrofit...
“We were very happy with
the Kingspan recommended
contractors, Eco Thermal Homes.
They were very efficient, courteous
and professional in all our
dealings with them.”
intro
Happiness is....
Winning a €10,000 prize!
The lucky winner, Moninne Agnew had,
over the years, re-decorated the interior
of her home to look stylish and be very
comfortable. But comfort is more than just
a nice floor covering and a squashy sofa
because whilst her home looked good, in the
energy stakes it was a very poor performer
indeed with a BER rating of ‘F’. Looking for
ideas and help to improve things, Moninne
visited the SelfBuild & Improve Your Home
Show at Citywest in Dublin last September
where she entered a competition for a
fabulous prize of €10,000 donated by the
organisers, SelfBuild Ireland Ltd., for the
winner to spend on building materials
towards either a home improvement or selfbuild project.
“If I hadn’t won I never would have done
the work,” Moninne explained. “There was a
lot of insulation needed and of course that’s
not something you can do piecemeal, like the
interiors.” Moninne contacted a company
she had met at the Show and they swung
into action by helping her to find Registered
contractors and alerting her to the financial
help available for projects such as hers.
Indeed, the whole process was very smooth
as the team processed the grant application
through SEAI on her behalf.
The main house was built in 1959 with
solid walls and an extension added in 1994 is
of cavity construction. With the prize money
and grants, Moninne was able to have these
solid walls insulated externally whilst the
cavity in the extension was fully filled and all
walls were finished with a sand based acrylic
render to give a uniform look.
Internally, the front roofspace insulation
was upgraded to bring it up to current
Building Regulations standard, in addition
all the exposed pipework, water tank and
access hatch were insulated. The rear flat
roofed section had given Moninne problems
in the past with leakages so the advice was
to completely remove it and replace with
a new roof, with which she agreed. It was
all insulated and finished off with new lead
flashing to the chimney and valleys and
weather sealed back under the existing
pitched roof.
Moninne is delighted with the way the
house not only looks but performs as well,
not to mention the savings she will make
on her energy bills. The house is now an
excellent ‘C3’ rating and Moninne is in the
happy position of having a house that was
built in the mid twentieth century but is as
good as any newbuild today.
Project co-ordinator: Kingspan Retrofit,
Castleblaney, Co Monaghan tel. 042 9754
626 www.kingspanretrofit.ie
External insulation works: Pw Thermal
Building Solutions Ltd., from Eco Thermal
Homes, Dublin 24 tel. 02 420 1771
www.pwthermalsolutions.com
Pumped cavity insulation: 360 Insulations
Ltd., Clara, Co Offaly tel. 083 3551 795
www.360insulations.com
Attic & flat roof insulation: Eco Thermal
Homes as above.
Design for life = a house for life
Self-building is arguably the most fulfilling
and successful way of achieving a home
ideally suited to your needs and wants.
Life however is a continuous process and
has many different stages, each with their
own special and specific requirements.
What is ideal for two fit thirty-somethings
with young children is likely to be quite the
opposite for an elderly single person. It’s a
situation we have been looking at in these
pages with our second article on the subject
starting on page 92.
Altering the way a house is laid out and
functions is generally a varying combination
of expensive and problematical with the
www.SelfBuild.ie
result being ‘the best that could be achieved
within the budget’, as well as an unsettling
upheaval for all involved. Many people
prefer just to move or ‘downsize’ but that
brings its own disruption as also left behind,
more often than not, are friends, support
networks and the ease that familiarity with
a neighbourhood brings. With houses now
being built to require virtually no financial
outlay on energy costs to run, a huge burden
has been lifted and in the very near future
that will no longer be the powerful driver for
change it currently is. With that removed, the
focus now falls on design, Universal Design.
Due to be launched within the next two
months are ‘The Universal Design Guidelines
for Homes in Ireland’ and the ‘Universal
Design Guidelines for Dementia Friendly
Dwellings for People Living with Dementia,
their Families and Carers’. The aim of the
reports is to inform everyone involved in the
construction of houses on how to create
in Ireland homes suitable for everyone,
regardless of age, size, ability or disability. In
our next issue we will be looking at the ideas
behind Universal Design in general, and how
these can be incorporated into your own
self-build to create a home you need never
have to leave.
See www.universaldesign.ie
ROI calling NI: prefix with 048 NI calling ROI: prefix with 00353(0)
11
Case Study Example
2 STOREY DETACHED (1994 - 1999)
148m2 (1,598ft2)
Energy
Saving
Cost Less
Grant
Amount
Saving
Walls & Attic
14%
E1,846
E385
Heating Controls
34%
E2,122
E543
Boiler Replacement
49%
E2,167
E395
Stove
52%
E2,440
E88
Solar Hot Water
58%
E2,946
E151
Base Case
E0
E500
E1,000
E1,500
E2,000
E2,500
E3,000
Case Study Example
2 STOREY SEMI DETACHED (1967 - 1982)
132m2 (1,423ft2)
Energy
Saving
Cost Less
Grant
Amount
Saving
Walls & Attic
33%
E1,449
E1,213
Heating Controls
54%
E2,122
E788
Boiler Replacement
66%
E2,167
E469
Stove
68%
E2,440
E81
Solar Hot Water
72%
E2,946
E124
Base Case
E0
E1,000
E2,000
E3,000
E4,000
Case Study Example
BUNGALOW (1983 - 1993)
125m2 (1,346ft2)
Energy
Saving
Cost Less
Grant
Amount
Saving
Walls & Attic
13%
E1,822
E428
Heating Controls
38%
E2,122
E791
Boiler Replacement
52%
E2,167
E432
Stove
55%
E2,440
E100
Solar Hot Water
59%
E2,946
E118
Base Case
E0
E500
E1,000
E1,500
E2,000
E2,500
E3,000
E3,500