15 November 2025
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
A brand new TV series focusing on retrofitting older Irish homes continues on RTÉ One on Tuesday, November 18th and features a software engineer from Cork rolling up his sleeves and taking energy efficiency into his own hands. Heat My Home sees building engineer Kieran McCarthy travelling around Ireland, checking out homes that are getting energy upgrades.
Still from the programme
In the third episode, Kieran meets 39-year old Adam O’Brien from Ballincollig who is taking on an ambitious retrofit of his grandparents’ 1950s house. Adam is transforming the bungalow on the Commons Road, largely by himself, aiming to lift it from an F to a B2 BER rating.
Kieran retrofitted his own home, bringing the cottage from an E to A1 rating, his first building project under his own name was renovating his late grandmother’s house in Cork. Throughout the series, he shows homeowners what’s possible and what costs are involved. He also breaks down the technical jargon, from heat pumps to H-VAC, to make it easy to follow.
Kieran McCarthy said, “These aren’t just houses, they’re part of our families and communities. When you retrofit an older home, you’re keeping that story alive as well as future-proofing it for the next generation. A lot of people think retrofitting is too costly, too complex and out of reach. However, if you’re willing to take on some of the work yourself, you can make big savings without compromising quality. It’s about understanding what is doable and making smart choices that work for your home and your budget.”
Adam O’Brien said, “This house has been in my family for 60 years which is why it means so much to give it a new lease of life. I wanted to prove that you don’t need to knock down an older house to make it energy efficient. By upgrading the insulation, fitting new windows and installing an air-to-water heat pump, I’ve been able to turn what was an F-rated bungalow into a warm and modern home. Doing a lot of the work myself helped to bring down the costs and gave me a greater understanding of how small improvements can make a big difference.”
Heat My Home is produced by Cork-based company Cameo Productions. It airs on Tuesday at 8.30pm on RTÉ One.
Kieran McCarthy started life as an engineer qualifying from UCC in Civil Engineering in 1996. He worked with several blue chip building companies in Ireland and the UK before setting up his own design and building company in 2004. He was the co-presenter of RTE’s Cheap Irish Homes.