One of the challenges facing churches today is providing sufficient comfort for the many different users of the building, from worshippers to staff to visitors. Achieving this whilst cutting our greenhouse gas emissions creates specific technical challenges. A church’s heating affects its fabric, its contents, its congregation and its mission.
There is no universal solution to heating a church well, and arriving at a solution that provides reasonable comfort at a reasonable cost and reasonable environmental impact is not easy.
St Paul’s has relied on a very old oil fired boiler for many years, together with an oil storage tank, all housed in a boiler house below the church, with an external flue. This boiler connects to a heated pipe and radiator system which remains good. But the boiler has been condemned and a new and more environmentally sustainable heating source is needed.
The need for this has been brought about by the following:
Old out of date boiler that has been condemned
The need to move towards carbon reductions and support EcoChurch
Efficiences offered by more modern equipment
Align with future development
And to consider the future mission of the church
In 2020 the General Synod set the Church of England a target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Having fully explored the various options for a replacement and to satisfy our carbon output it has been decided that the most effective, affordable, and practical option is to install a 100KW gas boiler.
Fuelling the future
The technologies that make these boilers more effective has improved considerably. Our new boiler will have Energy rating A, and be 95% efficient. These modern gas boilers are also future proofed enabling them to run on a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. While government and their plans are uncertain, all new gas boilers are ‘Hydrogen-ready’, allowing a planned 10-20% Hydrogen blend in the near future, and even in the best scenario the use of 100% Hydrogen – meaning no carbon emissions and being fully carbon neutral.
Supporting this project will ensure a warmer welcome in future years to all the generations who will enter St Paul’s and will continue its mission to be in the heart of the community. Your help will also reduce our energy costs and reduce our carbon emissions to fulfill our desire to protect God’s creation for future generations.
Our EcoChurch commitment
St Paul’s was awarded the EcoChurch Silver award in 2022 and we remain fully committed to reducing our carbon footprint to net zero by 2030 in line with the Church of England. This may seem a contradiction as we are installing a fossil fuel boiler, but having explored the pros and cons of other systems, the interior space of the church, the amount of time heat will be required, an efficient, maintenance free, future-fuelled gas boiler is currently the most economic and practical solution. To address some of these concerns green energy suppliers are being investigated. The placement of PV solar panels is also being looked at as the roofs have been surveyed and ruled out.
How can you help?
Firstly, you can pray. Prayer is the foundation of every successful appeal. This gives us the opportunity to seek God’s guidance.
Secondly, after thoughtful prayer you can give financially. You can donate now.
DONATE BY POST
Please make your cheque payable to PCC of Tupsley and write Heating on reverse and send to: St Paul’s Church, St Paul’s Church Community Centre, Church Road, Hereford HR1 1RT
Thank you for your support.