BBC Archive (1981) Future Home 2000

[Nick Laslett]

BBC Archive upload of 1981 Money Programme special about Future Home 2000. The program follows the construction of a new build home for the future incorporating ideas for the future of homes. The house was build in Milton Keynes, and is still there today. 
 

I’ve only watched first 5 minutes, and the programme has made me smile and chuckle a few time already. It looks like a great program!

 

I thought BuildHub members might find it interesting. 

 

 

 

Address: 8 Downley Avenue Milton Keynes

 

Google Maps link:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/WXyp3NbkvbpM3ZZ98

 

The house is visible on Streetview. Unfortunate for current owner that this has be uploaded by BBC. 

 

 

 

[SteamyTea]

"Cars are going to be smaller in the year 2000"

 

I remember watching this, I still have a thing for Valerie Singleton.  Could have been the rumours about her.

[JohnMo]

Tradesmen with hammers and nails and manual screwdrivers. Not sure many now would cope with that.

 

Compared to the insulation standards many follow now, the insulation added to walls etc is pretty thin.

 

Build is very quick, many lessons from that build still not implemented.

 

Part way through second episode

 

[SteamyTea]

21 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

Part way through second episode

You got to the electronic door lock yet?

[Nick Laslett]

 Some notes as I watched.
 

The house has its own mini power plant, generating electricity from gas. 

 

Timber frame construction.

 

21 days to construct the timber frame shell, using 4 men. 

 

Save 60% from fuel bills. House can be disconnected from National Grid due to the power generator. 

 

Valerie comments on the speed of construction using timber frame, but in 1981 these guys only have hammers, no nail guns. 

 

4 bed house without land would cost £35,000. 

 

14 minutes in and Potton Timber frame factory pops up. They are the suppliers of the house. 

 

18 minutes, It looks like 120mm timber frame, with glass wool insulation and a vapour barrier, then plasterboard. 

 

21 minutes, the much heralded computer makes an appearance. It looks like a Tandy TRS 80. 

 

The conservatory has some solar panels, but not many, I bet the efficiency in 1981 tech was probably less than 10%.

 

23 minutes, they are using Pilkington glass in double glazed unit with reflective layer to help keep the heat in. The conservatory still seems to be using only single glazed glass. 

 

24 minutes, Design theory - “Passive solar space heating”

 

Add a green house to the side of house to capture heat, then somehow transfer it to the rest of the property.  Ah more details later in the show, they have a fan that transfers the heat. This actually seems like a good idea. 

 

25 minutes, Argon gas for DGU. “Enables a window to become a radiator!” Maybe a touch hyperbolic. 

 

28 minutes, they appear to have fitted one room of the house with a coal fired heater! 

 

TOTEM - Total Energy Module. Will run on methane, diesel or anything in between. Uses a Fiat 500 engine. It produces 15kW of electricity from a generator. Off grid is the future!

 

42 minutes, the Milton Keynes plot cost £13000.  

 

Stopping here for now. 

[JohnMo]

47 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

You got to the electronic door lock yet?

Not yet. Watching it all tonight when wife goes out

[Nick Laslett]

It was good to hear at the 1h 16 minutes mark that the slab is insulated, not clear what approach they used. 

[andyscotland]

This was brilliant, thanks for posting!

 

I enjoyed the Glazier climbing up to the conservatory roof on some sort of trestle with large pane of glass in one hand and cigarette in the other 🤣

 

Also the idea that we'd all have electric vehicles and could charge them at night from our personal gas generators.

 

And Valerie Singleton being presented with the programmable day/night thermostat and asking if people would have to go on a course to use it.

 

But my favourite moment had to be when they showed what looked like it might be a wood burning stove in the living room before explaining it was a coal-fired boiler which would be useful in 2000 due to the limited availability of North Sea Gas, then later noted that someone would probably invent a more convenient way of feeding the coal in. 🤣

[JohnMo]

The thing I noted they had a fancy zoned controlled heating system for the different heat sources, that made the house uncomfortable, so they switch it off, when people started living in the house.

 

The circulation pump on Totem generator/heater was huge.

[SteamyTea]

9 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

The circulation pump on Totem generator/heater was huge.

They dis day that it was oversized for the application.

 

As FIAT (Fix It And Try) made the unit, not a surprise that it never caught on.

 

I still think that CHP units are a good idea for off grid applications.

If run on LPG, which is probably the only real option for off grid, then the CO₂ emissions are not too bad on a fuel volume basis.

