Renovation Grants 2020 professional advice

burdburd

Our house is a mid terrace, 3 story victorian house.
The wall are solid with no cavity, the roof is slate on lathe and no ceiling insulaton. The windows are traditonal sash.

We have planning approval to renovate.

• We are dempolishing an old extension to rear and rebuilding on same footprint. This will 'evelope' the house at rear at ground level.
• The Roof of main house will be stripped and have felt, insulation added and re-laid.
• Unused Chimmeys capped
• Windows refurbished
• Potentiually removing cement floor on ground level to add insulation and re-pour.
• Current gas boiler to be replaced - unsure of plan as yet....extension to be A rated but rest of house will be far short so not sure of best approach for combing two disparete zones. Air pump makes sense for new build, but the extension is attached to a old house which may be difficult to air tight. Think a hybrid Gas / Elec-pump might be sensible.

What profession is best qualified to advise on Heating and ALL grants available in 2020/21 ?

regards

Yellow_Fern

burdburd wrote: »

Our house is a mid terrace, 3 story victorian house.
The wall are solid with no cavity, the roof is slate on lathe and no ceiling insulaton. The windows are traditonal sash.

We have planning approval to renovate.

• We are dempolishing an old extension to rear and rebuilding on same footprint. This will 'evelope' the house at rear at ground level.
• The Roof of main house will be stripped and have felt, insulation added and re-laid.
• Unused Chimmeys capped
• Windows refurbished
• Potentiually removing cement floor on ground level to add insulation and re-pour.
• Current gas boiler to be replaced - unsure of plan as yet....extension to be A rated but rest of house will be far short so not sure of best approach for combing two disparete zones. Air pump makes sense for new build, but the extension is attached to a old house which may be difficult to air tight. Think a hybrid Gas / Elec-pump might be sensible.

What profession is best qualified to advise on Heating and ALL grants available in 2020/21 ?

regards

What would be the rational for reroofing? Is there felt present?

burdburd

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

What would be the rational for reroofing? Is there felt present?

There is no felt. Plus I have nail rot, so lathes all need replacing.

Calahonda52

What's the fixation with grants
There is no cash benefit to you, the price just goes up.
Airtightness is key, which with solid walls and solid floors should be easy to attain

burdburd

Thanks. Was wondering about the viability of air tighting old house... But yiu make 2 good point in that there is no cavity and a solid floor.

Windows, doors & roof detail will need refurb.

Can't say I am fixated on grants just trying educate myself as to what is available and how to maximise.

Yellow_Fern

burdburd wrote: »

Thanks. Was wondering about the viability of air tighting old house... But yiu make 2 good point in that there is no cavity and a solid floor.

Windows, doors & roof detail will need refurb.

Can't say I am fixated on grants just trying educate myself as to what is available and how to maximise.

A lot of people focus on windows but unless your house has a very high ratio of glazing its likely very secondary to airtightness. New windows very rarely really pay for themselves, I guess cause its a detail that is expensive and can't be done DIY.

Calahonda52

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

A lot of people focus on windows but unless your house has a very high ratio of glazing its likely very secondary to airtightness. New windows very rarely really pay for themselves, I guess cause its a detail that is expensive and can't be done DIY.

The savings are small because even the best glass is a lot worse that well insulated walls/ceilings etc, coupled with a an adverse cost/benefit ratio
The savings math is easy enough
change in U value* delta t against ambient * heating run hours* area*unit energy cost, making sure the units all match, i.e. watts saved vs euros per kilowatt etc

booooonzo

how do you plan on insulating/ventilating the old solid wall part of the home?

Yellow_Fern

burdburd wrote: »

There is no felt. Plus I have nail rot, so lathes all need replacing.

Might be possible to replace rather than restore. A lot of builders unnecessarily suggest replacing and its not exactly a value or green solution.

BryanF

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Might be possible to replace rather than restore. A lot of builders unnecessarily suggest replacing and its not exactly a value or green solution.

Could you expand on this?

burdburd

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

A lot of people focus on windows but unless your house has a very high ratio of glazing its likely very secondary to airtightness. New windows very rarely really pay for themselves, I guess cause its a detail that is expensive and can't be done DIY.

The window refurb is mostly to address seized sashes and poor seals as opposed to glazing. I have been using on a trial basis (in 2nd winter) internal secondary perspex glazing and it works really very well. Amazed at the effectivness.

burdburd

booooonzo wrote: »

how do you plan on insulating/ventilating the old solid wall part of the home?

These are the Q's...

I am mid terrace so only considering external walls. Will either be a breathable woodfibre or Calsitherm boards.

