As part of our commitment to help members of our diocese be better stewards of God’s Creation, our Diocesan Green Group has recommended each congregation acquire a professional energy audit, or where that seems beyond reach, contact us for a visit from one of our members trained in the use of our thermal imaging camera. We have thermal imaged six churches in winter 2023.
A crucial factor to consider before spending any money, is your minimum set back temperature during the week in winter. During the pandemic we realized that any church where the building is not used 163 out of the 168 hours in the week, (think rural churches) then 97% of the heating bill comes from hours when no one is present in the building and human comfort is not an issue. 94% if you have a mid-week meeting. But even with four midweek meetings the lion’s share of your heating bill comes from hours when no one is there.
A brief survey revealed a range of setback temperatures in churches of our diocese, ranging from +5° at St. Matthew’s, Marlbank, +6° at St. Philips, Milford, (the nave of Church of the Redeemer, Rockport is not heated during the week) to +15° at several urban churches, with an average of +10.5°. While those responsible for church heating plants often maintain it’s necessary to keep heat at +10°, the reasons are not always clear, or appropriate in context. 19th century churches were not heated at all during the week. Many had organs, but no damage resulted. It may be that weekly heating for Sunday services dried the air enough to prevent mold buildup. Mold can grow when there is excess moisture buildup: at around +6°. St. Philips, Milford heats with electric baseboard heaters, which produce dry heat. For them a +6° setback temperature has caused no damage over the past twenty years, nor has +5° caused damage at St. Matthew’s, Marlbank.
Diagram of how a heat pump works.
In summer 2020 at St. Luke’s, Camden East(my parish), a professional energy auditor performed an audit producing a detailed 20 page report with pictures, and clear information. By winter’s end 2021, we had added insulation in basement doors where there had been gaps allowing cold air entry. Following quotes from three companies and an electrical panel upgrade (with help from a young electrician who donated his time), we installed a five-ton cold climate heat pump May 2, 2023, for $11,783 installed. Our unit uses the building’s existing hot air ducts, by inserting the hose from the outdoor unit into the existing plenum of the old oil furnace. Night temps were -2° to +5° then, allowing us to test how well the new unit worked. In May-June furnace oil consumption dropped to zero.
Another advantage of heat pumps is that they are also air conditioners in summer. We were happy to use it for cooling during a funeral on one particularly hot day in June!
Fossil fuel use is both warming the climate dangerously and getting disastrously expensive. Baseboard electric and radiant heaters are relatively inexpensive to buy, but raise monthly electricity bills, (though still less than furnace oil or propane). Cold climate heat pumps (air source) strike the best balance between economical decarbonization of church heating/cooling and the easiest way to finance it.
Heat pumps come in both ductless and ducted varieties. For churches with air ducted heating systems it makes sense to use them and insert an air source heat pump. For buildings with hot water radiators water source heat pumps are the most efficient solution. The type called “Geothermal” requires extensive digging of trenches and are still very costly. A less expensive alternative is air source to water heat pumps. One brand called “Arctic” has a good reputation for its relative affordability and adaptability to your existing hot water heating system.
Government rebates for homeowners aren’t available for churches, but prices of cold climate air source heat pumps have come down so much that rebates make less difference now.
We invite you to start a church “green team” to research best practices for your context. Then start a fund raiser towards better Creation care!
Controlling temperature in church buildings
As part of our commitment to help members of our diocese be better stewards of God’s Creation, our Diocesan Green Group has recommended each congregation acquire a professional energy audit, or where that seems beyond reach, contact us for a visit from one of our members trained in the use of our thermal imaging camera. We have thermal imaged six churches in winter 2023.
A crucial factor to consider before spending any money, is your minimum set back temperature during the week in winter. During the pandemic we realized that any church where the building is not used 163 out of the 168 hours in the week, (think rural churches) then 97% of the heating bill comes from hours when no one is present in the building and human comfort is not an issue. 94% if you have a mid-week meeting. But even with four midweek meetings the lion’s share of your heating bill comes from hours when no one is there.
A brief survey revealed a range of setback temperatures in churches of our diocese, ranging from +5° at St. Matthew’s, Marlbank, +6° at St. Philips, Milford, (the nave of Church of the Redeemer, Rockport is not heated during the week) to +15° at several urban churches, with an average of +10.5°. While those responsible for church heating plants often maintain it’s necessary to keep heat at +10°, the reasons are not always clear, or appropriate in context. 19th century churches were not heated at all during the week. Many had organs, but no damage resulted. It may be that weekly heating for Sunday services dried the air enough to prevent mold buildup. Mold can grow when there is excess moisture buildup: at around +6°. St. Philips, Milford heats with electric baseboard heaters, which produce dry heat. For them a +6° setback temperature has caused no damage over the past twenty years, nor has +5° caused damage at St. Matthew’s, Marlbank.
In summer 2020 at St. Luke’s, Camden East(my parish), a professional energy auditor performed an audit producing a detailed 20 page report with pictures, and clear information. By winter’s end 2021, we had added insulation in basement doors where there had been gaps allowing cold air entry. Following quotes from three companies and an electrical panel upgrade (with help from a young electrician who donated his time), we installed a five-ton cold climate heat pump May 2, 2023, for $11,783 installed. Our unit uses the building’s existing hot air ducts, by inserting the hose from the outdoor unit into the existing plenum of the old oil furnace. Night temps were -2° to +5° then, allowing us to test how well the new unit worked. In May-June furnace oil consumption dropped to zero.
Another advantage of heat pumps is that they are also air conditioners in summer. We were happy to use it for cooling during a funeral on one particularly hot day in June!
Fossil fuel use is both warming the climate dangerously and getting disastrously expensive. Baseboard electric and radiant heaters are relatively inexpensive to buy, but raise monthly electricity bills, (though still less than furnace oil or propane). Cold climate heat pumps (air source) strike the best balance between economical decarbonization of church heating/cooling and the easiest way to finance it.
Heat pumps come in both ductless and ducted varieties. For churches with air ducted heating systems it makes sense to use them and insert an air source heat pump. For buildings with hot water radiators water source heat pumps are the most efficient solution. The type called “Geothermal” requires extensive digging of trenches and are still very costly. A less expensive alternative is air source to water heat pumps. One brand called “Arctic” has a good reputation for its relative affordability and adaptability to your existing hot water heating system.
Government rebates for homeowners aren’t available for churches, but prices of cold climate air source heat pumps have come down so much that rebates make less difference now.
We invite you to start a church “green team” to research best practices for your context. Then start a fund raiser towards better Creation care!
Diocese of Ontario Green Group
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