Remodel/Renovation of a 1970's Home. For Low Energy & Serious Comfort.

[@josephcheung3964]

What is shown in this video is just some selected upgrades which are relatively low cost and low disruption to the occupants. Very suitable for progressively improving the energy performance and indoor comfort for owner occupiers and even the landlords without the need to clear-up the house for trades to work for extended period of time. The most lengthy project would be the sealing work behind the cabinetry. Other upgrades including PV, high efficiency appliances, high performance windows will be converted in future videos.

[@rebelaqua823]

Did you say low cost? ;)

[@And-c7n]

@@rebelaqua823 I used the wall insulation company in the video and it's not expensive compared to windows and very good bang for buck -comfort levels improved remarkably.. Even better is going around you house closing gaps and putting draft stoppers on your fans.

[@rebelaqua823]

@@And-c7n Agree that installing draft stopping things yourself is very cheap. :)

[@KJSvitko]

Blower door testing is a must for any new build or remodel.

[@rebelaqua823]

Please man what country are you from? In Australia blower door testing is not required because you just hold you hand near the window or sliding door. You can feel that blow.

[@Sp33dYAU]

Epic retro PC / Apple setup!!! Some good ideas here!

[@ecoevo]

flatkangaroo Hahaha, Don’t forget the Amiga 3000... I think there is a hidden Borat pic easter egg hiding away somewhere in there too. 🤣 Enjoy!

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

@@ecoevo I had to stop the video at that spot to enjoy the scene! The memories, the memories!

[@And-c7n]

The chart at 8:53 is excellent thank you

[@MrEediot]

Great job mate. Shows what can be done from a retrofit point of view.

[@iFlyTheWorld]

Great video - Thanks. It would be good to know the approx cost for the work you explained to give viewers a rough idea for the average suburban brick veneer.

[@thelittlebluecar2938]

Well thought out and pre-planned. A nice job and difficult to do as a retro-fit. Good video and helpful to. 👍🏻

[@wymanlew]

First off, great video. well done for documenting the whole improvement process. Really informative. It is good to see how an established house can be improved and enhancements to be retrofitted. Just what I am looking for. I do have a question regarding your HVAC setup. Given it's decentralised HRV and position at strategic points in your home, do you find it beneficial in your bedrooms? I suspect doors would be closed off during bed times. Also can you provide an indication of the living size since you mention a single Daikin US7 is used to provide heating throughout the house. Once again thank you for producing this video.

[@davidharris1451]

Another great video. I’ll be doing a similar upgrade to my old house, but I’ll be taking off all internal plaster and starting again inside. Looking forward to more videos in the future. Keep up the great work 👍

[@Krunch2020]

While the wallboard is off caulk the sheathing to the top and bottom plates and each side of the studs. Use drywall gaskets on top and bottom plates and seal up those electrical boxes.

[@SimonJackson]

Love the Amiga setup! Nice competition pro.

[@ecoevo]

@@SimonJackson We get a warm nostalgic feeling looking at this old retro computing stuff.

[@Jared_Albert]

Thank you. Hopefully you’ve cracked the code for this. I think back to the spray foam craze 30 years ago and hope we are smarter now about moisture

[@jamesbell6996]

Brilliant video and retrofit. Very interesting to do the retrofit with spray In insulation and spray foam rather than removing the plaster like in some of your other videos. Are you able to provide a rough breakdown of costs for doing a retrofit this way?

[@Len02013]

Awesome video, great to see what can be done with a retrofit. I would also be interested on a window/door video :). Also any tips on tiled concrete slab? At the edges there is a noticeable temp difference.

[@wwgg1139]

Hi, Thanks for the video. I'm interested to know more about the heat exchange ventilation system you have installed.

[@BarrrAmundi]

Well done

[@brendonpuriri9795]

The external wall insulation could come back to haunt you. If moisture was to penetrate through a crack in the brick cladding, it would have no space to evaporate, soaking into the insulation and framework continuously through the wet months. Walls that receive little direct sunlight during the day would be affected the most.

