Deep Retrofit, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan

A homeowner of a 1960s detached property (137 m²) located in County Monaghan, has benefited from a deep retrofit of their home.

The homeowner wanted to improve the energy performance of their home to make it more comfortable, affordable, and sustainable. The property did not have a BER prior to energy upgrades being completed.

The homeowner did not occupy the building before the completion of energy upgrades and little information is known about the energy performance of the building prior to energy upgrades.

The property is not believed to have undergone any building upgrades since its construction in the 1960s.

The property has a cavity wall structure and the level of insulation installed in the walls and attic before upgrades is not known. Based on the year of construction it has been assumed that the property had single glazed window units and doors throughout and minimal or no insulation. The property was heated using an oil-fired boiler. Based on this information an indicative BER has been determined as E1 for this property prior to energy upgrades.

• Cavity wall insulation was installed throughout the property
• Insulated dry lining on internal walls (Kingspan K118 Insulated Plasterboard)
• Attic insulation was upgraded to 300mm cellulose
• Ground floor insulation (Kingspan Kooltherm K103 Floorboard)
• All windows and sliding doors were replaced with Triple glazed A rated alternatives
• The oil-fired boiler was replaced with a 7.5kW air-to-water heat pump system and high efficiency radiators were installed throughout the property
• A three-zone heating controller was installed with one zone for domestic hot water and two for space heating
• Installation of a 3.7kW Solar PV system on the roof of the property and 4.8kW battery storage

This property has been transformed into a low carbon, energy efficient home achieving a BER rating of A1 following completion of all energy upgrades. The homeowner has expressed their satisfaction of knowing they have lowered their homes carbon emissions and their home is more comfortable place to live.

This homeowner recieved SEAI grant support for a number of the energy upgrades completed including:

• Cavity wall insulation
• Attic insulation
• Heating controls
• Solar PV