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buildings, churches have a correspondingly large air volume to floor area ratio, which makes conventional space heating systems rarely practical.


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With around 37,500 church buildings in the UK, careful planning is required when upgrading heang without sacrificing the fabric of the building. Steven Evans, Sales Director at Poerton Commercial, oers his advice.


So how can specifiers ensure they choose a heating system that is fit for purpose? The first step is to conduct a detailed heating survey to assess current energy consumption and efficiency and areas of waste. It should consider any special features or artefacts that could be affected, such as wall paintings, organs and lead roofs. The objective is to define the current and planned use of the building, so current and potential users should be consulted. Old and modern places of worship often share the same problems when it comes to heating – high walls, high roofs, and in most cases, single-glazed stained-glass windows. Ideally, churches in active use would be maintained at a carefully assessed low level of background heating all the time. This would provide a reasonable temperature for users throughout the week and reduce the amount of warming up required for services.


Each church will have different needs and resources but a good guiding principle is to try to warm the people, not the building.


Energy eciency


With growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions and save energy costs, energy efficiency is particularly relevant for historic


BOILERS & HOT WATER BSEE A guide to heating church buildings


eating a large and typically inefficient, low thermal space like a church building can be problematic, especially when costs need to be kept down too. And as typically tall


churches. But the need to conserve their aesthetics often means that they cannot use some of the energy-saving measures that are available to more modern buildings. The institutional footprint of the Church of England is estimated to be around one third of a million tonnes of carbon dioxide for its churches, cathedrals and offices. In response, it has created a national environmental campaign, Shrinking the Footprint, that has a carbon reduction target of 80 per cent by 2050, and an interim target of 42 per cent by 2020.


Suggested measures include modernising the heating systems of its 16,000 churches, 65 per cent of which include structural elements that date from medieval times. This was the challenge facing Thaxted Church in Dunstow – a 14th Century Grade I listed building. The original boiler room at the church was underground, meaning an 80m gas line was required to create a new boiler room above ground, in the main church. However, the church did not want the boilers to be visible.


Compact and quiet


Thaxted Church opted for three Potterton Commercial 110kW Sirius WH boilers with a modulation rate of 9:1. Because the units are so compact, they were located in the Vestry, where they could be concealed by using wall hung cascade frames.


The quietness of the Sirius boilers meant that they did not disturb church services. Thirty new radiators were also specified, along with under-pew heaters. Today, comparing the energy efficiency of boilers is straightforward thanks to the Energy Labelling Directive. The legislation states that space and


uToday’s heang systems now oer a variety of soluons to keep churches warm.


combi heaters of up to 70kW require an energy label with a rating ranging from A++ to G. When used alongside a manufacturer’s energy efficiency data, these labels can guide contractors towards the cleanest, greenest solutions.


A church’s heating system affects its fabric, its contents and its congregation. Each church will have heating needs that are specific to the building and its use and the key is to arrive at a solution that provides comfort at a reasonable cost. The thermal requirements of churches are very different from those of almost all other class of building, however, modern heating systems can now provide a range of solutions to keep church visitors warm without impacting on the buildings’ aesthetics.


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BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JULY 2018 17


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