 

 

But not so great when looking at emissions per MJ.

 

 

But that does show that running on regular diesel or gasolene is not much worse.

Once thermal losses are taken into account, and assuming the thermal and electrical elements is used directly i.e. not running an HP or stored in batteries. The emissions will be about 470 g.kWh^-1 which is pretty dreadful, so not an environmental solution.

 

[JohnMo]

41 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

FIAT (Fix It And Try) made the unit, not a surprise that it never caught on.

They are still being sold

[JohnMo]

43 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

But not so great when looking at emissions per MJ

Interesting, but all the bio stuff takes credit for CO2 sucked up during growing, they still chuck it out of the tailpipe. Still produce NOx, CO, particulates etc 

[SteamyTea]

Just now, JohnMo said:

Still produce NOx

Yes.

 

One of the things that worries me about ICEs running on hydrogen.  I am not sure what compression ratio they run best at, or what combustion temperatures are, but go too high and NOX's become problematic, and from a health perspective, it is a lot faster than climate change.

 

Quick search and found this.

https://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/tech_validation/pdfs/fcm03r0.pdf

 

May have to read it later.

[ProDave]

I am trying to find this on iplayer on the firestick to watch it on a proper screen, but everything I have tried has failed to find it there.  Anyone succeeded in finding it on iplay on a fiestick or a smart tv please care to share their wisdom on how they found it please?

[SteamyTea]

16 minutes ago, ProDave said:

am trying to find this on iplayer

It is on BBC Youtube Channel, not iPlayer.

[ProDave]

Found it now.  Wonder why it is not in the obvious place iplayer?

[ProDave]

Having watched most of it, they predicted the energy use for heating would cost £86 per year at a gas price of 1p per kWh, so that's 8,600 kWh of heating every year.

 

Our house is using 1400kWh of electricity for heating so assuming a COP of 3 that's 4200kWh of heat per year.  So half the heat they predicted and we are in a colder climate.  So although it was better than what was normal then, it is poor compared to what is achievable now.

[Oz07]

42 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Having watched most of it, they predicted the energy use for heating would cost £86 per year at a gas price of 1p per kWh, so that's 8,600 kWh of heating every year.

 

Our house is using 1400kWh of electricity for heating so assuming a COP of 3 that's 4200kWh of heat per year.  So half the heat they predicted and we are in a colder climate.  So although it was better than what was normal then, it is poor compared to what is achievable now.

So could they make equivalent savings with heat pump or are they already using?

[ProDave]

On 22/06/2025 at 00:03, andyscotland said:

 

I enjoyed the Glazier climbing up to the conservatory roof on some sort of trestle with large pane of glass in one hand and cigarette in the other 🤣

 

And the roof tiler just stacking them on, not a nail or fixing to be seen, and walking all over the tiles he had laid.

 

Oh and the forerunner to the hi viz jacket, the Donkey Jacket.  I think I still have one in the loft.

[Kelvin]

I looked at the Google street view and it looked like it has a small AC unit fan or something literally hanging out a window. I suspect it’s rather warm in the summer. 

[JohnMo]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

COP of 3

But you are running UFH, so a cop of 4 or more would be realistic, not 3.

 

In the 80s the boiler would be definitely better running at 70+ degs and be pre condensing technology, so only about 60 to 80% efficiency.

 

1400 x 4 = 5600kWh heat your heat

8600 x 80% = 6880kWh heat BBC high

8600 x 60% = 5160kW heat bbc low

 

So not really a lot different when you do maths.

[andyscotland]

35 minutes ago, ProDave said:

And the roof tiler just stacking them on, not a nail or fixing to be seen, and walking all over the tiles he had laid.

 

Oh yeah that bit had me on the edge of my seat waiting for it to all avalanche off the roof with him on top! Even knowing that they'd probably have cut that bit of footage out of required 🤣

[Kelvin]

The most disappointing thing is the lack of ambition of current new builds compared to this from 44 years ago. 

[Kelvin]

“As is common in the building industry nowadays the offloading of the tiles is automated”

 

A guy in a tractor took them off the lorry 😂 

 

And how TV has changed. A huge amount of detail compared to everything has to be quick entertainment nowadays. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Kelvin

[SteamyTea]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

at a gas price of 1p per kWh

Was it that cheap, I can't remember.

I think electricity was about 5p/kWh

 

1981 was the start of a recession, and we had had high inflation during the 'winter of discontent'.

I opted out, rented out my home and went back to university.

Edited 9 hours ago by SteamyTea