This Old House
“This Old House” Combines With Cazeault Solar & Home to Modernize a Concord Home
Cazeault Solar Home was first introduced to the homeowner by “This Old House” public television program and Silva Brothers Construction. Cazeault Solar Home was asked to maximize the solar power while enhancing the overall beauty of the 1880s Cape Cod-style house located in Concord, MA. The homeowners also wanted solar battery storage to handle their critical needs during any loss of grid power.
The overall plan is to save and reconfigure the original 19th-century portion of the house, tear off the single-story 1960s garage extension that holds a sunroom and dining room, and create an owners’ suite over a new two-car garage, on roughly the same footprint. Each spouse will each get a home office: hers off the back of the garage, his carved out of the existing downstairs. Upstairs under the Cape roof, three bedrooms and a small bath will be reconfigured into two slightly larger bedrooms and two baths. The existing living room will become the kitchen, reoriented toward the new addition and the backyard, taking advantage of the morning sunlight. The modern living room addition with a screened porch will be separated from the main body of the house, allowing it to have sunlight all day and 180-degree views of the expansive three-acre yard and pond.
Working with both the homeowners and Silva Construction, Cazeault Solar & Home developed a construction plan to place twenty (20) all-black, high-efficiency solar panels in the most efficient area of the south-facing roof. This provided both a high-efficiency output while remaining out-of-sight from the homeowner’s daily vision.
Cazeault Solar Home then installed a Solar Battery Storage System in the re-conditioned mechanical room located in the basement. The Battery Storage System will automatically kick in if the grid fails in a storm and the home will function off a combination of solar power and battery storage.
The Show Will Airs Nationwide – in the Greater Boston area it airs on PBS – Thursday, January 13, 2022, at 8 PM