[@ecoevo]

There is no vapour barrier to the outside, and the insulation used is hydrophilic which can significantly reduce the chance of liquid water being trapped in the insulation. The alternative is to knock down and rebuild, and the Melbourne climate has a long hot and dry summer, which is more than likely going to dry up the cavity.

[@nmitbuildingdesign]

Great video, informative and well covered. Any details about the HRV systems in place or the timer on the fans in wc and bathroom?. Could be worth putting in the description.

[@ecoevo]

MP Building Design Done... Lunos e2, it’s now in the description.

[@OurLifeBlock]

great video and summary!

[@ecoevo]

thanks mate!

[@squaraus84]

omg an Amiga with Lotus 3!!!

[@ecoevo]

Don’t you love that track?!

[@janegibbs-cohen4837]

Hi we are getting ceiling insulation installed this week. First do you feel R 5 is sufficient for Melbourne? We also have some foil under the colourbond roof when it was installed 12 years ago. Second what can I ask the installer to do to cover the wall ceiling join. 70's brick veneer like yours but no wall insulation yet. Maybe in time.... Great information thanks. Very easy to understand.

[@ecoevo]

R5.0 is good. Just be weary of the importance of insulation consistency. if you have gaps in your insulation, it won’t perform to R5.0 Use this calculator, to estimate the actual performance of your insulation with different gaps in your ceiling. 😉 efficiencymatrix.com/whats-my-actual-r-value-of-my-walls-and-my-ceiling/

[@rebelaqua823]

@@ecoevo Most trades don't care about gaps or don't know about reducing thermal bridging. The one who do will empty your bank account faster than leaky aluminium single paned windows.

[@15minutecity]

Great video John! It would be great if you could publish a spreadsheet showing your ROI from retrofitting the build.

[@ecoevo]

Chad King Return on investment... How do I put value on Comfort? Low indoor CO2? Return on investment also needs to take into consideration how I use my house, and how it’s use may change over time. Ontop of that I have a 6kw solar system sitting on the roof which absolutely destroys the electricity bill in summer. 😉. This is a lot of work. An easier question may be, what’s the ROI on buying and installing a new stone kitchen bench top which could cost as much as these retrofits. 🤪

[@chefgav1]

There is probably over 50k plus worth of efficiency improvements not including the kitchen. He has well and truly reached diminishing returns and highly suspect would never get a ROI

[@richardstokes88]

@@chefgav1 not sure on cost but for me this value should be seen in house price with comfort part of equation. I would certainly pay far more for a home that was this comfortable.

[@clasdauskas]

@@ecoevo For the comfort part - how much were you spending to get heat/cool the house previously versus now? If it wasn't as comfortable, extrapolate a bit; a guess is better than just saying "too hard". For the air quality questions, I suppose you could compare medical bills/pharmaceutical etc before and after? Publish. People will comment/argue with you, but you can use that to improve the estimates. It's all valuable info.

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

Maybe I missed it, but how did the airflow from the single split system get the heating/cooling air throughout the house when at the same time the goal was minimal air circulation/flow?

[@ecoevo]

The heat recovery ventilation system moves air around, and there are some ceiling mounted DC fans that are used from time to time, but they are rarely used. With a good building envelope the temperature equalises pretty well.👍🏻

[@sergeystaritsin7736]

Thanks for another informational video! What's the best way to insulate a floor in a house on a concrete slab? Thanks.

[@jamieryan7576]

Cheers great explanation

[@hugh5356]

Nice one! Curious about what you did in your roof space too.

[@ecoevo]

Hugh Insulation was bulked up, but we still need to get up there and give it some tender loving care. Over the years with all this work, it’s become a bit messy up there. I’m not sure if you noticed it but in the thermal image there was abit of a cold spot away from the corner on the ceiling which needs abit of attention. We may cover a video on this topic.

[@And-c7n]

@@ecoevo Hit me up if you want to get footage of crappy insulation - house around the corner - then again crappy installation is not hard to find.

[@And-c7n]

Your home is about 1000m for mine and has some similar improvements made. Thanks for the extra tips to help me finish off my job. Is the company skill set to do the cornice foam seal the same one as the one that did the underfloor.

