Our Flexible 1960s Home: Retrofitting for the Electric Age – Oakington

Thu 15 Sep 2022, 7:00pm – 8:00pm

A Brilliant, lively tour!  You can still follow it:

Video of the Zoom Tour, with sections marked in the timeline
Case Study with links to items and professionals Paul used
Slides from the talk as a PDF, with working links

Meet your host, Paul

When Paul moved back into the family home following an accident at work, it spurred him and his mother to retrofit their home to future-proof it for the benefit both of their health and the environment. They made lots of lifestyle friendly changes, widening doorways, installing grab rails and easy clean fixtures and fittings, and improved thermal comfort and energy efficiency by increasing insulation and controlled ventilation. Paul also incorporated many smart electric features, installing solar PV, an air source heat pump, automated smart lights and an electric vehicle.

Paul says: “One of the main intentions of this renovation is to make living in the house easier, enabling us to live here longer. I moved back into the parental home in October 2016 due to becoming disabled, with the idea that by living with my mother we could hopefully look after each other, rather than struggle separately.  As a family, we have always been environmentally minded, and I think it was this factor that helped my mother to get on board with the proposed changes to our house, that she was not particularly in favour of originally, to now being very excited about it.”

 

Key Features of this home

• Air source heat pump with Mixergy water cylinder
• 4.76kW solar PV
• Demand Control Ventilation
• Icynene sprayfoam pitched roof insulation
• Cork block and wood fibre wall insulation 
• Adaptive LED lighting, with Lightwave switches, that match the body’s circadian rhythms
• Green roof for water management
• Cork flooring

Paul’s top tips for being more energy efficient at home

• Educate yourself – retrofit remains a niche subject; suppliers and trades are not ready
• Plan – work out what can be done as a stand-alone improvement so that you can take advantage of any grants if they become available; 
• Stand firm to your ideals – that’s the path to contentment

Paul also gave an In-Person Tours of his home  on Sat 15 Oct, 15:30-16:30

Return to the full programme

 

Thanks to our 2022 Open Eco Homes funders and supporters