Ventilation - as it is a renovation, running ducts for expensive-MHRV is not really a runner, so considering either a PIV or perhaps a ductless system such as Fresh-r.

I welcome advise, experience and discussion.

Dardania

A lot of grants available for energy reasons are here:

https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/
and then there's a car charger grant for EVs as well.
Those are the ones I know of.

But as yellowfern and others said, air tightness is arguably more important.
Indeed, to avail of the SEAI heat pump grant, you need to have airtightness to particular degree in order to qualify. If I was investing money today, I'd want to go with electric heating, ideally heat pump, but would obviously need the prerequisites in place of good airtightness and good insulation.

As was mentioned by Calahonda52, when you go after the grants, the prices go up, however I personally believe the standard achieved if the SEAI spec is followed is good - for insulation & heating controls.

I agree that windows would be good, for the secondary purpose (which is actually your primary purpose based on the perspex experiment) - will help hugely with air tightness.
And capping the chimneys is a great idea.

Re pouring the floor I wouldn't be convinced of the merits of - some forced ventilation be that DCV or HRV might be more useful for improving the quality of life.

MicktheMan

burdburd wrote: »

Ventilation - as it is a renovation, running ducts for expensive-MHRV is not really a runner, so considering either a PIV or perhaps a ductless system such as Fresh-r.

Imo, MEV is far superior to PIV for ventilation.

booooonzo

burdburd wrote: »

These are the Q's...

I am mid terrace so only considering external walls. Will either be a breathable woodfibre or Calsitherm boards.

Ventilation - as it is a renovation, running ducts for expensive-MHRV is not really a runner, so considering either a PIV or perhaps a ductless system such as Fresh-r.

I welcome advise, experience and discussion.

We went with woodfiber in one room as a trial
Very expensive and forget about grants , doesn't meet requirements unless you go crazy thick.
Don't forget every layer has to be breathable (expensive)
If the budget allows it's a good enough job as far as internal insulation goes.

We have decided to go dcv/mev for venting also.

Check out isover optima for insulation also.
It's basically a metal stud with standard insulation and covered by a smart / breathable membrane.
You then plasterboard as normal.

I'm not endorsing it as I've still to price it and it's very hard to get info on it and it's a bit contradictory to have a breathable membrane but a non breathable layer over that but I'm no expert.

thebourke

i was seeing on the room to improve program that they a deep retrofit grant...what is that?

sydthebeat

thebourke wrote: »

i was seeing on the room to improve program that they a deep retrofit grant...what is that?

https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/deep-retrofit-grant/

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/deep-retrofit-work-to-be-funded-from-energy-body-s-2020-budget-1.3993244


its what all the uproar was over last year, after people who had been approved, carried out the work, and were then told there was no money left/.....
i think its closed now

burdburd

booooonzo wrote: »

Check out isover optima for insulation also....
it's a bit contradictory to have a breathable membrane but a non breathable layer over

I like that Isover metal studs, seems quick to install and flexible to accom a
number of scenarios.

Another breathable option I was looking at is WarmShell from LimeGreen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zOTNjLBuyI

I have picture rail and cornice molding which is an issue ....where the calisterm boards taper, thinner up to the cornice the cornice itself would be uninstalled and a potential cold spot/strip that can cause issues if the rest of the wall is relatively warm and air tightness is a achieved. I would be relying on good mechanical ventilation to keep moist air convecting.

I had read that cornice was apart from being decorative was originally and knowingly used by Victorian builders to stir the air in the room edges to kinda agitate the air flow in the room and stop cold air laminating along the cold bridge and creating a home for mould & damp.....rub chin.

booooonzo

burdburd wrote: »

I like that Isover metal studs, seems quick to install and flexible to accom a
number of scenarios.

Another breathable option I was looking at is WarmShell from LimeGreen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zOTNjLBuyI

.

The warmshell is basically the same as the gutex we used
In fact we used limegreen solo render

It's quite pricey unfortunately

burdburd

booooonzo wrote: »

In fact we used limegreen solo render

booooonzo, did you have coving or plasterwork to work around ?

We have. ... so my options are somewhat limited, or at least I have not seen any elegant breathable solutions that insulate floor to ceiling.

Also - did you bring internal insulation onto interal walls that interset the external wall , to stop cold bridging perpendicularly in through the internal wall ?

ta

booooonzo

no coving or plasterwork no.

the 2 internal walls that intersect in the room, one has a chimney stack and the other an internal door so didnt do them no but you can get tapered boards alright
to be honest , with the size of our house and the budget we have I kind of gave up on it after 1 room.