06/09/2024
The congregation at Holy Trinity Church in Stroud, Gloucestershire, which can seat 250 people, were struggling with an old gas heating system, that cost an average of £122 to heat the building for a Sunday service.
It meant someone turning the heating on at 5am, and “still it wasn’t warm” said Acting Team Rector, the Rev James Turk.
He used to wear “at least two pairs of socks” for winter services because the church was so cold in winter.
Left ‘buzzing’ by a Diocesan seminar on sustainability, two members of the PCC, Jai Carr and Richard Hollick, decided to investigate the best options for Holy Trinity.
The answer: targeted heating. Earlier this year, the gas-fuelled boiler was replaced with targeted heating. Convection heaters have been placed under the pews. The whole church is divided into segments, so that just one area can be heated for a small meeting, for example, rather than heating the whole church.
Other work has included:
- Eight infrared panel heaters have been installed overhead, beneath the church’s gallery.
- LED light bulbs have further reduced the church’s carbon footprint.
- A halo infrared heater, looking like a fashionable chandelier, hangs about the pulpit and the choir.
- And finally, insulation prevents draughts whistling up from the undercroft.
The heating bill for a Sunday service has been cut from £122 to just £22 a week. Emissions have been cut, and now new groups can be invited into a more welcoming environment. More concerts are being planned, and the Rev Turk only needs to wear one pair of socks this winter.
“We can now welcome people in and we’ve future-proofed the church,” said Rev Turk. “If we hadn’t done this we would have been passing the problem down to the next generation and that’s the last thing that we wanted to do.
“We want the church to be there for welcome, worship and friendship.”
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See also: New targeted heating helps church cut carbon emissions and welcome in community.