[@ecoevo]

Andrew C Potentially, But we did the cornice work outside of the spray foam contractor scope. 😉

[@sumeriansumer1622]

@@ecoevo, Did you use closed or open cell spray foam?

[@chriskuhl9961]

Great informative video, Thank you

[@christophersm6218]

How much difference did the new windows make? I didnt see them on the chart. Excellent video as always.

[@ecoevo]

Christopher Stubbs-Mills Good point. I’ll get these updated on the graph, for future videos on this house.

[@_nz_diy_]

Useful thanks.

[@itsmattaitken]

You did an excellent job on this 70s house, do mine next?

[@justcallmefrank]

Can you please do a video just on the decentralised HRV system? It is the first time I'd come across it and it sounds like it could be a less disruptive option for our plans!

[@ecoevo]

Nathan Jones we can do that. Have a few videos planned, we’ll get it out soon.

[@justcallmefrank]

@@ecoevo thanks, that's awesome! I'm really enjoying your videos. I'm looking forward to when I can put them in action.

[@DA_C4PYBARA]

I’m in an old 60s house, can you give some direction on how to retrofit?

[@tuanhnguyen947]

Can you please share the cost of this retrofit? We are keen to compare the cost of passive house vs a regular new build 6 star house plus retrofit. Thanks

[@ecoevo]

We are planning on doing something along these lines in the future. thanks. 😉

[@garymcsullea7330]

Have you considered a review eg 3 years after.

[@dorothynu]

Very interesting video. We have a 70s AV Jennings house, and it is just awful! Would you be able to tell us how much you spent for all of your improvements (including windows)? A number of people are speculating, but it would be very helpful to know the real figure.

[@ecoevo]

dorothynu We will cover it in another video. Subscribe to the channel so that you don’t miss it when it comes out. 😉

[@dorothynu]

@@ecoevo Thank you, will do!

[@acchaladka]

@@ecoevo have subscribed, am waiting. :). Hello from French Canada, where our winter is as but inversely painful to your summer!

[@rimondkachab1487]

What is the type/ brand of window upgrade

[@rossdickson4590]

Did you use double glazed windows just wondering what might be the most cost efficent way to do it please

[@James-mv9qx]

I have many of the same problems in my place in Melbourne. We have spray foam like you, but energy costs is still averaging $500/month to keep the place at 18c

[@ecoevo]

Jesus! That’s crazy! You may need to improve your building envelope.

[@James-mv9qx]

@@ecoevo Yeah, that's with solar, batteries and spray foam! Your channel is great, I'm learning so much already I have heaps of things to target now, like the unused evap, unused gas heater, drafty doors etc. Amazing work, thank you!

[@ml16R32]

Have you got any experience with double brick construction? I'm in a double brick house (Perth) built in the 1940s which i'm currently renovating and planning an extension. I've done most of the same things in your video (wall to ceiling junction still to come and possibly underfloor insulation if there is enough room). It would be good to know if there is anything else i should look into.

[@jirivrba5252]

AMIGAAAAAA!

[@ecoevo]

It’s a beautiful thing. 💪. Very rare these things, these days.

[@jyeborg1171]

Hi these days polyester insulation underfloor rocking as intalled upon use of proper R ratings are best protection because its fire resistant, waterproof and non allergic better results than foaming as it poisonous and dangerous felt always on edge even in case of fire no chance given.

[@brisbanetoyambatours4183]

Do you guys provide paid consultation for a retrofit? If yes can you please let me know

[@ecoevo]

Send us an email.

[@jamesmaher8595]

I've looked at a lot of retrofitting homes videos and, while they all emphasise the mportance of air-tightness, no draughts factor, NONE of them address the potential unhealthy aspect of lack of fresh air flow which appears to be frowned upon!

[@ecoevo]

So we did alright huh? We lumped it all together.

[@lisahaddon976]

Another great video. I want to retrofit my house where can I go ? Can you recommend any companies in Victoria

[@ecoevo]

Not at present.

[@mike3999]

Awesome channel just found it. And a great video. Just a quick question. I know this makes the overall temperature more comfortable but sometimes we like to have some air movement from say, a ceiling fan. Would this effect anything if all of the things you implemented in your home were in place? Thanks again.

