Shay and Olive Aylward
Shay and Olive built their two story detached home on the outskirts of Newport in Co. Limerick by direct labour in 1976. The house is 
cavity construction and had some insulation, with the windows and doors (fitted in 2009) in good condition. Their home which relied on a 1990’s oil boiler to heat it, had an ‘F’ BER rating.
Shay had talked to our Retrofit Advisor David Flannery one year prior to going ahead with the project, but had put it off fearing the disruption would be too much. The reality was much different Shay explains ‘After we experienced another winter in the house, I knew we didn’t want to go through another. Shaun, from SuperHomes drew up the specification and so we got a rough idea from our contractor how long it would take. In early May we moved out for 4 nights to alternative accommodation and we were able to live in the house when the other work took place”.
Shay and Olive wanted a warm comfortable house, without harmful air residue circulating. Shay says that there were some rooms upstairs in the house that ‘you wouldn’t risk going into, they were so cold. It was constant work lighting the fire and if it was very cold outside, you had to put on the oil as well, so we were running two systems’. Olive adds ‘We had the fire going, a dimplex going and the oil, and I was still cold’. Now after the SuperHomes Ireland retrofit ‘we go anywhere around the house and we have the same temperature’.
Shay and Olive’s SuperHomes Retrofit Package included:
1. Air source heat pump
2. Airtightness level brought to less than 5 air changes-per-hour to reduce draughts. Includes NSAI pre and post air tightness test. 3.
3. Advanced demand-controlled ventilation for fresh and heathy indoor air quality.
4. Cavity Wall and attic insulation plus associated works.
5. 2.12kW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system
6. Replaced lighting with low energy lighting throughout
Indoor air quality was improved by installing a Demand Control Ventilation System, complimented by a full heating upgrade which will reduce heating costs and maintain a constant temperature within the home. Shay says “that’s very good because we used to have mould on the curtains during the winter time and on the walls. We notice now when we put on the hood for the cooker we have the fresh air coming down through the system into the kitchen. We have no condensation at the back of the cooker where it used to be weeping continuously”.
Asked would they recommend a SuperHomes retrofit to others, Shay responded “I would highly recommend it to everybody who, who can get it done. Our neighbours have been calling to see the system outside and to experience what the house is like”
And finally when asked what it was like working with the SuperHomes team Shay explains “Well it took all the process of trying to discover what you needed to do out of my hands. I could have gotten stuff done separately but was it all going to be effective? Whereas by bringing in SuperHomes to do it, the whole specification was prepared for me, they knew what needed to be done and it was all taken out of my hands, the management of it and so on. So, it made it a simple operation to get a comfortable home without having to wonder would this or that work”.
