Alpha Bar Heater Church Installation

The Church Warden initially contacted us in July 2022 to investigate if it would be possible and beneficial for them to replace their current gas and electric combined system with a Far Infrared heating set up. At the time, they were using a 100Kw gas boiler and 6Kw of electric panel heaters around the church. For the amount of time the system was being run, the ambient temperature benefit was sub-par at best.

We estimated that by swapping to a FIR system, we could save them roughly 65% on running costs, and 427.91 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually (that’s equivalent to 26.7 double decker buses!)

The Committee were not only impressed with these projected savings, but also with the live demonstration they experienced in the church with one of our 2.4Kw Alpha bar heaters on a stand and were keen to move ahead. Whenever we work with a church project, there are a number of approvals, faculties, and permissions we must receive in order for the installation to be approved, and this can sometimes take a while to receive (sometimes a couple of years).

One aspect that made this church slightly different to others we have dealt with is the mounting position of the heaters. Often, churches will have grade listings we must adhere to which preserve not only the structural integrity of the building, but also aspects/features of historical interest. This can sometimes mean an entire building is protected, limiting where we can fit heaters, or only certain areas are protected. In this church, the pillars, and arches on either side of the Nave were listed, meaning we could not utilise our typical mounting place of above the arch or the pillars. Therefore, we suggested another method in which a specialist bracket would be manufactured by the installation team to suspend the heaters from the central point of the arches down between the pillars. This would not only mean that the heaters could be sited lower, meaning we could use less units, but also that the heaters would be disguised slightly for any photography/streaming taking place within the church.

With this suggestion, the committee were able to secure all of the permissions, and the install was able to take place in June 2023!

Since the installation, the committee have been impressed with the system’s performance and are now able to offer a comfortable environment for their parishioners to worship in, as well as saving on energy bills!