[@ecoevo]

We have 2 DC ceiling fans in the house. They get used sometimes. Air movement is a good thing.

[@mike3999]

@@ecoevo Thanks for getting back to me. Good to know.... now where to begin :)

[@garymcsullea7330]

What was the make of the wall insulation. I thought pump in insulation was a no no.

[@ecoevo]

Envirowall

[@soniawoolley366]

Can I ask what window and door system did you use ? Did u double glaze or retrofit double glazing? Looking forward to hearing from you- love your work ! Am looking at new build in Launceston Tasmania (bought the block beginning of last year) ...

[@ecoevo]

All the windows, are abit of a mix bag of lollies. They were aluminium windows throughout: Then we put... Stegbar at the front, double low-e german sliders at the back triple glazed, Nader windows everywhere else, window sizes have changed and a brickie had to do a bit of work in many areas. This was all a big exercise in itself and could be made into a video of its own. Wanted to focus on things outside of the glazing in this one. 😉. thanks for the comment.

[@jamespowers8632]

@@ecoevo good job there, really thorough, and moves away from the piecemeal approach that too many people make.

[@84Itsjames]

@@ecoevo Which brand exactly are the sliding doors? What do you call a door system that locks down and seals like that? Also, great videos, thanks 👍

[@ecoevo]

They are passive house sliders, aluminium on the outside, timber on the inside.

[@disappointedhomeowner1388]

Great video. Inspiring me to take on some of these upgrades in my own renovation. I am curious if the windows are tilt and turn upvc? If so how are they performing? Is the tilt and turn better for venting hot air?

[@ecoevo]

They aren’t tilt and turn. But when it is hot, this house does not get hot.

[@bluedunn374]

Why did you go with open foam sub floor spray insulation over closed foam?

[@ecoevo]

The idea at the time, was if there is a water leak in the house. But your point is valid. Closed cell may have been a better choice.

[@bluedunn374]

@@ecoevo Subscribed! we are in a similar situation with the same vintage of home in VIC with the Tas Oak floors. We are having issues with condensation on the windows (double-glazed) leading to mould issues. The subfloor earth/ground is unfortunately damp in winter due to being at the base of a hill, so whenever it rains it's a problem. I've been told by the Spray foam contractors that they can spray the subfloor perimeter joist to seal any drafts going up through the gaps into the base of the wall cavity, and that combined with an entire subfloor spray foam should stop the moisture from getting into the house... I'm doing quite a bit of research and due diligence before deciding on it, Im not convinced that its that simple. Did your spray foam smell at all after the required setting time? Any fishy smell in the house? Any regrets or would you have done it differently today? might be a good video to revisit? I'm also looking the the heat transfer system you have, its a great cost-effective idea. Thanks, great content!

[@ecoevo]

@@bluedunn374 no fishy smells. Make sure you contract an experienced operator. If it’s very humid under your subfloor, close cell would be a good idea. Also installing your hot water pump under the subfloor if there is room could help dry out the subfloor. It would be a good idea to add subfloor ventilation too. We did a video with spray foaming the roof of a garage with closed cell foam too.

[@jamesstewart2014]

Are the window and door original?

[@ecoevo]

@@jamesstewart2014 most definitely not. They were aluminium single glazed sliding windows and doors.

[@kbailey3238]

(Question coming from a complete novice here) I was under the impression that spray foam was not 'good' in terms of insulation. If this different because it's is only being used in the corners of the building or is spray foam insulation not the devil it's been made out to be? Genuinely curious as a newbie to this.

[@ecoevo]

Spray foam has its place. Its a difficult problem solver, for thermal bridging. It’s sound insulation abilities may not be great. It’s ability to insulate, has always been there.

[@camilobonilla6097]

Just out of curiosity how much would a Jobe like that cost for a house that is 170m2?

[@ecoevo]

It depends greatly on the house. But we could give you some direction. This was done, over a period of time.

[@rebelaqua823]

This is really good if you have unlimited budget.

[@ecoevo]

Rebelaqua How much do you think all these items cost? We think you can fit most of these items into the cost of an expensive stone kitchen benchtop. $20K. Leaving the glazing out of course.

