As we all know, the cost of electricity and natural gas has skyrocketed over the last few years, leaving many unable to heat their home adequately. This is also true for places of worship, which are oftentimes large and difficult buildings to heat. It is not uncommon to hear of churches turning their heating on the day before a service to allow it to adequately warm up. Unfortunately, it is seldom financially or ecologically sustainable to completely heat a place of worship, and so mitigating measures must be taken.
A good first step is to look at how the buildings heat retention can be improved, and this can comprise of cheaper measures such as installing draft excluders; to more expensive measures such as installing double or secondary glazing. If your place of worship is an old and/or listed building, then many of the changes you can make are more limited and costly. Historic England have, however, created a detailed guide on repairing and draught-proofing windows and doors in historic buildings here, and have found that doing so can reduce air leakage by up to 50%. Double glazing may also not be an option in many religious buildings, so secondary glazing (installing another glass layer behind a single glazed window) may be something to consider. Storm and Selectglaze are companies that specialise in the secondary glazing of religious buildings, and have more information on their websites.
Aside from improving the buildings ability to retain heat, there are other measures which can help reduce the heating cost. These can include larger measures, such as installing renewable energy sources like heat pumps or solar panels. The church of England has an excellent guide on renewable energy sources with case studies here.
Other, more innovative approaches include heating the people, not the space, or using smaller spaces that are easier to heat. For example, rechargeable heated cushions could be used to help warm individuals and cut down on the costs of heating the entire building, and could also be recharged using green energy. To make the space smaller, a thermal tent could be erected inside a place of worship, with this smaller space then being heated. A case study from a church in Cumbria here, found that the tent cost £750 to design and construct, and saved £4000 in energy bills. Alternatively, if your place of worship has access to a smaller space that is easier and cheaper to heat, then this could be used for worship during the winter months. It may also be worth considering jointly worshiping with other places of worship in the winter months, so for instance three churches could consider holding a joint mass at a different church each week, and this way only one building is being heated instead of three.
A good first step is to look at how the buildings heat retention can be improved, and this can comprise of cheaper measures such as installing draft excluders; to more expensive measures such as installing double or secondary glazing. If your place of worship is an old and/or listed building, then many of the changes you can make are more limited and costly. Historic England have, however, created a detailed guide on repairing and draught-proofing windows and doors in historic buildings here, and have found that doing so can reduce air leakage by up to 50%. Double glazing may also not be an option in many religious buildings, so secondary glazing (installing another glass layer behind a single glazed window) may be something to consider. Storm and Selectglaze are companies that specialise in the secondary glazing of religious buildings, and have more information on their websites.
Aside from improving the buildings ability to retain heat, there are other measures which can help reduce the heating cost. These can include larger measures, such as installing renewable energy sources like heat pumps or solar panels. The church of England has an excellent guide on renewable energy sources with case studies here.
Other, more innovative approaches include heating the people, not the space, or using smaller spaces that are easier to heat. For example, rechargeable heated cushions could be used to help warm individuals and cut down on the costs of heating the entire building, and could also be recharged using green energy. To make the space smaller, a thermal tent could be erected inside a place of worship, with this smaller space then being heated. A case study from a church in Cumbria here, found that the tent cost £750 to design and construct, and saved £4000 in energy bills. Alternatively, if your place of worship has access to a smaller space that is easier and cheaper to heat, then this could be used for worship during the winter months. It may also be worth considering jointly worshiping with other places of worship in the winter months, so for instance three churches could consider holding a joint mass at a different church each week, and this way only one building is being heated instead of three.
