Church Heaters

Churches and heritage buildings and halls are notoriously difficult to heat. They are usually poorly insulated by modern day standards, and may have thick stone walls and floors, so may have a high thermal mass. This means they take a long time to heat up, using a lot of energy in the process. This is an issue because most churches, heritage buildings and halls are occupied only intermittently, e.g. just a few hours a week for worship.

The high ceilings make it all too easy for the air warmed by conventional heating systems to rise to the ceiling where it’s of little use to the congregation; this is known as heat stratification and is a significant problem when trying to heat large spaces resulting in a waste of both heat and money.

Traditional heating can be very damaging to older churches, particularly where they are subjected to weekly heating cycles. It is only in the last 150 years that we have sought to heat churches and often the signs of damage are evident. The thermal and humidity shocks caused by warming air, coupled with the release of moisture from people, produces condensation on cold walls, timbers and artworks. This presents a tremendous challenge for conservation as the damage is cumulative with long term implications. The black mould spots of the Stachybotrys fungus, dry rot and wet rot are all too familiar.

SunSwitch shortwave infrared provides a completely different heating technique with major benefits, including energy efficiency and being safe for the building itself.