[@rebelaqua823]

@@ecoevo Thanks. This is all good until I actually get such quotes. For me as a consumer I don't know how to do any of these things myself nor do I have friends to do it for me. So the final cost for me would be $50k (including the crane to lift those triple glazed windows that you mentioned) for glazing, $30k for insulation installed, $8k for, $2k for bathroom automation, $4k for air-conditioner replacement etc, $1k for waste removal. Expensive stone kitchen bench top is about $10k btw for 3meter standard stone bench top. It depends on square meters of course but this is for normal home with 2 bath rooms etc. Even for a new build I was quoted $2.5k/m2 for six star normal (Crap) build and $3.8k/m2 for passivhaus standard build. When I added it up, I wouldn't have been able to recoup the extra $100k or so during the lifetime of the build, which would only be about 30-40 years. btw the worst brand of windows is the Australian made Stegbar double glazed aluminium sliding doors. They leak like no one business compared almost any other brand of sliding doors (even single glazed). This type of renovation in Australia is not a reality but just a dream unless you had unlimited budget.

[@ecoevo]

Rebelaqua We will cover this topic in another video. Appreciate your comments. 👍🏻

[@rosduffy3564]

@@rebelaqua823 not sure how big your house is. Its going to cost me 15k to have r6 in roof, glass wool blow in and sprayfoam. The 15k includes vacuuming out the loose fill in the roof, upgrading meter to three phase and replacing 9 downlights. The rest of the stuff looks reasonably inexpensive unless you go with the ERV which could be a grand or so per unit. I have down the upgrades over the course of a year. Sprayfoam won't be done for another few weeks. Last winter I could wake up and see my breath. Living in a house with 0.5 stars is horrible! Also, I was quoted 14k for ducted reverse cycle. That's a lot of money I could spend on other improvements and a smaller heating solution

[@rebelaqua823]

@@rosduffy3564 Yes it depends on how big the house is. Costs should be quoted for /m2. The point is that this stuff is extremely expensive unless you have tradies giving you massif discounts and doing things out of scope or what ever. Those foam insulation is quite uncommon in Australia and air tight builds are unheard of. Triple glaze windows will cause many builders to pee in their pants and uPVC windows will make your mortgage dissapear fast. 99% of trades will leave massive gaps every where and many of them don't know the meaning of thermal bridging let alone taking actual care to reduce it. Highly energy efficient builds are possible with normal techniques but it requires trades to learn new tricks and most of them can't be bothered.

[@illavitar]

4:28 good way to breed mold

[@ecoevo]

Ahh well, we can’t knock down and building everything from scratch. Besides Melbourne has a pretty temperate climate. 👍. Thanks for your feedback.

[@chefgav1]

Very impressive and lots of good ideas for an old home but you kind have reached diminishing returns,.you would have spent over 50k to improve efficiency other than comfort you would never see a ROI. Was a very interesting video though

[@ecoevo]

If you are happy with the size of your house, it’s cheaper than knocking down and rebuilding. The return on investment is better than a stone kitchen bench-top, how can you put a return on investment on indoor air quality garanteed CO2 levels in bedrooms? Mould less bathrooms, mould less window frames? especially for hey fever and asthma sufferers. All this stuff isn’t just about ROI! 👍🏻. thanks for the comment.

[@chefgav1]

@@ecoevo your windows and door glazing alone would have cost 25k plus. Higly doubt you would ever see any where near 25k plus energy savings from them. Not sure why you used open cell under floor when closed cell inch for inch has a much better efficiency.

[@richardstokes88]

@@chefgav1 would increase house value to cover this cost easily for me

[@chefgav1]

@@richardstokes88 True to a certain degree but you most definitely to get a dimishing return effect. Once you go past Roof, walls and underfloor you have most definitely be at diminishing returns. Not including the kitchen Tim would have spent like at least 70k to improve efficiency. I highly doupt it suddenly added 70k to his value

[@rosduffy3564]

@@chefgav1 open cell vs closed cell inch for inch would only matter in a confined space such as walls. With open cell you could see if there is leak under your shower that is impacting the floorboards. I understand its easier to cut away to make repairs too. I am trying to decide between open or closed cell myself