Five years on from Bathgate, is soaking under the stars still Dermot Bannon’s favourite way to relax?
The idea of lying in an outdoor bath, surveying the stars, chimes with many of us.
When renovating his own home, architect and presenter of the TV show Room to Improve, Dermot Bannon, had previously explained that he loved sea swimming.
It was the contrast between the hot and the cold that led him to decide to install a bath at the foot of his garden.
Five and a half years ago, some 640,000 RTÉ viewers watched on as Bannon and celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin surveyed the completion of the €600,000 revamp on the Dublin 9 house Bannon had purchased for €895,000 the year before.
And like many of us, he spent a lot of time reading about how the technologies he was going to install operated.
“When I was doing up my own house, I researched all the heat pumps. Claire (Irwin, Room To Improve’s resident quantity surveyor) was doing the exact same thing.”
He said the pair had many conversations about every aspect of their builds, what their choices were, and their reasons for those choices.
In relation to the investment in a heat pump, they compared and contrasted brands, including their performance levels, price, and after-sales service. He opted for a Mitsubishi model.
“It’s a bit like understanding your body type; you have to understand your house type before installing,” he says.
The first step in understanding your needs is to have a Ber-rating done. From the results, specialists will be able to calculate and illustrate how you could upgrade your home and whether a heat pump could be part of the measures.
For Bannon, it made sense as he already had to rewire, replumb, and insulate his property. “It turned it into an A-rated house,” he says.
The exact kind of conditions under which a heat pump performs to optimum levels.
“It is not absolutely for everyone,” he counsels. “It can be difficult to see the value in it. You can see something very tangible in new windows or a new kitchen. This is invisible, especially to the audience at home.”
The show that detailed Dermot’s reno, ran over two episodes and was a ratings hit for RTE.
In it, Bannon repurposed the tub from his 1930s house for use in his garden. Its water is heated by the said pump.
However, being as busy as he is, Dermot confesses that he doesn’t get a lot of time to soak up the bath tub ambiance at his Dublin 9 address.
“I’ve used it a handful of times.”
He has, in fact, moved on to another wellness feature becoming popular in residential back gardens.
“I have a sauna in the back.”
He built a kit bought online, and it’s housed in a simple shed in the same part of the garden. He also installed a cold water shower.
“The sauna is my lifesaver,” he says.
How does he get to the sauna from the house? “In a pair of togs.”
Does anyone else in the family use the bath? There’s a bit of a pause.
“We keep footballs in it.”
Since the renovation, Mitsubishi approached Bannon, and he is participating in a series of talks and giving advice on the subject of heat pumps at the Mitsubishi Electric ECODAN Home Advice Theatre at the PTSB Ideal Home Show, which runs from this Friday, October 17th, to Sunday, October 19th
